30/11/2019
Division 1
Kingfisher A beat their own B team 21-3 to stay in the top 3. A win in the ladies from Sarah Woodhouse and Rachel Dewhurst and a split in the last mixed were the B team's only winning games. Alex Mackie won 8 and was statistically the best player. Rising star Rachel won 3 for the B.
A full strength Poulton side beat Pilling A 17-7, but not without an early scare. As usual, Poulton ladies won all 6 but Poulton's men suffered, winning just 1 game to go into the mixed only 7-5 up. Pilling, needing 3 games in the mixed for a point, just fell short as they could only win 2, despite some close games. Michelle Skinner won 8 to be POTM whilst the performance of the match went to Pilling's Andy Davis who won 4 mens and split 2 mixed.
Hesketh A entertained an under strength Fleetwood A in the weeks final game with the match ending in an inevitable 21-3 win for the away team. Katie Kinder won 2 ladies and 1 mixed for Hesketh but Caroline Andrew was statistically the best player by just 1 point over Dave Wiseman.
Division 2
Lids A had a much needed win 21-3 at the expense of Kirkham Charter A. The match was pretty much over at the half way stage with Lids leading 11-1. Steph Tsang, Will Booth and Helena Lemper all won 8 whilst Ian Chase won a consolation 2 games for Kirkham. Lids now well clear of the drop zone but Kirkham look like making a quick return to Division 3.
Leaders Pilling B were tested in their home match against Project 12 but finally came through 16-8. Pilling had a 10-2 advantage after the levels, although there were many close games. The mixed was much more evenly contested and ended 6-6 as Project improved to earn a much deserved bonus point. All 24 games went to double figures reflecting a closer match than the score line suggests. Alison Crosbie won 7 for Pilling whilst Jon Jackson's 4 wins were matched by Project teammate Mark Pickles who unusually split all his games. Pilling 3 points clear at the top whilst Project's point keeps them in contention.
Fleetwood B comfortably defeated Hesketh B 20-4 after winning 10 games in both the levels and mixed. Derek Hill and Ben Yau won 8 with Angela Fletcher managing to win 3 for Hesketh. Fleetwood joint second but Hesketh firmly in bottom 2.
Division 3
In an important match Ribby Hall B defeated Kingfisher C by 14-10, thanks mainly to their ladies who won all 6. After a good start in the levels Ribby actually led 12-4 but a spirited fight back meant Kingfisher won 6 of the final 8 games to secure a valuable bonus point. Ribby's win and 3 points moves them away from the bottom 2 and level on points with Kingfisher. Melissa Jones won 7 for Ribby and James Townson replied with a vital 6 games for Kingfisher.
Promotion chasing Ribby Hall A won 18-6 to leave Stanley B struggling near the bottom of the table. With a full team, Stanley may have won a bonus point, but missing a lady and conceding 8 games meant this became an impossible task. Ian Womersley won 5/6 for Ribby and Colin Davison was best player for Stanley by winning 5/8.
Top team Stanley A were handed a 24-0 win against bottom team Kirkham Charter B who, unfortunately, had to concede the match.
Levels
Project 12 maintain their title challenge with a straightforward 14-2 win over Stanley.
Jon Jackson and Mark Pickles completed a successful week by winning 8, whilst each Stanley player managed to win 1 game.
Warton A predictably cruised to a 16-0 win against their own B team to stay ahead of their rivals. League Chairman Rob Cockerill made a rare appearance in the levels league and was rewarded by a POTM performance for conceding the fewest points.
A first ever meeting between the league's newest teams Broughton and Bloomfield resulted in a very close match which ended with only 8 points difference! Home team Broughton finally got their first points in a 9-7 win. Winning the first 5 games gave Broughton a great start but then Bloomfield hit back by winning 4 of the next 5. After winning the next set Broughton led 8-4 and were within sight of victory.
The penultimate set was won by Bloomfield to leave the match at 8-6 and still in the balance! In the first game of the final set, Broughton's Lisa Vickers and James Townson managed to hang on to win 21-18 to give their team victory at last! Even with the result secured, both pairs fought hard in the last game which went in favour of Bloomfield on setting. A great ending to a dramatic match!
