11/02/2022
Division 1
Even with a much changed team, Kingfisher A were much too strong for bottom team Lightning B who got off to a reasonable start by winning 1 ladies and 3 mens to give them hope for a much needed bonus point. However, Kingfisher took all the mixed to run out 20-4 winners. Kingfisher's Rachel Dewhurst won 8 and Nathan Bunting won 3 mens for Lightning.
Poulton visited Lightning A on Thursday looking for another 3 points. Their ladies took all 6 games although Lightning were unlucky not to win 1 game which ended 26-24 to Poulton. Lightning's men won 3 games but again were on the the wrong end of a 26-24 setting. Poulton won the first 2 mixed sets to effectively win the match but Lightning responded by winning the next 2. In the final set Lightning managed to win a game to give them a hard fought point. Michelle Skinner won 8 and Oliver Hives won a creditable 6 games for Lightning.
Division 2
Kirkham Charter A won 5 games in both the ladies and mens levels to lead Stanley B. In the mixed they dropped only 1 games to win 21-3. Aimee Brown was best player for winning all her 8 games. Kathy Howard and Aaron Cheung won 2 games for Stanley.
Kirkham Charter B fought hard against 3rd placed team Project 12 losing 16-8. The sides were level going into the mixed as Kirkham's ladies and Project's men won 5, but in the mixed Project won 7 of the first 8 games to lead 13-7. In the penultimate set the pairs were very closely matched and it ended 1 game each to give Kirkham a much needed and deserved bonus point. Mark Pickles won all his games for the winners and Anita Driscoll won 5 important games for Kirkham.
Stanley A had a hard match against Hesketh Fleetwood C despite winning all the ladies, as HF won 4 mens to keep in touch. The first 2 mixed sets went Stanley's way but the last 4 sets were evenly contested with all the sets being split. Natasha Falkingham and Wendy Rutter were Stanley's heroes as they won 7 each. Minoj Mandahar also had a good match winning 6 for HF which helped his team win a bonus point. Stanley well clear in second but have a tough task to overtake the division leaders.
Levels
A potentially close fixture was unfortunately marred by injuries resulting in Hesketh Fleetwood B beating Lightning 15-1. HF won the first 4 sets to lead 8-0. Lightning's only game came in the split 5th set but then HF completed the one sided match by winning the last 6 games. Phil Fyles and Minoj Mandahar won all their 8 games - only Jeremy Cara and Graham Cooper managing to win a game for Lightning.
In the first 6 sets Lids won 3 with 3 split to lead 9-3 and leaving Bloomfield struggling. In the penultimate set, however, Bloomfield managed to win both games to earn themselves a very valuable point. Final score 11-5 to Lids. Both Jason Lydon and James Leigh won 7 for Lids. Jordan Taylor-Millington won 4 games for Bloomfield.
Stanley too a heavy 16-0 beating from Hesketh Fleetwood A with only 3 games going to 10! Ant Cross conceded just 39 points from his 8 games. HF up to second but with 2 games in hand on the leaders.
