04/03/2022
Division 1
Kingfisher A and Poulton went to the wire as the league leaders were pushed all the way. Kingfisher deserve credit for holding Poulton's ladies to 3-3 with all the sets being split. In the mens Poulton just nudged ahead 4-2 to give them a narrow 7-5 lead after the levels. In the mixed Poulton won 3 of the next 4 to extend their lead to 10-6. The next 2 sets both went to Kingfisher as they levelled the match at 10 all. The final 2 sets were very close but Poulton proved to be slightly better as they won all 4 for a tough 14-10 victory. Nick Hodgson won 7 to be POTM whilst Kingfisher's best players were Alex Mackie and Esther Steadman who each won 4.
Pilling easily won their home match against Kingfisher B to stay well clear of the bottom 2 places. A 10-2 lead from the levels was consolidated with the same score in the mixed. Elaine Danson, Alison Crosbie and Mike Aspden all won 8, and Gordon Jackson was the best player for Kingfisher with 3 wins.
After 2 split games in the first ladies and mens, Lightning A only managed to win 1 more game in their home match against Hesketh Fleetwood A to emphasise, once more, the gap between both teams. Elizabeth Andrew was the only player to win all 8 games and Rob Oakes was Lightning's top scorer with 2. Lightning (previously Albany) assured of finishing 4th for the 3rd consecutive season. HF will probably need to beat Poulton to retain their title again.
Division 2
Hesketh Fleetwood B had a tougher match than the score suggested when they beat Kirkham Charter A 21-3 despite some of the scores being close. Sheena Carberry and Mike Percy both won 8 games for Hesketh whilst only Amelia Parker won more than 1 game for Kirkham. Hesketh still in pole position - Kirkham in 4th.
2nd placed Stanley A also had a harder match than expected against Kirkham Charter's B team but were able come through in the end. It was 6-6 after the levels with the 5 wins by Kirkham's ladies being offset by 5 wins for Stanley's men. 8 wins in the mixed put Stanley over the finishing line for a hard fought 3 points. Lee Meakin was unbeaten in his 8 games with Kirkham's Carol Howarth also having an excellent match winning 4 ladies and 2 mixed. Kirkham's play deserving of a bonus point on the night, whilst Stanley, still only 2 points behind Hesketh Fleetwood B, would need to beat them in the last match of the season to have any chance of finishing top!
Levels
Lids march on after a convincing home 15-1 win over bottom club Stanley. Only a Gareth Jones and Ross Adams win in a setting game prevented the whitewash. Both Jason Lydon and James Leigh won all their games. Lids move up to second and in a fight with Hesketh Fleetwood B to finish runners up.
