St John are the slight favourites

St John B are 12 points behind leaders Westfield B, who also beat OGs B 8-2 in a tough week for the bottom markers.

St John’s win came about thanks to an eighth consecutive hat-trick for Mike Terry along with a treble from Alan Hill and a brace from Paul Lipczak, who linked up with Terry to win the doubles.

Roger Fleming saved the whitewash with a battling win over Lipczak but his team now look certain to be playing in Division Three next season.

Westfield’s win was also routine as there were maximums for the ever-consistent Mark Thomas and Charlie Clements plus a good double from Leigh Clements.

Colin Lord scored a lone single win for the OGs, who ended the night with a doubles success thanks to Lord and Roger Fleming.

Clare Coles hit a fine treble as Chesterwell C inflicted a heavy 8-2 defeat on hosts Higham Harriers B.

There was also an outstanding debut hat-trick from Daniel Mann who was playing up from Division Three.

The two of them later joined forces to take the doubles in straight sets whilE Stuart Coles added their eighth point. Phil Inman and Neil Stevens scored consolation wins for the Harriers to prevent the whitewash.

After losing the opening four games of the evening, Higham Band fought back well as they eventually went down 7-3 at home to WDHA Superkings.

Tarun Mistry, Manav Pandya and Dev Patel all secured solid doubles for Superkings while Nigel Magee replied with a brace of his own.

Deirdre Kiziak scored a fine win over the consistent Patel and then joined Magee in a five-set doubles encounter, eventually losing in the last.

Results: Higham Harriers B 2 (Phil Inman, Neil Stevens) Chesterwell C 8 (Clare Coles 3, Daniel Mann 3, Stuart Coles, doubles Coles/Mann), Higham Band A 3 (Deirdre Kiziak, Nigel Magee 2) WDHA Superkings 7 (Tarun Mistry 2, Manav Pandya 2, Dev Patel 2, doubles Pandya/Mistry), Old Grammarians B 2 (Colin Lord, doubles Lord/Fleming) Westfield B 8 (Mark Thomas 3, Charlie Clements 3, Leigh Clements 2), St John B 9 (Mike Terry 3, Paul Lipczak 2, Alan Hill 3, doubles Lipczak/Terry) Old Grammarians B 1 (Roger Fleming).

Chesterwell A and Wanderers A stayed in the fight for the runners-up spot in Division One with big victories.

Mike Pond, the oldest registered player in the top division, continues to set a fine example and registered an excellent treble in Chesterwell’s 8-2 success at St John A.

He saw off Jon Perkins with ease but was taken to the wire by ex-club-mate Richard Wills and old rival Grant Timms, winning out 9-11, 11-8, 10-12, 11-6, 11-7 and 11-9, 5-11, 11-8, 3-11, 17-15 respectively.

To complete an excellent night, he joined with Stan Galkowski to win out 11-5, 11-7, 17-15 in the doubles over Perkins and Timms.

Galkowski and Valdy Papiernik scored a brace each to help keep the visitors on course.

In Wanderers A’s latest match, they beat their own B team 9-1 and Tony Wharton, returning after a two week lay-off, together with Andy Law scored easy trebles.

But the expected clean sweep did not materialise as Stewart Williams won out 11-4, 11-9, 6-11, 13-11 over Jon Taylor-Burt in game six.

Chris Warliker claimed a superb treble as Thrapston drew 5-5 at Higham Harriers A.

Mark Stockley edged out Graham Bird and Norman Wooster 11-6 and 11-5 in the fifth ends respectively but the struggling Alan Tyler failed to register.

The final doubles went to Ian Bird and Wooster in the doubles 11-7, 11-7, 11-9 over Warliker and Stockley for a creditable draw.

Results: Thrapston 2 (Chris Warliker 2) Westfield A 8 (Kevin Bird 3, Patryk Polanski 2, Travis Holly 2, doubles Bird/Polanski), St John A 2 (Grant Timms 2) Chesterwell A 8 (Valdy Papiernik 2, Stan Galkowski 2, Mike Pond 3, doubles Pond/Galkowski), Wanderers A 9 (Tony Wharton 3, Andy Law 3, Jon Taylor-Burt 2, doubles Wharton/Law) Wanderers B 1 (Stewart Williams), Higham Harriers A 5 (Graham Bird, Ian Bird 2, Norman Wooster, doubles Bird/Wooster) Thrapston 5 (Chris Warliker 3, Mark Stockley 2).

Stanwick remain in the driving seat to take second place in Division Three after beating Westfield E 8-2.

Geoff Neville hit his customary hat-trick with Al Hayes and Jon Tuplin claiming a brace apiece, losing to Wendy Bradford and Stuart Rae respectively.

Hayes’ sets both went the full distance with the remaining sets going to Stanwick by the short route which keeps them in second place with only two matches to play.

Wanderers E inflicted only a second defeat of the season on Chesterwell D, who paid the penalty for playing with a reserve as they went down 6-4.

David May was unstoppable for Wanderers, taking the only hat-trick of the night, defeating higher ranked Daniel Mann 12-10, 6-11, 8-11, 11-5, 11-9.

Steve Hoole picked up two wins and Derek Shears added a single, losing out to Duncan Wright 11-9 in the fifth.

Gordon Campbell who stepped up from the E side lost all his sets in three ends and with the score standing at 6-3, Wright and Mann made the scoreline more respectable when winning the doubles 9-11, 5-11, 11-6, 11-4, 11-6.

The two bottom teams Chesterwell E and WDHA Knightriders shared a 5-5 draw.

Gordon Campbell accounted for two of Chesterwell’s points, losing out to Bipasha Ganatra 11-4 in the fifth end.

Peter Atkins also earned two points, defeating Ganatra in four ends and receiving a point as Jay Mandalia retired through illness before his last match.

Knightriders’ Swati Jethwa registered a brace, winning out against Atkins in four and Katie Coles in three and with the match dependent on the doubles, Knightriders’ Jethwa and Ganatra went on to win 11-6, 11-2, 11-8 to secure the draw.

Higham Band B went down to a disappointing 9-1 loss to Westfield D with only Devlin Whitmore picking up a single win against Asish Nandi. He was, however, unlucky not to score another as he lost out to Amrat Mistry 11-5 in the fifth.

There were hat-tricks for Stuart Holroyd and Mistry, with Mistry and Nandi securing the final doubles point in three ends over Whitmore and John Yeates.

Results: Chesterwell E 5 (Peter Atkins 2, Gordon Campbell 2, Katie Coles) WDHA Knightriders 5 (Swati Jethwa 2, Bipasha Ganatra 2, doubles Jethwa/Ganatra), Stanwick VHTTC 8 (Geoff Neville 3, Al Hayes 2, Jon Tuplin 2, doubles Neville/Tuplin) Westfield E 2 (Wendy Bradford, Stuart Rae), Chesterwell D 4 (Duncan Wright, Daniel Mann 2, doubles Wright/Mann) Wanderers E 6 (David May 3, Steve Hoole 2, Derek Shears), Westfield D 9 (Stuart Holroyd 3, Asish Nandi 2, Amrat Mistry 3, doubles Nandi/Mistry) Higham Band B 1 (Devlin Whitmore).