Biggest win of season moves Westfield top

The position of Premier Division leaders changed hands yet again after Westfield A secured their biggest win of the season.

The title hopefuls dropped just four points against bottom side Westfield C, taking full advantage of their opponents’ failure to field a full team.

Kevin Bird and Brian Wooding both scored maximums, Bird without a dropping an end and Wooding giving up just one against fellow left-hander Matt Rushton.

The A side’s only defeat came when Roumen Stefanov was stunned by Adrian Roper 11-6, 10-12, 11-5.

Roper played with a pimpled bat and confused higher-ranked Stefanov with his own game for his best win of the season.

Former leaders Higham are now four points behind their rivals after a thrilling 16-14 win over Westfield B on an adjacent table.

They looked on course for a big win of their own when star man Andy Trott thrashed Matt Horrocks to give them a 9-3 lead.

But fourth-placed Westfield B chipped away at the deficit with five 2-1 wins in a row - including four deciders - to put themselves in contention for an unlikely result.

Nicole Bird beat Higham skipper Richard Elliott before Carl Leeson came from behind to beat Richard Bashford.

Bird then claimed one of her best-ever results, beating Trott 11-8, 11-13, 11-7 to seal a memorable hat-trick.

Matt Horrocks made sure he didn’t go home winless, defeating Bashford 16-14 in the third, with Leeson then beating Elliott to reduce the gap to just one.

But Higham held their nerve in the doubles, Trott and Elliott claiming a 2-1 win of their own to scrape the win.

Smash Kettering A travelled just up the A6003 and ended Corby Lyveden Fields’ streak of five successive home wins.

Kingswood Neighbourhood Centre has been a fortress for the Corby side this season but Smash breached it with a 20-10 success.

Colin Wilson has the league’s second highest average and he showed why, dropping just the opening end of the night to Kyle Murie on his way to a hat-trick.

He was backed up by Alex Cochrane and Gary Pells who both bagged five points.

Murie was Corby’s star man with five points of his own, defeating both Cochrane and Pells 2-1, while Chris Haynes scored three and Denise Jacobi added one.

Results:

Premier Division: Westfield C 4 (Roper 2, Rushton 1, Roper/Rushton 1) Westfield A 26 (Bird 9, Wooding 8, Stefanov 7, Bird/Stefanov 2); Higham 16 (Trott 7, Elliott 5, Bashford 2, Trott/Elliott 2) Westfield B 14 (Bird 7, Leeson 4, Horrocks 2, Bird/Horrocks 1); Corby Lyveden Fields 10 (Murie 5, Haynes 3, Jacobi 1, Murie/Haynes 1) Smash Kettering A 20 (Wilson 8, Cochrane 5, Pells 5, Wilson/Pells 5); Player of the week: Nicole Bird; Team of the week: Smash Kettering A.

Division One: Harborough A 20 (N Thompson 8, B Thompson 7, Crook 5) Burton Baptist A 10 (Crasto 3,Goodman 2, Marshall 2, Crasto/Goodman 3); Rothborough A 24 (Watts 8, Marlow 7, Clifton 6, Marlow/Watts 3) Corby Lakeview 6 (Woolston 3, R Warburton 2, J Warburton 1); Smash Kettering C 13 (Dixon 5, A Parrott 5, Logan 3) Westfield E 17 (Wildman 8, Holly 6, Wildman/Holly 3); Westfield D 13 (Wooster 5, George 3, Malpass 3, George/Malpass 2) Old/Thrapston 17 (Payne 7, Warliker 5, Williams 4, Payne/Warliker 1); Player of the week: Travis Holly; Team of the week: Old/Thrapston.

Division Two: Corby Lincoln 10 (Murie 5, Donaldson 2, Hunt 1, Murie/Hunt 2) Smash Kettering D 20 (Marlow 7, Burrows 6, Reed 6, Marlow/Burrows 1); Rothborough B 11 (Dixon 5, Watts 3, Shipley 2, Dixon/Shipley 1) Harborough B 19 (McGowan 8, Morgan 6, Coombs 3, McGowan/Morgan 2); Corby Chesham 7 (Preston-Jones 4, Jordon 2, Preston-Jones/Jordon 1) Rothborough B 23 (Sturges 8, Jones 7, Watts 6, Sturges/Jones 2); Corby Chesham 11 (Preston-Jones 5, Redman 4, Jordon 1, Preston-Jones/Redman 1) Burton Baptist 19 (Muggleton 8, Sanders 5, Chatburn 4, Muggleton/Sanders 2); Player of the week: John McGowan; Team of the week: Harborough B.

Division Three: Smash Kettering F 25 (Turnbull-Stubbs 9, P Menon 8, V Menon 6, Turnbull-Stubbs/P Menon 2) Corby Harrogate 5 (Solomon 2, G O’Callaghan 2, Solomon/O’Callaghan 1); Old Village 17 (B Tyler 6, Bradford 6, A Tyler 4, B Tyler/Bradford 1) Westfield F 13 (A Elsom 6, D Elsom 3, Stoneman 2, A Elsom/Stoneman 2); Rothborough C 16 (Brisley 6, Linnett 5, Steele 2, Brisley/Linnett 3) Smash Kettering E 14 (M Wilson 5, Constable 5, Woodward 4); Player of the week: Lucas Turnbull-Stubbs; Team of the week: Smash Kettering F.