Emphatic victory gives Lions title

Lions A are the new Doric Insurance Brokers Division One champions. They beat their only rivals, Whistlers A, by an emphatic 9-1 score line.

Very little had separated the two teams all season and the one-sided nature of the win surprised even the Lions players.

Full credit must be given to Phil Ogier, Jez Powell and James Lesbirel who all performed excellently when it mattered.

Since Christmas, Lions have been playing consistently well and at the start of the evening were probably slight favourites.

The first game of the night set the tone as the big two, Ogier and Pipet, fought for the early initiative.

The games between these two have been entertaining and tight encounters all season, but on this occasion Ogier at one game all sprinted to a 3-1 win, taking the last two games 11-1, 11-3.

Whistlers never recovered. Wayne Rihoy lost in straight sets to Powell, then Lesbirel beat Hunkin in five tight sets and with Ogier beating Rihoy 3-0, Lions were already 4-0 up.

Whistlers had to win the doubles and established handy leads in all three sets, but they were frittered away and Ogier and Powell played well to win 3 sets to nil. Lesbirel continued his impressive evening when he held match point against Pipet in the fourth set, but when the former missed a relatively easy smash at 10-9, Pipet pinched the fourth and won the final leg 11-7.

Powell secured Lions the title by beating Hunkin 3-1 in tight games.

The final three games were a bit flat as Lions coasted to the championship.

In the top-of-the-table clash in Division Three, Lions H performed the comeback of the week and effectively ended Lions G's title hopes.

Paul Hainsworth, Brian Powell and Garry Dodd found themselves 1-4 down at the halfway stage, but then reeled in the last five matches to snatch a 6-4 win.

All the Lions H team played their part, Hainsworth beating Lynn Finn and husband Dave; Brian Powell repeated this feat and Dodd, while losing to Dave Finn, made vital amends by beating George Eker in three straight sets.

Panthers B managed only a draw against Lions K, giving Lions H a slender one-point lead going into the final two weeks of the season.

Brian Ferbrache, who is only a reserve, was the star for Lions K winning, all his three sets against Kevin Marsh, Tim Ravenscroft and Rob Vile.