In Division One, there was further evidence of the changing of the guard as a young and inspired Prayrit Ahluwalia became the first to claim victory over Daniel Moses this season. His maximum helped Kingfisher B to four points against second place Sonning Common & Peppard A.
Graham Mendick managed to add another as he took out Gary Morgan. Ed Lush helped to sneak the commoners past the winning line 6-4. Kingfisher A moved closer to the championship with a convincing 9-1 win away to Tilehurst RBL A.
The hosts went one up as Keith Winter took out Dmitry Khakhamov in the opening encounter, but that was as good as it got for them as Ross Saxby and Hari Gehlot completed the victory.
Kingfisher C appear to be gaining momentum as they aim for fourth. They swept aside Sonning Common & Peppard C, who remain dangerously close to one of the two relegation places.
Theo Kniep and Matt Isherwood remained unbeaten to cement the 9-1 victory.
A Tidmarsh A trio of Dale Ballard, Antony Baker and Lee Calcutt whitewashed a doomed Sonning Common & Peppard D 10-0 and despite having played more matches than rivals Kingfisher D, Sonning Common & Peppard B moved above the relegation zone for the first time by fighting hard in a 7-3 loss to Sonning Sports A.
Their best player this season, Tom Astle, showed how much he has improved in only just losing out to the more experienced county player Dave Croucher 10-12, 11-8, 12-10, 10-12, 7-11.
The second placed team in division 2, Kingfisher F lost ground on the leaders following an 8-2 defeat against Tidmarsh B with Barry Carter getting an excellent maximum for Tidmarsh. Tidmarsh C beat Pangbourne WMC 6-4 despite Clive Taylors maximum, this result almost certainly relegates Pangbourne to Division Three.
Our Lady of Peace A kept up their good run of results with a 6-4 win at Kingfisher E with the highlight being OLOP’s Dave Godfrey recovering from two down to beat Andrew Adair in five.
Tilehurst RBL B beat a two-man Kingfisher H 8-2 although there were spirited performances from both the Kingfisher players Steve Woolnough and Vivaan Karalkar. Springfield A and Kingfisher G drew 5-5 with Matt Hickman recording a maximum for Springfield.
In Division Three, there were two matches crucial for the title race. Our Lady of Peace C hosted Tilehurst Methodists C and won the match 10-0.
With their perfect score, they gained a massive advantage at the top of the table. Kingfisher I drew 5-5 with Tilehurst Methodists A and thus dropped important points. Eyup Odemis from the home team had another treble and helped his team not lose against a tough team.
Our Lady of Peace D hosted their club mates Our Lady of Peace B and it was the B team that won the match 8-2 getting their 6th consecutive victory.
Gopi Ponnapalli played up from Division Four and he was unlucky to lose Mark Carless in the fifth from 2-1 up: 4-11, 11-9, 11-7, 7-11, 5-11.
After Jacek Piechocki joined OLOP B they have yet to lose a match and have added 47 points to their tally in six matches, which makes you wonder where they would be if Jacek had joined at the beginning of the season.
Sonning Common & Peppard E faced Sonning Sports B and won the match 6-4. Anthony Reeve was the player of the match with his treble.
In a top of the table battle in Division Four, Springfield C beat Sonning Common & Peppard F 7-3 thanks mainly to a Ludo Couillard hat trick.
Just one point now separates the top three teams as the season nears its conclusion. Walter Aldridge and Emrah Bulut of Kingfisher K were in good form by winning all three in their sides 7-3 win at Sonning Common & Peppard G. Tilehurst RBL C moved into fourth place by winning 8-2 at
Springfield B where Paul Treadgold was the star by obtaining a maximum.
Earlier, Tilehurst went to Our Lady of Peace E for whom Pat Daniels won all three in a drawn match.
Gopi Ponnapalli was the hat trick man to help Our Lady of Peace F gain a 5-5 draw at Springfield B. Sonning Sports D beat a two player Kingfisher L team 9-1 with doubles gained by James Miller and Cris Reynolds. Sonning Sports C drew 5-5 with Our Lady of Peace E with Pat Daniels winning all three for OLOP.
By Nigel Maltby
