PRESTON B secured their first victory of the season with a convincing 21-11 success over Park District X as all but one of the matches were won in straight sets in the Weymouth & District League.

It was the only match that did not go to the full five sets with Preston’s Roger Lovell (6) defeating Alec Brown (2).

John Ryan (9) continued his good start to the season but was unable to prevent Park slipping to their second defeat.

Park also played possible title contenders Budmouth A later

in the week and the outcome, in Halloween week, was eerily similar.

The match of the night was the first one with John Ryan (9) edging a very close contest with Moses Lewis (8) 12-10 in the fifth leg.

Although both Will Jolliffe (7) and Josh Clark (7) each took a leg off Ryan he came through unscathed to take a maximum.

The Budmouth boys were not really troubled by either Alec Brown or Luis Ventura as they secured a 25-10 victory.

Park District A had a better week in beating Red Triangle 30-9 as Geoff Ware, father of former England international and current Weymouth coach Matt, stepped in for Ray Cody and dropped just two legs in securing maximums along with Mike Doyle and Richard Wilshere.

Shaun Beauchamp (5) top scored for the Portlanders.

The week also saw a terrific tussle between Preston B and Colliton X where six of the nine singles matches played went the full distance.

The spoils were eventually shared evenly but it was nip and tuck right to the end where the results could easily have been different.

Preston took the doubles 3-1 and were mighty relieved to come away with a 24-20 win.

Springfield A closed the gap at the top of the table with a 23-13 win over Budmouth B, the pick of the bunch was Jeff Rigby who scored a maximum for the victors but both Tom Cherry (3) and Jed Brackenridge (3) both had five-set wins over their Michelle Leonard (4), who also lost out to Rob Hawes (6), who top-scored for Budmouth.

Shipton Gorge C put up a strong fight against the youthful All Saints A team but, in the end, the young lads’ quick reactions, speed of movement and blistering forehand drives were too strong for the ageing Shipton boys.

Richard Wood (9) was supported well by both Ethan Clark (8) and Ollie James (7) with Tom Baldry (7) and Dave Poole (6) scoring well for Shipton.

Baldry teamed up with Trevor Deadman-Spall (1) to win the closing doubles but it was too little too late.

Springfield B overran Colliton C 30-4 in a one-sided affair, as Andy Ray, Katherine Bundy and Jim Chamberlain all managed to pick up points but were no match for table- topping Springfield on this occasion. Second-placed Shipton Gorge B had a tougher battle than the 29-11 scoreline suggests against Wyke A.

Only one of the singles matches was a straight-sets win with Derek Wheeler (8) beating Tony Dobbs (3). Roger Walden (5) top-scored for Wyke while Brian Cammell and Graham Albertella both picked up maximums.

In a bottom-of-the-table clash in Division Three, Wyke C overcame Park District Y 21-15.

This was a nip-and-tuck affair until Jon Dean (9) secured two wins either side of Nina Moggeridge (7) beating Monique Chester (1), which put the tie beyond Park.

Cozette Edwards (3) beat Tom Hepburn (5) and then teamed up with William Roper (8) to beat Dean and Hepburn in the doubles but ultimately fell short in the match.

Budmouth D had a good 22-14 win over Wey Valley but it was Ethan Bingham (9) of the latter that top-scored on the night, dropping just the one leg, to the promising Sam Melhuish (7).

A strong Springfield D ran out easy winners against Wyke B, as Roy Sharp (5) got Wyke off to a good start by winning against Barry Thomas (6) but David Moth and Pete Anderson each achieved maximums for Springfield although Sharp took Moth to a fifth game.