WITH two matches left to play, the top teams in the BSF Men's Tennis league make their final play to secure League honours.
None more so than in the Men's Premiership where a cruel draw has ensured that Lostock A has to face the full might of the two leading contenders is the final weeks of the season - and immediately before the last-match deciding clash between the two.
This week, Lostock A faced a full-strength South College A and were white-washed by the only team who can challenge the might of Holcombe Brook SC A at season end.
In a match where the 'College boys conceded only 13 games in total, the best performance came from their top pair Anders/Lister who conceded only a single game in the whole evening.
Holcombe Brook SC A sharpened their claws by despatching third placed Hawkshaw A in an equally impressive result, thus lighting the fuse for an exciting season-end finale.
Division Two has been a real knock'em down and drag 'em out affair and no matter who wins the title, the winner will be promoted to Division One having lost at least three matches in the season.
Walmer A currently lead, but are on a knife-edge balance and this week
squeaked a narrow 5-4 win to keep them ahead of South College B. They now have a six-point lead, but with one match only left to play, must win or draw against Leigh CC A to stay on top.
Next Generation (Chorley) A are standing no nonsense and with this week's 9-0 demolition of Markland Hill B made the Division Three title their own. The 'Hill squad can still take second place, but will need to win at least one of their two remaining matches to be runners-up.
The Division Four leaders Tyldesley B lost their unbeaten record when second placed Ellesmere B upped the pace and comprehensively beat them 7.5-1.5. Relying for half their Ellesmere team on three members of the Barlow family, and in a battle they had to win, they outplayed the leaders and now lie just, two points off the lead and in a good position to challenge for the honours in the last two matches.
In the same division, Holcombe Brook SC B pulled off one of the week's surprises by beating third placed Longsight Meths B 8-1 and this defeat now means the Division Four leadership battle is strictly a two-horse race.
Another fine win for David Lloyd (Bolton) A, and a dramatic loss by second placed Chorley A, guarantees them the Division Five title.
Chorley A seems to have taken their eye completely off the ball in their vital match against Walmer B and whilst they can look at runners-up spot as consolation, this result has destroyed any hope they may have had of winning the title.
Division Six is the closest possible with two teams vying for top spot.
This week, the Lostock C team notched up an important win over Astley & Tyldesley to move in front of Harwood CC who had an open date. Bradshaw B took full advantage of this opportunity to move into second spot with a good 6-3 win at Barrow Bridge B and with Lostock C left with one match to play, any of the three teams can snatch final honours.
In full command and on cruise control Next Generation (Chorley) B lead Division Seven and are one of four Men's teams with an unbeaten record.
Just below them, an important clash for who finishes second took place and Leigh CC D managed to take the initiative from Lostock D with a fine 5-4 win. However, all is not yet over in this division as the Leigh team still have an open fixture to play and, if their rivals win both of their last two matches the second place, will go down to a decision on games difference.
Heirs-apparent to the Division Eight title are David Lloyd (Bolton) B who cannot now be overtaken. Ellesmere C look good for the second place, but there are two other teams in contention and Ellesmere need to win both their remaining fixtures.
The excellence of the Division Nine has been commented before in these columns and it has taken the third match out from the season end to separate the top three teams.
Though they have lost one match, the leaders Chorley B still have one of the best records in Men's tennis this season. Even David Lloyd (Bolton), who are just behind them, have a record which would be expected to gain promotion in any other division.
Both teams won again, but importantly Chorley B beat Harwood CC B thus making life very difficult for the Harwood team to get into contention. Harwood now have an uphill task to win all their last two matches and beat David Lloyd (Bolton) C in one of these.
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