CHORLEY reign. In a weekend when seasonal ills, hols and pre-Christmas social training weakened many teams, the Northerners just edged out their Division Three rivals to become the League's only unbeaten side.

For David Lloyd, skipper Sarah Bleakley toiled tirelessly to stem the tide, but it was mainly the mercurially erratic talents of Ian Roscoe which kept his side in touch. A player of wavering concentration and excess imagination, Roscoe displays at different times the elegant silky ability of a McEnroe (well, sort of) and the restrained rational shot selection of a serial Mad Axe-Man.

In contrast, Chorley chief, Martin Tattersall kept his mind and his team on the task and they responded well -- no pyrotechnics, apart from the odd flying volley from "Skip", just gutsy, determined efforts from Suzanne Cornthwaite, Anne Warhurst and Glyn Baker.

Division Three also saw a fine match between Bolton School B and Holcombe Brook B, which featured some notable tours de force. Of the ladies, Julie Bannister's rapidly improving adventurous serve and volley game and volleying stood out as did for Bolton, Jill Pike's newly-developed "flypaper" volleying technique: place yourself immobile mid-court, waft your right arm and mysteriously attract all passing balls to your unerring racket.

Top of the bill however was that neo-Victorian, packed house melodrama, Clayton's Crimean Cameo, which is one of the League's more blood-pulsing turns and which begins with the eponymous heroine Janine hoisting a weak lob from way behind her baseline, followed by a death or glory charge up the court. Volleys to the left, smashes to the right, Mrs C gallops on through the carnage scraping miraculous returns off feet, arms, behind her back, stumbling defiantly forward until, thanks to increasingly dumbfounded opponents, she arrives, often unscathed, at the net to bring down the house -- and often the net -- with a last gasp, winning shot.

Holcombe's men were themselves in inspired form. Ian "The Backhand" Berry played his finest ever game at the Green, while Steve Corner has improved impressively adding much more consistent shot-making to his sweat-drenched application.

Mostly, perhaps, the courts last week bore the imprint of Bradshaw reserve Evelyn Cooper. Some reserve! The epitome of furious concentration, Mrs Cooper's crouched net position -- poised, pert and ever alert -- is a threat in itself, and surely betrays more than a hint of Bolton School provenance as does her classical service action.

In the mixed sets especially, Mrs Cooper carried the fight in spades, flying round the baseline, re-grouping busily, fussily; winning many a bottle-testing rally, chunnering in furrowed brow self-criticism at rare mistakes. At the net her fine-touch, piquant volleys slowly drained the opposition. The latter were not easily overcome, indeed they succumbed by -- yet again -- a single game. Joanne Ball announced herself with an opening serve of such spitting, hissing venom that confounded even the fleet-footed Mrs Cooper; Dave Arruvee raced around like a man half his age; and Kevin Halliwell frequently lured his lady opponents into a false position before unleashing one of his unanswerable drives.

Results: Division One: Walkers A 36 Bolton CC 23; Markland Hill A v Longsight w/o.

Division Two: Bradshaw 26 Markland Hill B 25; Harwood 28 Astley 25; Walmersley B 39 Winter Hill 19; MGB 33 HRM B 25.

Division Three: Chorley 25 David Lloyd 23; Walkers B 39 Guild Hall 18; Bolton School B 29 Holcombe Brook B 25.