BATTS II took a stranglehold at the top of the Senior British Clubs League, Championship division as they beat joint leaders Ormeau to kick-start a 100% weekend.

With the chasing pack all continuing to take points off each other, the title is now BATTS’ to lose as they have a three-point lead ahead of the final weekend in April.

And with third-placed Perry Dale a further four points back, it would be fanciful to suggest anyone other than the top two can now win the league.

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At the start of the weekend, the gap between the top two was so tight it went down to games ratio. So, when the teams met on Saturday morning, a close tie would have been anticipated.

It proved to be exactly that as BATTS won it 5-3, finally shaking off the Irish team, who three times fought back from behind to level the score.

Josh Bennett gave BATTS the lead by beating Mat Ware in four, but Jonathan Mooney defeated Jack Bennett 11-9 in the fifth to equalise.

BATTS went back in front through Ryan Choong, but Conor Nugent beat Djen Bakx in five – and then, after Josh Bennett had beaten Mooney, Ware overcame Choong.

With the match poised at 3-3, Jack Bennett beat Nugent in three and it was left to Bakx to make sure of the result with a 3-1 (11-13, 11-4, 11-7, 12-10) win over Thomas Earley, who was the only player not to pick up a victory.

In the other matches on Saturday morning, Perry Dale were only able to beat winless Wensum 5-3, though further interrogation of the score reveals they were 5-1 up before Chris Cockburn and Wayne Mason won the last two for Wensum. Wensum’s other winner was Veton Zeqiri, who won a close one with Mari Baldwin 3-2 (12-10, 10-12, 11-9, 8-11, 11-6).

Milton Keynes beat hosts Nottingham 6-2 after opening up a 4-0 lead, and it was also 6-2 for Ormesby II against Urban, though in different circumstances as they came from 2-1 down – Josh Weatherby came from 2-0 down to beat Liam McTiernan 11-9 in the fifth to secure the all-important fifth win for his side.

Wymondham ran through Woodford Wells 8-0, dropping only three games, two of those as Gabriel Schogger held off Rayan Ansari 11-9 in the fifth.

Saturday afternoon’s matches saw Ormeau return to winning ways with a 5-3 margin over Wymondham. Mooney and Ware got two wins apiece, with Ware’s second clinching the win and completing a run of three victories after Wymondham had fought back from 2-0 down to level.

It was also 5-3 for Nottingham against Woodford Wells, the result never in doubt as the hosts opened up a 5-1 lead.

The other three matches all finished 6-2, including leaders BATTS’ win over Ormesby. BATTS won five of the opening six matches to seal the win, the exception being a fine 3-2 comeback win (8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 11-8, 11-4) for Zac Greenhough over Bakx. Ormesby’s other win came in a flashback match between Weatherby and Ethan Walsh, who met frequently at top-level Junior events a few years back. Weatherby took this one in four.

Perry Dale suffered a blow in their hopes of making inroads at the top as they were defeated by Urban. Max Radiven won his two for Perry Dale, and his team were only 2-3 down after the second, but McTiernan, who had earlier lost to Radiven in five, had a 3-2 (11-3, 5-11, 11-7, 11-13, 11-3) win over Joseph Marlor to set Urban on the way to victory.

Milton Keynes back up their Saturday morning win by defeating Wensum in the final match of the round, including winning three of the matches which went to a fifth game.

Sunday morning saw another key match at the top as BATTS took on Perry Dale. Once again, Perry Dale were 2-3 down after Radiven, who earlier beat Jack Bennett, won Match Five 3-2 (14-12, 11-8, 6-11, 8-11, 11-8) against Josh Bennett. However, once again their opponents pulled clear to win 6-2.

And there was further good news for BATTS as Nottingham held Ormeau to a 4-4 draw, coming from 4-2 down to do so. Nottingham were 2-1 up but three in a row for Ormeau, including Ware completing a personal double, put them in charge. But Nottingham’s Adam Dennison sealed his personal double by beating Nugent and James Vella Vidal then beat Earley to seal a draw.

Wymondham beat Ormesby 6-2 in a protracted fixture in which only one match was decided in three straight. The final four matches all went to five and Wymondham won three of them, the exception being Weatherby’s fine 11-8, 12-14, 12-10, 6-11, 11-7 win over Israel Awolaja.

Milton Keynes kept up their good form with a 6-2 win over Woodford Wells, headlined by Matthew Evans’ 3-2 (11-9, 7-11, 13-15, 11-8, 13-11) win over Aarav Parihar, while it was also 6-2 for Urban against Wensum.

The final round of the weekend saw the top three all win, with Ormeau enjoying the biggest margin as they ended Milton Keynes’ good run with a 6-2 scoreline. They saw their opponents fight back from 2-0 down to level at 2-2, but the Ulster club won the next four.

Perry Dale beat Wymondham 5-3 and had to come from 2-0 down to do so. Radiven lost his first match to Awolaja but his fine fightback to beat Isaac Kingham 3-2 (6-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8) made it 3-2 to his side. Awolaja’s second win made it 3-3 but Simon Noutch beat Connor Whitehead and Baldwin sealed the win with another eye-catching comeback, defeating Shun Hei Chang 3-2 (6-11, 9-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-0).

It was also 5-3 for BATTS against Urban, who refused to be shaken off, despite trailing 3-1 and 4-2. McTiernan won Match Seven 3-2 (11-9, 11-9, 7-11, 3-11, 12-10) against Walsh to keep Urban in with a chance of a draw, but Bakx won 3-1 (15-13, 8-11, 11-6, 12-10) against Barney Mindlin to complete BATTS’ 100% weekend.

There was another 5-3 win for Ormesby over Nottingham, but they made hard work of it after leading 3-0. Nottingham closed to 3-2 before Greenhough completed a personal double with a super comeback against Dennison – winning it 3-2 (7-11, 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-9). That made it 4-2, but Owen Brown brought up a double of his own for Nottingham by defeating Tom Rayner 3-2 (15-13, 6-11, 7-11, 11-7, 11-8). It was left to Ryan Nassau to seal it for Ormesby as he beat Vella Vidal in three.

Wensum remain without a win but they did secure a 4-4 draw with Woodford Wells – and it could have been better as they did so with three players because of injury.

Chris Cockburn set them on their way with a 12-10 in-the-fifth win over Zoltan Hosszu, While Wayne Mason won in five against Parihar. Wensum led 4-3 after Cockburn’s second victory, but Sinan Surensoy denied them that first victory by beating Mason in three close games.

At the top of the averages is Mat Ware, who has won 15 of his 16 matches for Ormeau, a rate of 93.75%. Radiven has lost only three of 24 and sits second on 87.5%.

In the table, the top two have breathing space but there is a log-jam from third to eighth, where only four points separate the teams. Woodford Wells and Wensum are the bottom two.

The final weekend of the SBCL Championship is on 12-13 April.