National Premier League: David Lloyd Derby continued their winning ways to capture the NPL honours for the third time in the national finals in York last weekend for whom British number two ranked doubles players Daniel Kiernan (Derwentside) was a major performer.

The Durham and Cleveland number one, who is based in London with the LTA's elite training squad, had international veteran Nick Fulwood as partner in the doubles only team competition and Davis Cup player Martin Lee and national standard Welshman Ian Flanagan as colleagues.

Other regional players were involved for different teams, Esporta Sunderland were one of the quarter-finalists and the hosts Next Generation York made the last four.

The Wearside club, after making the play-off, performed well against David Lloyd Cheadle but for the older more experienced and collectively higher ranked players of the Greater Manchester club had the edge.

But not before Esporta's first pair of Sean Galpin, the youngest competitor in all eight teams and Ainsley Kershaw produced the match of the event in beating Nick Baglin and Seb Jackson by 5-7 7-6 6-4 in over two and one half hours of tight play including saving four match points in the second set. Their teammates Adam Barratclough and Nathan Lundy were unable to better any opponents and Cheadle went through.

The host centre's quartet included Ilkley's Gary Henderson and Jason Torpey, another Yorkshireman, British ranked Oliver Freelove and sometime Durham and Cleveland player Peter Thomas. They had a comfortable 4-0 success over Windsor.

The team used Teessider Ben O'Connor as a wild card for the play-off and he and Haseez Hameed proved to be the unluckiest pair in the event losing four tie break sets.

David Lloyd Derby extended their unbeaten sequence to three years with a 4-0 win over Wrexham in the finals following a similar scoreline in the semi-finals against the Cheadle side.