ROUND 14 of the Southern Ports Tennis saw two results a walk over and the other two quite close, with one possible upset as Beachport defeated Naracoorte.
This sees these two teams swap positions on the ladder, with Beachport moving to sixth and in finals contentions.
The Lucindale Wombats were unlucky to go down against Frances/Naracoorte who remain strong in third position, while Robe and the Lucindale Cockatoos had easy wins over both Kingston and the Lucindale Roos.
Naracoorte travelled to Beachport and the mixed doubles started well for each team, with both taking three sets.
The Beachport men stepped up in the singles to win four of the six sets and the women were even, which gave Beachport a slight lead going into the doubles.
Beachport managed to hold onto the lead, with the women stepping up at the end of the day to win all doubles and the Naracoorte men gave it a good crack to only drop one set.
The top men had an entertaining singles match, with Beachport’s Jake Harris winning 7-5.
The number fours – Beachport’s Doug Treloar and Caroline McGrath, plus Naracoorte’s Sam Baker and Harry White – had tight games, with their mixed double a tie breaker going Naracoorte’s way and both singles going to a 6-4 Beachport’s way.
Beachport’s Georgia Clarke and Naracoorte’s Sonya White had an entertaining match, with White claiming the win 7-5.
Beachport ended up victorious for the day 14 sets to 10.
Three-set winners were Naracoorte’s Steve Biggins and Jamie Bettoncelli, plus Beachport’s Todd Watson and Emma Lang.
The game between the Lucindale Roos and Frances/Naracoorte was another nail bitter.
In their last encounter, both teams ended with 12 sets all and it was down to the games tally.
It looked like this was going to happen again when the top ladies and men’s doubles hit the courts, with Frances/Naracoorte narrowly defeating their Lucindale opponents in two entertaining matches.
The final game saw Francis/Naracoorte’s Tyler Atkinson and Flo Bergwin claw their way back from 7-1 down to win in a tie breaker over their opponents Casey Weaver and Vanessa Clark.
The end result saw Frances/Naracoorte 14 sets, 123 games defeated Lucindale Roos 10 sets, 117 games.
At Lucindale the Roos faced the Cockatoos which on paper looked as though it would be a close contest.
However, the Cockatoos jumped ahead after winning five of the mixed doubles matches to leave the Roos on the hop with some catch-up needed in the singles.
They started well with Anthony McCarthy winning 6-3 against Lachie Jones and Leanne McCarthy defeating Andrea Buckett 6-3.
But that was all they could manage, with the Cockatoos claiming the remaining 10 singles matches, then four of the last six doubles to claim a comfortable win.
Kingston hosted Robe but unfortunately the home team lost easily to the hot favourites.
The top-placed Robe dominated the mixed doubles, dropping just 10 games in total.
The first of six singles went quickly to Robe but the remainder had some exciting sets.
Fraser Watts claimed 6-4 win over Robe’s Leanne Cameron 6 to 4, while Lou Leidig also claimed a 6-4 win over Alex Clements.
Robe then flexed its muscles to take all the doubles and win the day 21-3.
With four rounds to play the top three spots appear locked in but the remaining positions are up for grabs.
