ONLY one round remains in the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association minor season and the competition is heating up across the board.
This week saw a change in the top order of the B1 division, as Mount Gambier defeated Suttontown Tigers to leapfrog into second place.
This now sees the Tigers only a fraction of a point ahead of fourth-placed West Gambier on the premiership ladder, while Moorak Green sits comfortably in the top spot after another convincing victory over Moorak Gold.
For West, the round saw an agonising two-game deficit to fifth-placed Suttontown Crows, who are out of the running for finals contention.
The final meeting of the round saw Mil Lel return home from its clash with Uniting Church with a two-set win.
The closest match-up for the weekend was between West and Suttontown Crows, with the latter hosting the nail-biter.
The two teams finished with six sets apiece, but the Crows were able to top the game count by two, taking home the honours.
West was off to a solid start, winning the top order men’s singles, as both Cooper Hodge and Rylan Ward accounted for Suttontown’s Cameron Pritchard and Nathan Beck respectively.
The third men’s game saw the Crows’ Tim O’Neil defeat Mitchell Duryen 6-2.
These results were reversed in the women’s games, with Suttontown’s Lynda Kember defeating Charli Hockey 6-0 and Anthea Badenoch accounting for Emily Jolley 6-2, while West’s Tess Kensley won her match with Kimberley Murrell 6-0.
The doubles matches mirrored the singles, with the West men winning two of their three games, while the Suttontown women did the same.
The next closest game for the round saw Mil Lel claim the points from Uniting Church.
Winning four of the six singles matches on the day, the Mil Lel guests were off to a solid start.
Uniting Church’s Tom Telfer was able to win the top men’s clash 6-0 against Craig Baker, while number two woman Alison Clayfield also won for the hosts, accounting for Mil Lel’s Kaela McKee 6-4.
It was these individual games which did the damage for Uniting Church, as the doubles saw three wins each for the two teams, seeing the hosts with a two-set deficit at the end of the day.
Of these, the closest match-up saw Mil Lel’s Baker and Harry Robinson secure a 7-6 win over Telfer and Ian Sanderson.
Mount Gambier caused an upset to the standings when it claimed a convincing win over Suttontown Tigers in the battle for second place.
Both the men and women excelled for the victors in both singles and doubles, only losing three sets for the round.
Mount Gambier’s Jamie Clark played well to secure a 6-4 win from Tom Inglis, while both Leighton Hancock and Jim Lopriore claimed 6-0 victories.
The Tigers hit back in the women’s singles, with Casey Sampson and Molly Lennon winning their mathces, but Mount Gambier’s Lucy Clarke was too strong for Aimee McLaughlin as she won 6-4.
In the doubles Suttontown was only able to win a single set, as McLaughlin and Lennon defeated Lucy Clarke and Kate Eldridge 6-2, while the remaining games were taken out by Mount Gambier.
With finals fast approaching, Moorak Green is now untouchable at the top of the ladder.
Saturday’s clash with home-club rival Moorak Gold sealed the minor premiership for the Green team, as it recorded a convincing 11-set-to-one victory.
The Green side dominated the courts to win all the singles games, with the closest match seeing the number one men clash won by Chris Tully 6-4 against Gold’s Ryan Horrigan.
Dave Coombe and James Brooks claimed the only win for the Gold team, as they took care of Trevor and Aaron Pettingill, 6-2.
However, with the Green team untouchable in most of the day’s games, there was little the Gold side could do against the onslaught.
This weekend will see the last minor round played in all senior grades before finals begin.
