THERE was a mixed bag of results in the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association’s Division 2 competition on the weekend, as teams contested round 12 of the season.
With a draw between Glencoe Maroon and West Gambier Blue, along with a narrow eight-game win to Suttontown Tigers over West Gambier Red, the closeness between the top five teams is undeniable.
The remaining two matches were not so close, as second-placed Glencoe Gold easily accounted for bottom-ranked Centrals with an eight-set victory, while the same was said for Mount Schank, which claimed a solid win when it travelled to face Reidy Park.
There is no questioning the match of the round was played in Glencoe, as the third-placed Maroon team went head-to-head with ladder leader West Gambier Blue.
A clear line was drawn from the start, with the host winning every women’s set, while the West men dominated their games.
With this even split, the set count remained level at six-all after play was completed, meaning games would be factored in to decide the winner.
However, both teams had won 45 games for the day and hence were forced to share the points for the round.
Another close contest was had at Suttontown, with the host Tigers side narrowly defeating a visiting West Gambier Red outfit.
Again, the games were taken into account to decide the winner, but this time there was a result.
For the Tigers, number one man Craig Beck was the only victor in the men’s singles, with a 6-4 triumph over George White.
Fellow Tiger Trudy-Anne Doyle recorded a solid 6-0 win against Emily Jolley, while the remaining singles sets went the way of the guests, the closest of which was a 7-6 result in favour of West’s Rylan Ward over Brody Sharman.
Eyes then turned to the doubles results, which saw Suttontown level the playing field.
Winning four of the six matches, the set count was tied and with 59 games opposed to West’s 51, the Tigers secured the points.
Mount Schank proved ladder position is not everything when it made the trip to Reidy Park.
With the guests sitting second from the bottom, Reidy was one step above heading into the clash with four wins to Mount Schank’s one.
However, with the end result a solid eight-set win to the visitors, Mount Schank proved it had plenty to give.
Just two singles games went the way of the hosts, as Zayne Young and Samantha Braithwaite won their sets, while the remaining matches saw Bobby Laabadan, John Ralston, Kaitlin Nisbet and Mietta Lonergan set up a strong lead for their team.
This form was carried into the doubles games, which allowed Mount Schank to cement its lead and return home with its second win.
The final game saw Centrals on the back foot early against Glencoe Gold, as it forfeited three sets to give the hosts an easy lead.
From there just two matches were won by the guests, as number one man Ben Gaffney defeated Glencoe’s Mark Feetom 6-0 and the combination of Caitlyn and Jaslyn Poel managed a tight 7-5 win over Alison Auld and Eliza Cole.
The remaining sets were won by Glencoe, as the second-placed side denied the wooden-spooners of their second win.
This week will see a bye across all grades due to the Australia Day long weekend.
