Picture: THOMAS MILES
AS teams contested the penultimate round of the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association, the Division 2 competition heated up with the top teams facing off.
The result was a shake up in the top four, with Glencoe Maroon overtaking its Gold clubmates to steal second position after a dominant straight-set victory over fourth-placed West Gambier Red.
The top-of-the-table battle saw Glencoe Gold meet ladder leader West Gambier Blue, with the latter claiming a four-set victory on its home courts.
With both teams out of final’s contention, the closest match of the round saw Suttontown Tigers with an eight-game win over Mount Schank.
Also out of contention, Reidy Park recorded its sixth win of the season over wooden-spooner Centrals, with a six-set margin at the end of the day.
In the battle between one and two on the ladder, it was the singles matches which decided the result in the end, as West Blue won every game to hold the advantage heading into the doubles.
The doubles games were a different story as all but one set was won by Glencoe.
West’s Maggie Finnigan and Jessica Stutley win over Ruth Thami and Alison Meyer was the only triumph for the victors.
However, the damage had already been done and the hosts took out the honours to maintain top spot on the ladder.
Also played at West, the Red team did not have the same good fortune as its clubmates, failing to win a single set against Glencoe Maroon.
A 7-6 victory to Glencoe’s Jenna Paproth and Abbie Cocks over Elzette Le Roux and Steph Ward was the closest game for the day, while a 7-5 win to Troy Clasohm and Craig Childs was another close battle.
In the singles Glencoe’s Jorja Mitchell won 7-5 over Ward, while the closest men’s match saw Clasohm with a 6-4 victory over West’s Brady Cook.
Over at Mount Schank, the hosts missed out on a win against Suttontown Tigers by the slimmest margin, with both teams finishing on six sets a piece.
The result came down to the game-count and the Tigers were awarded the points by just eight games.
A 6-0 victory to Suttontown’s Steve Dehmel over Will Seidel, as well as another 6-0 win for the Tigers’ Brody Sharam over Chris Hunt and a 6-1 result for Tom Inglis over Bobby Laabadan were deciding sets in the final result.
The final match of the round saw Centrals unable to put win number two on the board, with Reidy Park proving too strong despite the Lions’ home-court advantage.
The Bishop Road hosts managed just three wins on the day, while nine sets went the way of the guests.
A tight contest in the number two men’s match saw Centrals’ Dane Heemskerk with a tiebreaker win over Cade Kelly, while the number three men’s game saw Reidy’s Graham Edwards with a close 7-5 win over Kye Heemskerk.
The remaining sets were won relatively easy, with a 6-4 victory to Reidy’s Emily Edwards and Jayme Young over Rachel Hamilton and Jaslyn Poel the next closest.
This weekend will see the last minor round of the season played, before finals kick off the following week.
