DESPITE threatening weather on Saturday, Round 5 of Southern Ports tennis was completed, with some exciting results changing the face of the ladder.
In what turned out to be the match of the round, Lucindale Wombats just snared the win over Lucindale Koalas 13 sets to 11.
The result saw the Koalas take a big fall down the ladder to fifth, while the Wombats climbed to third.
The other close match for the round was Frances/Lucindale Eagles who also snuck over the line 13 sets to 11 from Robe Rebels.
The remaining matches were all comfortable wins which saw the Millicent/Beachport team secure a comfortable win over Kingston Crays to move back into second spot.
Naracoorte dominated again with an easy win over Robe Roosters, while the Lucindale Cockatoos went down easily to the Kingston Dolphins.
It was always going to be interesting to watch the Lucindale Koalas and Wombats go head-to-head.
The Koalas came out firing to take the top four mixed doubles fairly comfortably.
With the Wombats bottom two pairs steadying the ship, Russell Robinson and Samantha Crocker dug in for an important 7-5 victory.
The Koalas men were tough to beat in the singles taking out four of the six matches, but the Wombats women saw to it that the match was all even at nine sets apiece with the doubles to play.
A fantastic display of men’s doubles at the top with Brad Hocking and Matt Waugh holding on to take the tie-break from Tim Durik and Chandler Smart.
Another tie-break in the 5 and 6 double also going the Wombats way with Ethan Hocking and Russell Robinson defeating Sam Crocker and Toby Longbottom.
The Wombats were lucky enough some of those close sets went their way with the final score Wombats 13 sets 136 defeating Koalas 11 sets 140.
Adrian Maywald and Trevor Smart won three sets for the Koalas and Russell Robinson for the Wombats.
Millicent/Beachport travelled to Kingston and was off to a good start winning four out of the six mixed doubles.
Darcy Bateman and Sally Bateman (M/B) had yet another tie-breaker but went down to the winning duo of Hamish Telfer and Stacey Lehmann (Crays).
Bateman and Lehmann went on to have another tie-breaker in their singles but Lehmann hung on again for the win.
The Crays got another tie-breaker win when Ben Teakle (Crays) defeated new recruit Luke Loftes (M/B) in the longest match of the day, while Todd Watson (M/B) had a great tie-breaker battle with Tim Parker (Crays) and finally came home with the win for Millicent/Beachport.
The day ended with Millicent/Beachport coming away comfortable winners 17-7.
Naracoorte travelled to take on an undermanned Robe Roosters.
At the end of the mixed doubles Naracoorte led 4-2.
In the singles, Naracoorte increased its lead, with the women claiming five of the six sets on offer.
The match of the day was fought out between Lottie Clyne and Bec Hurst.
Clyne fought back from 5-1 down, to take the game to a tiebreaker.
However, Hurst just snuck home with the win, 7-6 (13-11).
Kingston Dolphins hosted Lucindale Cockatoos, with the Dolphins coming away victorious 18 sets to 6.
Four Mules won their singles, while Nikki Gluyas claimed bragging rights over her boyfriend with a win in the mixed doubles.
A lot of close games played out, with four tie-breakers.
Three set match winners were Shaun Mules, Steve Edwards, Lou Leidig, Josh Troeth, Nikki Gluyas, Theresa Mules, Jorja Mules for Kingston Dolphins.
Robe Rebels had convincing wins in the top three positions but it was the Francis/Lucindale Eagles bottom order who out classed the opposition.
The match of the day was the women’s doubles, Sarah Hinge and Mon Van Dyk against Isabelle Sneath and Lucy Perkins.
The Eagles pair of Hinge and Van Dyke fought back from 4-0 to win 10-8.
The Eagles won 13-121 to Rebels 11-125.
Round 6 draw
Lucindale Wombats v Kingston Dolphins at Lucindale (Starting time 12:30pm); Lucindale Koalas v Robe Rebels at Lucindale (Starting time 12:30pm); Lucindale Cockatoos v Kingston Crays at Lucindale (Starting time 12:30pm); Frances/Lucindale Eagles v Naracoorte at Lucindale (Starting time 12:30pm); Robe Roosters v Millicent/Beachport at Robe.
