IT was a huge weekend for Round 9 in Southern Ports Tennis with the weather shaping up for a nice summer’s day with plenty of Christmas cheer across the venues.
The Lucindale Wombats will hope their loss on the weekend to the Eagles will not hurt them too much as they have held onto third place, but the Eagles have overtaken Millicent/Beachport to sit in fourth place.
The Eagles had a comfortable 15 sets to nine win over the Wombats, but the Wombats were up against it with their captain Eliza Hanbury out and another top player, but a great win by the Eagles to keep their sights set on a Division 1 or Division 2 berth.
The Kingston Crays would have been pumped to not only gain the bragging rights over the Kingston Dolphins in the local derby, but they also claimed their first win.
The Lucindale Koalas had another comfortable win over the Cockatoos, continuing to show they will be tough to beat and have pulled a few games clear in second spot.
Naracoorte had a convincing win over Millicent/Beachport but it definitely was not a walk in the park, with many close results but the majority went the way of Naracoorte.
The last grudge match for the round was the Robe Roosters against the Robe Rebels who played for the Lewis Ling Cup.
Ling is a nine-time Division 1 winner of the Southern Ports, as well as a long-time valued member of the Robe Tennis Club.
The final result being 14-10 with the Roosters holding the cup at the end of the day.
A few tight mixed doubles started the day but Andrew Brown and Isabelle Sneath worked well with each other to win six games in a row after losing the first game to get the first set on the board for the Rebels.
So much build-up came around the “Regnier Bros Showdown,” but it was Jed who kept his cool and taught his younger brother Egan a lesson, winning 6-0.
Tim Malone also dug deep from 3-5 down to win 7-5 against the big serve of John Agnew.
The Roosters had a 10-8 lead going into the doubles for the day.
Emma Vasek and Lisa Hall had a great battle to get over the line 9-7 to Isabelle Sneath and Lucy Perkins.
The last doubles of the day were the top women, with the Rebels girls winning 9-7.
The winner of the Lewis Ling Cup were the Robe Roosters, winning 14-10.
The local derby between the Kingston Crays and the Dolphins saw the Crays chalk up their first win of the year.
The entire Mules family made up half of the Dolphins’ side.
The mixed doubles saw the Crays win five of six sets, with James Lehmann and Nicola Crane winning a tie-breaker over the new couple to the club of Rob and Kirsty Starling.
Angela Lawrie and Erika Watson played a good hour marathon, with Lawrie claiming the victory.
Two young boys played their first official match together, with Jacob Mules claiming a 6-4 over Hudson Menz.
Their fathers then faced off, with Matt Menz claiming the win over Shaun Mules 6-3.
Some more close games followed to finish the day in the doubles, with the Crays jubilant after their first win.
The weather turned up the heat as Naracoorte travelled to Furner.
The mixed doubles started with three tight sets.
Beachport’s top pair of Jake Harris and Melissa McGrath showed their experience on the court, defeating George White and Poppy Moyle-Read in a tie-breaker.
Simultaneously, Naracoorte pair Daniel Moos and Kelsie Moyle-Read scored a 7-5 win over Timothy Loveday and Lisa Duldig.
At the end of the mixed doubles, Naracoorte held a 4-2 lead.
In the singles, Naracoorte stood up and showed why they are the top team, securing 10 of 12 singles.
McGrath showed her leadership with a 6-4 win over undefeated Poppy Moyle-Read to win their third set.
However, the match of the day went to George White and Jake Harris.
The hard-hitting affair delighted spectators, with White claiming a 6-4 win.
The doubles kicked off with two comfortable wins to Naracoorte.
Beachport’s top and bottom men’s doubles scored two more sets for their team, while the Moyle-Read sisters put another on the board for Naracoorte.
At the end of the day, Naracoorte defeated Beachport 18-150 to 6-100.
The Lucindale Koalas had a 15-9 win over the Lucindale Cockatoos.
The day was away to a flyer for the Koalas who won five of the six mixed doubles.
The singles was much tighter with a few thrilling tie-breakers.
Mitchell Baker won 7-5 in the tie-breaker against Bill Longbottom, with Chandler Smart who stepped up to number one, nipping at the heels of Tim Durik to hold onto the Koalas’ number one spot, beating Bradley McCarthy in a tie-breaker.
There was a big upset in the men’s doubles when Smart and Adrian Maywald wiped McCarthy and new recruit James Phillips off the court 9-0.
It was the blunt end of the team that kept the Frances/Lucindale Eagles’ finals dreams alive against the Lucindale Wombats.
Best players for the Eagles were Flo Burgwin, Cynthia Watt, Bob Williams, Angus McTaggart and Sophie Ford in the 15-9 victory.
