The rain put a dampener on Round 4 of the Southern Ports tennis season and only two matches were completed, one at Lucindale and the other at Penola.
NARACOORTE 16-139 d PENOLA 7-88
Penola hosted Naracoorte in its first home game of the season.
The weather looked questionable but the rain held off until nearly the end of the day.
Naracoorte secured four mixed doubles, with some comfortable wins at the top.
Naracoorte’s Katelyn Baker was a member of the doubles side which was tested by Penola’s Caroline McGrath and Joshua Searle and the set went down to a tiebreak, which was won by Naracoorte.
In the singles, Naracoorte’s women won all six sets and were assisted by Will Malone, Stephen Biggins and Norbert Wende from the men’s side.
Penola’s Daniel Hackwill, Searle and Ben Wurst all won some much-needed sets.
In the doubles, Poppy and Kelsie Moyle-Read sensed the urgency and won 9-0 to secure the 13th set and the match for Naracoorte.
Four more doubles played out with only the women’s bottom double rained out.
LUCINDALE COCKATOOS 13-124 d ROBE ROOSTERS 10-103
The Cockatoos hosted the Robe Roosters at a damp Lucindale but managed to sneak in enough tennis before the heavens opened.
The scores were tied 3-3 at the end of the mixed doubles when the first rain delay occurred but there was enough of a break to keep the tennis flowing.
With scores at 12-10 in favour of Lucindale, the last two doubles pairings braved the elements to get a result.
The top Robe men’s pairing of Egan Regnier and Paul Rains both scored three convincing wins, while the reliable Mark Buckett and the ageless Pete Lawrie were dominant down the order for the Cockatoos.
Mon Crossling and Andrea Buckett scored a great doubles win after going down in their respective singles matches.
BEACHPORT 7 v LUCINDALE WOMBATS 6 (tied rubber)
The rain brought the clash between Lucindale and Beachport to an early end on Saturday.
Both teams were commended for their willingness to play and were closely matched before the rain kicked in.
Ella Crocker, Vander Maywald filled in and Tom Handbury switched to the women’s comp for the day.
In the end, a tie was declared as the rain ended proceedings early.
In Round 5, everyone will be looking for some more sunny weather.
Four games will be played at Lucindale, with play starting from 12.30pm.
The Wombats will look to cement their place on top with a win over Naracoorte, while Beachport will have a tough game ahead when it faces Frances/Lucindale.
Penola will travel to Robe to take on the Rebels, with Penola still in search of its first win.
