Abshott clinch title in first Portsmouth Tennis League season following dramatic victory over rivals CourtX

Most of the action was conducted in the lower divisions, but such games are no less keenly contested than those in the top divisions.

Abshott CC concluded their first season in the Portsmouth League with a heart-stopping match against CourtX 4, who at the start of play still had a chance of snatching the Division 4 title.

The opening rubbers were shared, with Martin Jewell and Tim Fielder edging a second set tie break 11-9 for CourtX after Russell Lewis and Chris Weatherill had won the first rubber for Abshott.

But there was nothing between the pairs in the reverse rubbers, both of them going to third set tie breaks. Paul Martin and Nacho Messa took theirs 11-9, leaving the match, and the title, to be decided by the final 10-point tie break.

Jewell and Fielder started strongly, establishing a 7-4 lead, but after four gruelling hours in the unbroken sunshine Lewis and Weatherill fought back to clinch the tie break and the championship, 12-10.

The other Division 4 match seemed almost tame in comparison, but even here the result was dependent on the final rubber.

JEM Tennis simply had to win all three points (and hope that CourtX could beat Abshott) to have any chance of winning the title. And when they were two rubbers and a set up halfway through the final leg against Chichester 3rds, their chances looked very good.

But Barney McLarron and Joe Robinson fought back strongly, taking the second set and then the tie break to level the rubbers at 2-2. JEM still took the winning draw points but by dropping a point they took themselves out of the title race.

The Division 5 encounter between Rowlands Castle and Lee 4ths was another in which the rubbers were shared, Lee claiming the winning draw points when their second pair won a set in their losing rubber against John Marenghi and Paul Roux.

Avenue 4ths had a somewhat easier task in securing the Division 5 title, recording a 4-0 victory over Ryde Lawn 3rds.

Avenue 3rds and Chichester 1sts started the day locked together at the lower end of mixed Division 3, so it was perhaps not surprising that little could separate them on Avenue’s grass courts.

With the rubbers shared 2-2 and the sets 5-5, the only differentiating factor was the 6-0 win that Ileana Melendez and Sean Savage conjured up in their second set against Harry Harrison and Alison Clarke.

That margin helped them to a 41-38 game score overall, enough to take the winning draw points by just three games.

Newcomers to the mixed leagues, Stubbington started their season in style with three victories. But a second successive defeat – this one to leaders Alverstoke 2 – halted their progress.

They can still claim the runners up position, although Wickham, who overcame Avenue 5ths 3-1 in another match involving two match tie breaks, remain favourites for that position.

And Chichester 2nds, 3-1 winners over Lee 2nds, cannot yet be ruled out if they can beat Alverstoke 2nds.

Chichester’s midweek ladies’ 4-0 win over Ryde Lawn 1sts kept them on course to complete a double – their weekend team having already clinched the Division 1 title. Ryde 1sts’ midweek mixed fared rather better than the ladies, travelling to Lee and returning home as champions after a sixth successive victory.

Meanwhile, Swanmore continue to dominate in mixed Division 2, notching up seven wins in a row when they defeated Southsea 4-0.

Rowlands Castle cruised past Ryde Mead by the same score, while Warsash 2nds were forced to work a little harder for their 3-1 win over Carlton Green.