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On Saturday they travelled to Havant and comprehensively beat Avenue 2nds 4-0 before hosting Ryde Lawn 1sts the following day in what was effectively a “winner takes all” championship decider.

The opening rubbers were shared, and with the games score also level it was all to play for in the reverse match ups.

But Helen Nelson-Smith and Ileana Melendez set the tone for Chichester, beating Ryde’s top pair for the loss of just three games. Gina Davies and Rose Leach followed up with another straight sets win to wrap up the victory.

Southsea 2nds v Ryde Lawn 3rds (from left) Mel Wallis, Roger Parrot, Tim Bell, Jamie McDonald, Dave Bridger, Mike Roibu, Geoff George, Roger Jarman.

Chichester’s men’s first team were also in action against Ryde Lawn, although they had to travel to the island. Their first season in the top division has featured some long and close matches, but they had not recorded a victory.

That changed with an emphatic 4-0 win over an experienced Ryde team.

However, Ryde did restore some pride in their encounters with Chichester, when their midweek masters team beat the Sussex club’s midweek’s team 4-0.

Other results in the men’s competitions saw Portsmouth Tennis Centre (PTC) and CourtX2 share the rubbers in Division 2, with PTC taking the winning draw points when Wilson Neaves and John Taylor took the second set off Jack Homes and Ollie Neal in the final rubber.

Stubbington v Fishbourne (from left): Persephone Hagan, Patricia Pendle, Amanda Slevin, Nicola Dawtry Jenny Nicholson, Elaine Reed, Karen McCulloch, Sandra Turner

Abshott CC and Warsash 3rds also shared the rubbers in their Division 4 clash. With the sets also shared, the winning draw points went to Abshott 39-35 on games.

The two results in Division 5 were rather more clear cut, Ryde Lawn 3rds conceding just 18 games in defeating Southsea 2nds by 4-0 and Avenue conceding only 10 games in trouncing Warsash 4ths.

Warsash ladies 2nds made a gallant effort to win their first match of the season, sharing the rubbers with CourtX 1 and playing a total of 96 games, but losing out on the winning draw points 6-4 on sets.

One division down, CourtX 2nd ladies team also shared the rubbers against JEM Tennis. In this case the sets were shared as well, but JEM’s second pair, Jane Sherwood and Axinya Smith, ran both the CourtX pairs close, winning enough games to secure the winning draw points.

PTC v CourtX 2nds (from left): John Taylor, Jack Conway, Wilson Neaves, Macca Neaves, Rob Fairall, Jack Holmes, Ollie Neal, Mark Himmens

There was yet another match in which the rubbers and sets were shared when Stubbington took on Fishbourne. Stubbington claimed the winning draw points by just four games.

CourtX rounded off their week by sharing the sets with Lee in their midweek mixed 1 match, claiming the winning draw points thanks to their men’s pair, Rod Bailey and Bob Puncher, winning a set in their losing rubber against Jim Clark and Trevor Grant.

in Division 2, Swanmore extended their winning run by trouncing Ryde Mead 4-0, while Avenue 2nds lost the ladies rubber against Southsea but won the other three. Fishbourne recorded a 4-0 win over Carlton Green.

Chichester ladies on brink of Portsmouth Tennis League title after two wins in 48 hours