George shows Ryde Lawn commitment... four in a row for Canoe Lake

Susan George, of Ryde Lawn ladies II, had a very hectic weekend last week.

Ryde played two matches in division two over the weekend and George played in both.

And in the first match – against Wickham – she played a total of 74 games.

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That’s just four fewer than the maximum possible in the three tie-break sets format.

George won the first of the rubbers she played, winning the third-set tie-break, having lost the first set on a tie-break.

In her second rubber she (and partner Sarah Moore) won the first set 7-5, before avoiding another tie-break by just one game.

George then lost the last two sets – both on tie-breaks.

Wickham went on to win the match 3-1.

No doubt suffering for her efforts on Saturday, George went on to lose the opening rubber in Sunday’s match against Warsash.

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But she was strong enough to play yet another 7-6 tie-break set at the start of the second rubber, before succumbing to Warsash’s Karen Downie and Jo Kelly in a 3-1 loss.

In the same division, Canoe Lake continued their winning ways, easily overcoming Portsmouth Tennis Academy (PTA) 4-0.

That was Lake’s fourth success in a row, all but securing promotion to the top division next summer.

One division down, Southsea and Avenue 3 shared the rubbers 2-2.

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But with Amanda Freeman and Dawn Dewilde winning both their matches for Southsea in straight sets, and second pair Chris Hill and Annette Footman Williams taking a set in each of their losing rubbers, Southsea claimed the wining draw points by six sets to four.

In division four, Chichester made the long trip to Ventnor worthwhile when they took a point off the league leaders.

That was thanks to Sara Smythe and Penny Hutchins, who won both their rubbers.

However, the set they lost in their victory over Ventnor’s top pair was enough to give the home team the extra winning draw point.

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Rain on Sunday restricted play in the men’s competition, but a few hardy teams played through the drizzle.

Lee and Avenue were two of those teams and they continued the pattern of very close matches in the top division.

Eight of the 12 matches played to date have ended with the rubbers shared equally.

And this looked like being the same, with the first two going one to each team.

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But Avenue’s Cameron Clarke and Doug Galley finally broke the pattern when they won their second rubber after three close sets, giving them a 3-1 win.

In division two, Warsash II and Fishbourne proved to be well enough matched to share the rubbers 2-2 and the sets 5-5.

But the single game won by Martin Doyle and Mike Joss in their 6-0, 6-1 loss to Tom Craddock and Lewis Minnett was enough to give Warsash the winning draw points by 41 games to 40.

Chichester moved to the top of division three when their match with Rowlands Castle was rained off, with the score already at 2-0 in their favour.

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Meanwhile, previous leaders Southsea went down to arch-rivals Canoe Lake III in a long match of 11 sets, with the latter winning seven of them.

Ryde Mead II continue to dominate Mixed division four, although Warsash III made them fight hard for their latest victory, winning one rubber and taking a set in a second one.

Midweek action saw Ryde Lawn keep their mixed division one challenge alive with a 4-0 win over Canoe Lake.

In mixed division two, Fishbourne II shared the rubbers with Southsea – but took the winning draw points after claiming seven sets to four.

Finally, Avenue continue to set the pace in midweek ladies’ division one with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Warsash.

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