It’s so tight at the top of the ladies league – Portsmouth Summer Tennis League round-up

A full series of matches in Ladies Division 1 of the Portsmouth Summer Tennis League saw the league beginning to take shape.
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Comfortable wins for Lee 2nds (over Avenue 2nds) and Ryde Lawn (over Warsash 2nds), followed by Ryde Lawn 2nds inflicting a first defeat of the season on leaders Chichester, meant just one point now separates all four of these teams.

Matches between Wickham and Stubbington are always very close, and this season’s encounter, in Division 4, was no exception. All four rubbers went to match tie breaks and all went to Stubbington. Summing up the vagaries of the sport’s scoring system, the losing team actually won more games (43-41).

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Rowlands Castle ladies 1sts and 2nds followed up their impressive performance of three weeks ago with another double victory. The first team demolished Southsea for the loss of just six games in the whole match, while the second team beat Avenue 4ths 3-1.

Warsash 1 v Warsash 2, Men’s Masters. From left - David Marsh, Michael Isaacs, Sean Terry, Stephen Carden-Noad, Jon Tims, Syd Quinn, Nigel Harvey, Ian CunninghamWarsash 1 v Warsash 2, Men’s Masters. From left - David Marsh, Michael Isaacs, Sean Terry, Stephen Carden-Noad, Jon Tims, Syd Quinn, Nigel Harvey, Ian Cunningham
Warsash 1 v Warsash 2, Men’s Masters. From left - David Marsh, Michael Isaacs, Sean Terry, Stephen Carden-Noad, Jon Tims, Syd Quinn, Nigel Harvey, Ian Cunningham

With Sunday’s play rained off there was only one other match completed at the weekend, in which Avenue 3rds and Ryde Mead drew 2-2.

Avenue’s top pair, Paul Skipp and Tom Dow, won both their rubbers in straight sets and while the second Avenue pair, Neil Tigg and Ian Marks, lost both their rubbers, they won a set in each. And those sets were enough to give Avenue the winning draw points by 6 sets to 4.

Once again, the weather cleared enough to allow a full midweek programme to be completed.

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Formed just six years ago with some 14 teams, the midweek leagues now boast an entry of 34 teams. Ten of those played during the week, providing 80 players with a playing opportunity that did not exist before.

Stubbington v Wickham Ladies. From left -  Michelle Gatenby, Karen McCulloch, Sandra Turner, Suzanne Johnson, Rona Thurston, Katy Guerin/Featherstone, Yvonne Richardson, Maggie AllanStubbington v Wickham Ladies. From left -  Michelle Gatenby, Karen McCulloch, Sandra Turner, Suzanne Johnson, Rona Thurston, Katy Guerin/Featherstone, Yvonne Richardson, Maggie Allan
Stubbington v Wickham Ladies. From left - Michelle Gatenby, Karen McCulloch, Sandra Turner, Suzanne Johnson, Rona Thurston, Katy Guerin/Featherstone, Yvonne Richardson, Maggie Allan

One of those matches was an intra club one between Warsash men’s masters 1st and 2nd teams. The first team boasted an average age of 73 plus, while the 2nds were much younger - average age being 64.

But age and experience prevailed, the seniors wrapping up the match by 3 rubbers to 1.

Other matches in the men’s competition saw CourtX beat Fishbourne by a comfortable sounding 4-0. But in reality, the match was very close, Fishbourne losing two crucial tie breaks.

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The Avenue v Chichester match was also decided by a match tie break, this one going in favour of the Havant team.

The only clear-cut win was for Lee, 4-0 victors over Wellow.

The ladies competition also produced some close finishes. Ryde Lawn and Chichester could only be separated by games countback, Ryde taking the winning draw point by just two games. Avenue 2nds and Swanmore also shared the rubbers, Swanmore just edging home by 5 sets to 4 thanks to a set won by their second pair in their losing rubber against Avenue’s top pair.

Rowlands Castle claimed a comfortable 3-1 win against Warsash, taking them to the top of ladies Division 2.

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Rowlands had a busy week, their mixed team playing twice to catch up after a couple of rain-delayed matches. The first encounter, with Fishbourne, was somewhat one sided, Fishbourne running out 4-0 winners, but two days later they took on Ryde Lawn 3rds in what turned out to be an 11-set epic.

With the opening rubbers shared, Castle’s men took the men v men’s rubber within ease. Ryde’s ladies were romping away with the ladies v ladies rubber, a set and 5-2 up, when Castle, inspired by 70 plus Sue Palmer, fought back to take the second set 7-5 and the tie break 10-8, giving them overall victory by 3 rubbers to 1.

Avenue 2nds shared the opening rubbers with Carlton Green, but Avenue took the remaining two for a 3-1 win.