Portsmouth & District Tennis League: All the latest from Alverstoke, Rowlands Castle, Stubbington, Avenue, Southsea and more

Alverstoke ladies made a flying start in their Portsmouth & District League match against Rowlands Castle - but things took a turn for the worse after that.
Stubbington ladies faced off against Avenue 4ths, from left to right: Jenny Ward, Karen McCulloch, Elaine Reed, Jenny Nicholson, Sandra Turner, Sheila Drummond, Mary Robinson, Sally BarwoodStubbington ladies faced off against Avenue 4ths, from left to right: Jenny Ward, Karen McCulloch, Elaine Reed, Jenny Nicholson, Sandra Turner, Sheila Drummond, Mary Robinson, Sally Barwood
Stubbington ladies faced off against Avenue 4ths, from left to right: Jenny Ward, Karen McCulloch, Elaine Reed, Jenny Nicholson, Sandra Turner, Sheila Drummond, Mary Robinson, Sally Barwood

Both Alverstoke pairs took the opening games in their latest league contest, only for Rowlands Castle to run out convincing 4-0 winners.

Jane Mellor and Jane Whitaker did not lose another game in their opening rubber while Caron Howe and Lynne Foster won the next six games to take the first set for Castle to set up an emphatic win against Alverstoke.

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Wickham and Chichester met in the other ladies match contested on Saturday and this proved to be a lot closer.

Active Academy and Rowlands Castle's mixed teams line up in front of the net, from left to right: Lynne Foster, Dawn Wears, Matt Bennett, John Marenghi, Sophie Grist, Don Iro, Matt Grigg, Rachel HedaActive Academy and Rowlands Castle's mixed teams line up in front of the net, from left to right: Lynne Foster, Dawn Wears, Matt Bennett, John Marenghi, Sophie Grist, Don Iro, Matt Grigg, Rachel Heda
Active Academy and Rowlands Castle's mixed teams line up in front of the net, from left to right: Lynne Foster, Dawn Wears, Matt Bennett, John Marenghi, Sophie Grist, Don Iro, Matt Grigg, Rachel Heda

The opening rubbers were shared before Debbie Draper and Suzanna Troy eased past Wickham’s Katie Chamberlain and Yvonne Richardson to edge Chi ahead.

Then, when Wickham's Maggie Allan and Jane Dulson claimed the first set in the decider, it was all to play for.

But Vivienne Morgan and Debbie Wigmore battled back brilliantly to take their rubber on a match tie-break to hand Chichester victory.

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Avenue 4ths meeting with Stubbington followed in a similar pattern. The opening rubbers were shared, with Stubbington’s Jenny Nicholson and Sandra Turner comfortably overcoming Sally Barwood and Sheila Drummond.

It all came down to the deciding final rubber and Karen McCulloch and Elain Reed kept their composure to claim victory after a match tie-break to give Stubbington a 3-1 triumph.

The latest round of matches were all going right to the wire - and Sarisbury Green's battle with Southsea was even closer.

This time the rubbers were shared equally 2-2, although Sarisbury managed to secure the winning draw points.

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They had Bettina Harvey and Gwen Isaacs to thank for that as despite losing their rubber to Annette Footman-Williams and Angela Stafford, they still managed to take a set which proved hugely important overall.

Fishbourne put out a strong team for their meeting with Canoe Lake 3rds and recorded a whitewash 4-0 victory.

Chichester's men's battle with Avenue 3rds was a lot more closely contested, though.

After 10 gruelling sets, they could not be separated having both taken two rubbers apiece and five sets each.

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So, the tie had to be decided on games won for the winning draw points with Chichester (38) edging it to Avenue 3rds return of 33.

Division 1 table-toppers Warsash blew away mid-table Division 2 opponents Fishbourne in their restart league meeting.

Warshash racked up a resounding 4-0 whitewash victory for the loss of just eight games in the eight sets contested.

Carlton Green and Warsash 3rds also recorded whitewash wins in their respective battles with Wickham and Alverstoke 2nds.

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Alverstoke's mixed team fared better as they claimed the winning draw points after a nine-set marathon with Avenue 3rds.

The rubbers were shared 2-2 but the points went to Alverstoke thanks to the set won by Gordon Guttridge and Sally Goodwin in their losing rubber against Alison Clarke and Brian Wiggins.

The final mixed match saw Active Academy extend their winning streak to seven matches with a 3-1

victory over Rowlands Castle.

Matt Grigg and Rachel Heda won both their rubbers with Don Iro and Sophie Grist adding a third. Matt Bennett and Lynne Foster claimed Rowland Castle's consolation rubber.

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