Portsmouth Tennis League fixture chaos for ladies secretaries after another washout

Spare a thought for the Portsmouth Tennis League’s ladies fixtures secretaries.
Canoe Lake's Sue PriceCanoe Lake's Sue Price
Canoe Lake's Sue Price

Last Saturday’s matches were rained off for the third week in succession and they now have their work cut out to rearrange the lost fixtures in an already crowded programme.

The only match started was a Mixed Division 3 match between Alverstoke 1sts and Southsea.

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One round of rubbers was completed before the rain set in, with Southsea taking both to claim the points,

The men’s leagues, mainly played on Sundays, haven’t been as badly hit.

A normal programme saw Lee 4ths, who have had a difficult time so far in Men’s Division 3, finally kickstart their season with a hard-fought win in a 10-set marathon against Ryde Lawn 3rds.

The first round of rubbers was shared, and both the reverse rubbers went to a match tie break with Lee claiming both for a 3-1 overall victory.

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Avenue 3rds scored their first Men’s Division 4 victory, 3-1 against Canoe Lake 4, with Martin Lawrenson and John Huddlestone winning both their rubbers.

In the same division, title favourites Chichester 2 drubbed Rowlands Castle 4-0.

Mixed Division 1 is played on a home and away basis and Ryde Lawn 1sts entertained Avenue 1sts, having previously won 3-1 on the mainland.

They duly completed the double with the same result again.

The midweek leagues have been relatively free from weather interruptions and that pattern continued this week.

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Ryde Lawn 1sts maintained their unbeaten Mixed Division 1 run when they overcame Warsash 3-1, while Avenue remained in the title race with a 4-0 win over Chichester.

Chichester’s men faced Glethorn and the former’s Simon Birks and Derek Kingaby narrowly lost the first rubber to Glethorn’s Nigel Holliwell and Malcom Watts.

They took the second set 7-6 before losing on a tie break. However, the set won proved crucial - as the rubbers were shared 2-2, Chichester claimed the extra winning draw points by winning 5-4 on sets.

The only ladies league match played saw Avenue 2nds move to the top of Division 2 with a 3-1 victory over Fishbourne 2nds.

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In mixed 2, Canoe Lake 1sts maintained their unbeaten run with a 3-1 win over Ryde Lawn 2nds.

Lake edged both the mixed rubbers, Robin Ellison and Dawn de Wilde scraping past Karl Bateman and Zyreida Denning on a match tie break.

De Wilde then teamed up with Sue Price to overcome Denning and Anne Tapley in the ladies v ladies rubbers.

That gave Lake the points, despite Bateman and Tom Carter winning the men’s v men’s rubber for Ryde.

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In the same division, Fishbourne 1sts defeated Avenue 2nds in another close match.

Carlton Green’s 3-1 success over Rowlands Castle in Mixed Division 3 was also closer than the scoreline might suggest - Green winning thanks to a match tie break won by their ladies.

DL WE rounded off the week’s results with a 3-1 Division 3 victory over Southsea.

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