Reigning champions Lee pushed to the limit by Canoe Lake in Portsmouth Winter Tennis League

Lee were pushed to the limits by Canoe Lake as they attempt to retain the Portsmouth & District Winter League men’s title.
Portsmouth Tennis Centre (from left) Ronnie Evans, Wilson Neaves, John Taylor, Macca Neaves, Martyn Cox, Matt Dyson, John Chequer, Richard 
HebbesPortsmouth Tennis Centre (from left) Ronnie Evans, Wilson Neaves, John Taylor, Macca Neaves, Martyn Cox, Matt Dyson, John Chequer, Richard 
Hebbes
Portsmouth Tennis Centre (from left) Ronnie Evans, Wilson Neaves, John Taylor, Macca Neaves, Martyn Cox, Matt Dyson, John Chequer, Richard Hebbes

In an absorbing match, the 1s v 1s pairing was won comfortably by Lee and the 2s v 2s encounter by Lake.

Lee’s Dan Eldred and Josh Maitland then edged a tie break to beat Tim Clark and John Saunders to give Lee a 3-1 victory.

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Lee 2nds’ winning draw against Ryde Lawn 1 has given them an outside chance of avoiding relegation straight back to Ddivision 2.

Ryde 2nds have struggled all season in the top flight, failing to win a match.

But they came within a whisker of breaking their duck in an 11-set marathon against Denmead.

The opening two rubbers both went to Denmead after match tie breaks, but James Cooney and Jeremy Tung put Ryde in with a chance after a straight sets win over Aaron Blackman and Matt Prosser.

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And when veteran Richard Hutchins and partner James Smith levelled the final rubber at one set all, Ryde’s hopes were high.

However, Denmead’s James Craven and Rob Peters took the final match tie break, and with it the match.

Division 2 saw Avenue’s James Green and Andy Holden paired up for the first time in a long while.

The combination proved to be too much for an enthusiastic but outclassed Fishbourne team.

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With Mark Lance and Doug Galley also completing a double, Avenue ran out 4-0 winners.

In the same division, Ryde Mead got their season back on track, after two successive defeats, when they saw off Avenue 2nds 3-1.

The Men’s Division 3 has been dominated by Chichester and Portsmouth Tennis Centre (PTC).

Canoe Lake 3rds shared the rubbers with the latter but failed to complete the win as PTC won 6 sets to 4 helped by a double from Macca and Wilson Neaves.

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Lake 2nds also play in Men’s Division 3 and they kept up the intra-club rivalry with their colleagues by beating Seacourt 3-1.

With two matches each left, the teams are separated by just a point - so this is a rivalry that could go right to the wire!

Other men’s matches saw Canoe Lake 4ths edge past Rowlands Castle by just three games while JEM Tennis 3rds defeated Warsash 3rds 4-0.

Having commented last week that Chichester Ladies 1 had struggled in Ladies 1 all season, they recorded their first victory - a winning draw against Ryde Lawn.

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Top pair Sue Foote and Christine Hutchins won both rubbers - one comfortably, the other on a match tie break.

But with Charley Goworthy and Tricia Skinner taking a set off Ryde’s Kahren Barter and Christine Harrison, that gave them the extra points.

Ventnor have had an inconsistent season in Ladies Division 2, but they recorded another win after sharing rubbers and sets with Ryde Lawn.

They claimed overall success by winning just one more game - 35 to 34.

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In the same division, Lee 3rds beat Canoe Lake 1sts 3-1 while in Division 3 Canoe Lake 2nds widened the gap at the top when they beat Fishbourne 3-1.

Nearest rivals JEM Tennis could only manage a losing draw against Avenue 2nds.

The Candlish family featured strongly in Canoe Lake’s winning draw against Warsash 2nds. But it was son Bruce who rescued his parents, winning both the rubbers he played with Alzbeta Kucerova, while mum and dad lost both their rubbers.

They did, however, win a set in each of the rubbers and that was enough to give them the extra point.

Carlton Green beat Alverstoke 3-1 in Division 4.

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The midweek “Masters” leagues continue to go from strength to strength.

Ladies 1 saw Chichester record a sixth straight success with a win against Fishbourne, while Avenue kept up their pursuit by beating Canoe Lake.

Other ladies winners were Ryde Lawn 1sts (4-0) v Warsash and Rowlands Castle (3-1 v Lee).

Avenue’s men defeated Glethorn 4-0 while Canoe Lake and Lee notched up 3-1 wins against Warsash and Chichester respectively. A

There were wins for Ryde Lawn 2nds, David Lloyd and Rowlands Castle in the mixed leagues.