Ventnor men maintain perfect record as they continue march towards title

League sport can sometimes be quite difficult for teams that are not quite strong enough to establish themselves in one division, but are generally too strong for the league below.
Wickham and Alverstoke mixed teamsWickham and Alverstoke mixed teams
Wickham and Alverstoke mixed teams

Ventnor men's team fall into this category in the Portsmouth & District League.

A comfortable 4-0 victory over JEM Tennis in Division 2 made it five wins out of five and they have only lost two of 20 rubbers played to date.

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With Ryde Mead claiming a winning draw against Fishbourne, Ventnor have now secured an immediate return to Division 1.

A division down, Seacourt consolidated third position with a 4-0 win over Ryde Lawn 3rds.

Meanwhile in Division 4, FIshbourne's Phil Tite and Dick Nicholson fought hard to gain the losing draw point they needed against Avenue 3rds to avoid the drop.

They took both their rubbers to match tie-breaks, but were unable to claim either of them leaving them in the relegation places and allowing Rowlands Castle, who also lost – to champions-elect Chichester 2nds - to survive.

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Alverstoke overcame Warsash 3-1 in Division 5 to maintain their lead at the top of the table.

Unbeaten Denmead 2nds have a number of games in hand but it remains to be seen if those matches can be played before the end of the winter season.

Canoe Lake's run to the ladies Division 2 championship was brought to a halt by Avenue 2nds, largely thanks to Heather

Halliday and Jackie Edney who won both their rubbers in straight sets.

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Fran Palmer and Tracy Teasdale backed them up by beating Bette Corbett and Karen Claes in a match tie-break.

Wickham, who sit bottom of the table, surprised promotion hopefuls JEM Tennis in Division 3.

They wrapped up a fine 4-0 victory while Stubbington kept their hopes of snatching second place in Division 4 alive with a 4-0 win over Avenue 3rds.

Mixed Division 1 is one of the leagues that has been badly hit by rain delays and it remains to be seen if the season can be completed.

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But Lee braved the inclement weekend weather to travel to Ventnor where they recorded a fifth successive win of the winter.

The mixed Division 4 is also well behind schedule but that league saw two of the best matches of the weekend.

Carlton Green and Warsash 3rds shared the rubbers 2-2 and the sets 4-4 with Carlton edging the winning draw points by just two games (33-31).

The match between Wickham and Alverstoke was only decided by a match tie-break in the final rubber.

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The opening rubbers were shared with Alverstoke's Tony Norish and Sheila Batten gaining a slight advantage through winning a set in the rubber they lost.

Wickham then took the lead again when Yvonne Richardson and Peter Eade defeated Alex Bingham and Julie Farrington in straight sets.

Norish and Batten were left with the task of winning the final rubber to share the points and take the match to countback.

They so nearly did it, losing it after a nail-biting match tie-break.

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Midweek action saw Avenue ladies edge past champions-elect Chichester 3-1.

Meanwhile, Chichester's mixed team kept their championship hopes alive with a 4-0 win over Warsash.

David Lloyd West End gained a rare win over Ryde Lawn in the same division, now just one win separates the top four teams.

Rowlands Castle finished their midweek mixed season with a win over Southsea while Lee brought champions-elect David Lloyd West End 2nds down to earth inflicting a first defeat of the season on them.

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