Warsash men hold their nerve to be crowned Portsmouth Winter League Division 1 champions

Reigning champions Lee had completed their programme, so Warsash went into the final game knowing they could not afford any slip-ups against Canoe Lake.

They needed to win all four rubbers to match Lee’s 6-1 win/loss record and give them a total of 22 set

wins over the season - one more than Lee.

But Lake provided strong opposition and drew with summer champions JEM Tennis to end their winter title race.

The Warsash quartet of Ian Udal, Martin Wilkinson, Liam Hignett and Matt Pond made sure there were no slip-ups, securing the championship with a 4-0 win and the right to represent the Portsmouth League in the annual Solent Cup challenge against the winners of the Southampton League.

JEM failed to recover from dropping that point against Canoe Lake and although they finished the season with a comfortable 3-1 win over Lee 2nds, they ended in third spot.

Denmead completed the winter season for the top divisions with a 4-0 win over Ryde Lawn.

The only other men’s match completed on yet another wet and windy weekend saw unbeaten Chichester

secure their promotion from men’s Division 3 with a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Canoe Lake 2nds.

The opening rubbers were shared and both the reverse rubbers went to match tie-breaks.

Chichester’s Matt Worden and Stuart Barber have swept all before them so far this season but they were stretched to the limit by Ian White and Mark Himmens, who took the first set 7-5 before losing the second 6-3.

The Chi pair took the tie break to clinch the rubber.

Fellow Chichester players, Adam Kamruddin and Jimmy Marks, were also involved in a titanic struggle with Lake’s Rob Fairall and Ryan Anders.

The Chi duo seemed to be in control having won the first set 6-2 and held a lead in the second.

But Fairall and Anders fought back to take the set 7-6, taking it to a match tie-break.

Kamruddin and Marks regained the form to come out on top and secure a 3-1 team win for Chichester.

A 4-0 win for Warsash Ladies against Avenue leaves them top and in a very similar position to the their men's team faced before their final match.

Lee ladies lead the title chasers by three points with Warsash having a marginally better sets won/lost ratio.

But the crucial difference here is that both teams still have one game to play.

Warsash could still snatch the title with a 4-0 win in their last match against Chichester, but only if Lee lose by the same scoreline against Ryde Lawn.

Canoe Lake have secured promotion to the ladies top tier.

They shared the rubbers with nearest rivals Ryde Lawn 2nds before taking the winning draw points after taking a set in both their losing rubbers in the Division 2 battle.

Lee ladies 3rds edged past Seacourt in an 11-set thriller, with Belinda Brown and Carol Tipton being the

only pair to win a rubber in straight sets.

Rowlands Castle had to wait for nearly an hour before the weather relented enough to allow their Division 4 match with Alverstoke to go ahead.

The wait was worth it, though, as they clocked up a 4-0 win to keep their slim promotion hopes alive.

The mixed leagues have been particularly badly hit by the run of bad weather, but JEM Tennis managed to

complete a comfortable win over Canoe Lake to keep them in the hunt for the Division 2 title.

Other matches in midweek saw wins for Wellow - against Canoe Lake - and for both Fishbourne mixed teams.

The first team beat Ryde Lawn 2nds by four games having shared the sets 2-2 and the rubbers 5-5.

The 2nds secured a hard-earned 3-1 win over Rowlands Castle.

Fishbourne's first team have key home and away games against unbeaten Wellow to come with the winners almost certain to be crowned league champions.

Other results: David Lloyd 3rds 3-1 Ryde Mead (mixed Division 3), Carlton Green 3-1 Lee (mixed Division 3), Lee 4-0 Ryde Lawn 2nds (ladies Division 2)