Section 1
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The home and away season has concluded and now the real business starts.
Corowa Blue have cemented top spot although conceding the points to Wang Hardcourt on the weekend.
Corowa turned up to play minus a women player which put them on the backfoot from the word go and upset their planning for the day.
Hardcourt struggled to take advantage of Corowa’s troubles early as Corowa hit hard winning the first 2 sets, but Matt and Chris Lucas steadied the ship for Hardcourt when they defeated Darrell Spencer and Greg Fillponi to give themselves some breathing space.
Corowa weren’t done yet as they won the next 2 sets to level things, but Hardcourt’s Chris and Di Lucas came to the rescue winning their mixed to give Hardcourt victory.
Corowa Red started the day in 2nd position on the ladder but a determined Wang Lawn arrived with intentions to spoil Corowa’s day and in turn promoting themselves higher up the ladder.
Wang Lawn struck early with Janelle Hartwig and Wendy Hogan winning 8-0, this put had the alarm bells ringing in the Corowa camp, Lawn were here to play.
The rest of the day was closely contested as most sets went the distance, but Lawn managed to hold the upper hand and keep Corowa at bay and in doing so demote them to 4th position while Lawn progressed to 2nd on the ladder.
Section 2
Wahgunyah Blue have had an impressive run since Christmas as they have taken some big scalps and dented other sides finals aspirations and it continued on Saturday when they beat Everton White convincingly who had some quite well credentialled fill ins.
Wahgunyah got off to a slow start as Everton won 2 of the first sets but the Wahgunyah team then kicked into gear and won the next 6 sets to run out comfortable winners.
Tony Jones has made an impressive return to the tennis circuit for Wahgunyah and with great support from Glen Bobbin, Fiona Rose and Priscilla Hill, Wahgunyah can put their racquets away knowing they can mix it with the best.
Everton White have had a season they would want to forget, the unavailability of their stars has hurt them, but the youth policy will reap benefits in the future.
Wahgunyah Red put paid to the fairy-tale finish for Boorhaman to play back to back finals as Wahgunyah Red swept them aside to shore up top spot on the ladder.
Wahgunyah Red have been the form team of Section 2 and appear to have a mortgage on a least making it to the big dance in 3 weeks’ time.
Once again it was Hayley Thomson, Shirley Fuller and Kirsty Tyers who lead the Boorhaman charge while Travis McDonald continues to impress and with the youth of Jesse Johnstone and Ethan Palmer Wahgunyah Red seem to have the perfect balance.
Everton Blue have flown under the radar all year and with the perennial finalists nearing full strength they appear to setting themselves up for another tilt at the premiership cup.
This week Rutherglen were the casualty of another impressive performance from Everton Blue.
Ruth Kneebone and Leanne Wood (both 3 sets) and Cindy Chalmers were clear winners for Everton while Rutherglen’s Josh Quick, Brady Hofer, Peter Smith and Emily Keys kept Everton honest.
Wang Hardcourt caused the upset of the round after they beat Myrrhee on their own dunghill and doing so ensured they would be playing finals.
Hardcourt were hellbent on proving the doubters wrong and their efforts on Saturday definitely put them to bed and gave themselves the knowledge and confidence that they can compete with the other top 4 teams.
Myrrhee have given themselves a double chance courtesy of another consistent year and this is just a blimp on the radar and not the norm.
Section 3
Wahgunyah Red (Andrew Palmer, Brett Skinner, Peter Trebely, Kane Palmer) have finished the season with another clinical display against Wooragee (Skip Peiper, Mark Knoth, Annika Knoth, William Elhave).
Wahgunyah Red have finished on top and next week they do battle with their nemisis Wahgunyah Blue.
Wahgunyah Blue (Jake Saville, Corey Hill, Matt Vogel, Liam Hill) finished their season with regulation win against Wahgunyah United (Matt Davis, David Harris, Mark peters, Kellie Storer) as they sharpened their skills for next weeks clash with Wahgunyah Red.
Predictions
Section 1: Corowa Red to defeat Wang Lawn 5-4, Corowa Blue to win 6-3 only because it’s on grass.
Section: 2 Wahgunyah Red to cruise against Myrrhee 7-2, Everton Blue to fall over the line against Wang Hardcourt 5-4.
Section 3: Wahgunyah Red to win in a cliffhanger 3-3, Woorage in an upset 3-3.
Results
Section 1: Wang Lawn 7-69 def Corowa Red 2-53, Wang Hardcourt 5-55 def Corowa Blue 4-43.
Section 2: Wahgunyah Red 8-70 def Boorhaman 1-28, Everton Blue 6-67 def Rutherglen 3-31, Wahgunyah Blue 7-68 def Everton White 2-52, Wang Hardcourt 8-69 def Myrrhee 1-38.
Section 3: Wahgunyah Red 5-45 def Wooragee 1-22, Wahgunyah Blue 4-42 def Wahgunyah United 2-27.
Under 15: Beechworth 4-34 def Corowa 3-30, Wahgunyah 7-42 def Chiltern 0-13.
Ladders
Section 1: Corowa Blue 81.5, Wang Lawn 72.5, Wang Hardcourt 70, Corowa Red 68, Chiltern 19.
Section 2: Wahgunyah Red 124, Myrrhee 89, Everton Blue 83, Wang Hardcourt 75, Boorhaman 64, Wahgunyah Blue 60, Rutherglen 53, Corowa 52, Everton White 50.
Section 3: Wahgunyah Red 75, Wahgunyah Blue 65, Wooragee 39, Wahgunyah United 26, Chiltern 4.
Under 15: Wahgunyah 69.5, Corowa 48, Chiltern 32, Beechworth 31.5.
Under 15 Semi Finals: Wahgunyah Vs Beechworth at Chiltern. Corowa Vs Chiltern at Rutherglen. Teams to supply 2 balls each.