Section 1
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Wang Hardcourt have returned to the winner’s circle after they defeated a depleted Lawn White team. Lawn White as per the norm dominated the women’s sets to ensure they turned even at the mixed sets, after Hardcourt controlled the men’s sets.
Hardcourt had their noses in front with a tie break win to Chris Lucas and Kerrie Henderson.
When Scott Solimo and Kylie Doig were 7-6 up disaster struck. Scott snapped his achilles after attempting to run down a Janelle Hartwig drop shot which forced them to surrender the remaining games to lose the set 8-7 and keep the scores level.
The cool and experienced heads of Matt Lucas and Denise Goodwin steered the Hardcourt ship to victory.
Chris Lucas was unstoppable all day (3 sets) for Hardcourt and Lawn’s Reg Bear who dusted of his wooden racquet to make an appearance on the tennis arena after 20 years, wasn’t disgraced.
The Lawn Blue Corowa match was an enthralling match throughout which saw 5 of the first 6 sets being tie breakers and Corowa edging out Lawn in 5 of them. With 3 sets remaining Lawn held a slender 1 game advantage, however it turned sour for Corowa and the class of the Lawn team came to the fore as they won all 3 sets convincingly and ran away comfortable winners.
Scott Francis, Emily Brown, Kim Brown and Susie Bennett were unflappable for Lawn Blue while Greg Filliponi, Amanda Hemphill, Claire Davidson and Peter Filliponi ensured the match was close.
Section 2
Wahgunyah Blue stormed away to a comfortable victory against Boorhaman on Saturday. It was looking promising for Boorhaman early when they registered 2 wins in the opening sets, but unfortunately, it was all downhill from there as Wahgunyah gained the upper hand and the momentum, winning the remaining sets to cruise to the line.
Shirley Fuller, Sally O’Donoghue, Glenn Simmons and Darren Saward put some respectability on the scoreboard for Boorhaman as Tye Callow and Mitch Parker (3 sets each) were impressive for Wahgunyah Blue.
Finals bound Everton Red and Rutherglen played out a thrilling draw at Rutherglen which gave no indication to what team will have the advantage if they meet in the finals. Rutherglen gained the early ascendancy winning 4 of the first 6 sets to hold a 2-game advantage with 3 sets to go.
Everton Red can never be written off due to their experienced campaigners who have seen it all before and never get flustered knowing that the tide can turn at any stage of the match.
This week a giant Tsunami swamped Rutherglen in the form of Everton Red who won 2 of the last 3 sets 8-1 and 8-0 to ensure they would at least draw the match and it was Rutherglen’s Brady Hofer and Maddie Pianto that ensured it was a draw with victory in the deciding set.
Noel Kneebone (3sets), Jo Lucas and Rob Findlay were good for the victors while Helen Fuge (3 sets), Josh Quick and Sam Mase were Rutherglen’s best.
The Wahgunyah Red juggernaut continues to gain momentum as they crushed a Wang Hardcourt team who were optimistic of an upset after their recent results, but it was short lived as Wahgunyah took control early and never looked like surrendering their advantage.
Trav McDonald, Ethan Palmer and Max Harvey were exceptional for Wahgunyah while Hardcourts Tomo Moriya, Curtis Hines and Brad Simmons kept Wahgunyah Red honest.
Myrrhee have returned to the winners list after a small hiccup last week against the red-hot Wahgunyah Red when they brushed aside Everton Blue and have kept their chance for 2nd position on the ladder alive with 3 weeks remaining.
Everton Blue were totally outclassed and outplayed although they did push Myrrhee to the limit (8-6) in 3 sets they were never a realistic threat.
Myrrhee were best served by Di Griffin, Robyn Oliver and Dylan Van Berlo. Everton Blue’s best were Jarrod Kneebone, Coralie Peters and Rohan Kneebone
Section 3
Wahgunyah Red (Andrew Palmer, Brett Skinner, Ollie Strove, Peter Trebley) were pushed to the limit by another finals aspirant in Wahgunyah United (David Strachan, Brad Schmidt, Matt Davis, Rob Hill).
Red needed to draw on their experience to get them across the line against a feisty United team who have taken a lot of heart from the match and will expect to be a chance in the finals if they meet again.
Wooragee (Skip Peiper, Mark Knoth, Ebony Boote, Anika Knoth) have confirmed themselves the best team outside the finals race after they disposed of Chiltern White (Jamie Ziebarth, Amy Ziebarth, Bridie Murphy, Sarah Birtisel) with ease.
Chiltern tried valiantly to bridge the gap but Wooragee were cleaner under pressure and ran out easy winners.
The honours go to Wahgunyah Gold ( Jake Goddard, Shaun Moore, Bailey Holmes, Ben Plemming) in another thrilling finals rehearsal match against Wahgunyah Black (Jake Saville, Mat Vogel, Corey Hill, Liam Hill).
Both teams will be confident of victory if they meet in the finals, but this week Gold were more composed when the pressure was on.
Results
Section 1
Lawn Blue 5-68 def Corowa 4-54, Wang Hardcourt 5-53 def Lawn White 4-47
Section 2
Wahgunyah Red 7-66 def Wang Hardcourt 2-30, Myrrhee 8-70 def Everton Blue 1-43, Rutherglen 5-46 drew Everton Red 4-54, Wahgunyah Blue 6-64 def Boorhaman 3-44
Section 3
Wahgunyah Red 4-39 def Wahgunyah United 2-35, Wahgunyah Gold 3-42 def Wahgunyah Black 3-36, Wooragee 6-48 def Chiltern White 0-23
Ladder
Section 1
Lawn Blue 66, Lawn White 58.5, Corowa 49, Wang Hardcourt 44.5
Section 2
Wahgunyah Red 81, Everton Red 74, Myrrhee 69.5, Rutherglen 63, Wang Hardcourt 50, Wahgunyah Blue 39, Everton Blue 36, Boorhaman 23.5
Section 3
Wahgunyah Red 52.5, Wahgunyah Black 46, Wahgunyah Gold 45, Wahgunyah United 36.5, Wooragee 27, Chiltern Red 19, Chiltern White 6.5