There were some mixed results in round 10 of the Southern Ports Tennis Season, the last round heading into the summer break.
Naracoorte were careful not to fall short to Penola for the second time this season, producing a strong team for a solid win.
Lucindale Wombats took it right to the undefeated Frances/Lucindale Eagles, a last set win ensuring the Eagles remain undefeated.
And at Robe, the Rebels took home the Louis Ling Cup for the second year in a row.
Naracoorte – 19-151 def. Penola Rangers 5-80
Naracoorte hosted Penola on Saturday afternoon in perfect tennis conditions, 30 degrees and not a breath of wind.
The Naracoorte men and women must have finally developed some chemistry as they won five of the six mixed doubles with Penola’s Chris Holden and Daniel Hackwill getting the job done against Naracoorte young guns Sid Malone and Poppy Moyle-Read.
After a few cans were cracked and afternoon smoko was served we got into the singles.
It was a similar story to the mixed with Penola’s number 1s again proving too strong for Naracoorte, however Naracoorte took the balance of the singles.
Well done to Lucy Midwinter and Michelle Moyle-Read for both having 6-0 wins.
This left the score at the end of the singles Naracoorte – 15 sets to Penola three sets.
Naracoorte may have already won the day but the competitive spirit did not drop off for the doubles.
The match of the day would have to have to be the bottom men’s doubles, congratulations to Tim Finch and Pete Bissell for mounting a late comeback to beat, in a tie-break, the duo of Norbert Wende who was showing impressive mental strength deep into the match, and Darcy Blacker who was serving some absolute rockets.
Three set winners for Naracoorte were Max Malone, Jack Grundy, Kelsie Moyle-Read, Michelle Moyle-Read, Sam Baker, Lucy Midwinter and Katelyn Baker.
A special congratulations to Daniel Hackwill who came up against a very strong opponent and was Penola’s sole three set winner.
Frances/Lucindale Eagles 12-120 def. Lucindale Wombats 12-114
It was a cracker of a day for tennis at Apsley and there were many cracking matches played.
Andrea Buckett, the Wombats captain, certainly led by example and played some textbook tennis to win two out of three matches for the day.
Toby Longbottom (Wombats) played at number two lady and served up many game winning points that enabled the Wombats to hit the front late into the day.
The final fixture before Christmas was decided in the last set, the top men’s doubles.
When the second last match ended between Bob Williams/Oliver Close and Adrian Maywald/Mark Bucket the Wombats had the lead 12-11 but the game score was 111 games each.
Fortunately, the Eagles combination of Crossling and Fudge won 9-3 over McKinnon/Ogilvie to enable the Eagles another victory, only by six games.
Three set winners for the Eagles were James Crossling, Flo Burgwin, Jane Fitzgerald and Hayley Crossling.
Robe Roosters 9-110 def. by Robe Rebels 15-126
The build up for the classic Robe vs Robe derby and sponsors day is always big and a few changes to both sides made it a interesting feel on who would come away with the win.
The Rebels got the jump winning 4/6 mixed but the match to start us off for the day was the combination of Laurie and Ling from the Roosters pipping Malone and Drabsch in a tiebreaker.
Again Rebels just did enough to extend the lead through the singles winning 7 to 5 as the sponsors started to roll up and the drinks were flowing and the spread of afternoon tea being superb.
The women on the Rebels finished off strongly winning all doubles to bring home the win 15-9 and taking the Lewis Ling Cup home for a second year in a row.
Kingston Crays v Beachport Buccaneers – no result provided
Beachport Pirates def. Lucindale Koalas – by forfeit
Round 11
Tennis will return to the Limestone Coast on January 11 with matches spread along the coast and at Lucindale.
With only five short rounds before the grand final, finals spots in the Division 2 and 3 are up still up for grabs.
