Centrals/Uniting has firmed as the early premiership favourite after accounting for its nearest rival in a big way at Olympic Park on Saturday.
Reidy Park and Centrals/Uniting are the runaway leaders at the top of the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association Division 1 ladder and the pair faced off in a highly anticipated battle.
But only one team brought its best to take the spoils under sunny skies on Saturday afternoon.
Opposing star players Andrew van den Hurk and Zayne Young faced off to kick off the singles with a tantalising battle between the respective number ones.
Reidy Park captain Zayne Young endured a frustrating start with luck against him.
The opening game set the tone as van den Hurk cruised to a six-love triumph.
The win gave the home side plenty of confidence to go on the attack and crush the singles.
Mark Heemskerk had a tougher time overcoming Cade Kelly.
It was a much more evenly fought battle as each player tried to draw its opponent closer to the net and into a mistake.
The mental battle eventually went to Heemskerk 6-4.
West’s Joel Childs also brought the fight to his opponent Noah Thomas.
Both players traded games until Thomas was able to break free and open a 6-3 advantage once rackets were tapped.
The hosts domination reached the next level in the women’s singles.
Jayme Young had no answer for Ashlea Dunn as the latter dominated every game.
The six-love result set the tone as Casey Walker and Vanessa Maxwell easily disposed of their respective opponents Sharon Edwards and Maddison Kelly by big margins.
The singles clean sweep put Centrals/Uniting in a near impregnable position heading into the doubles.
The big-name men’s doubles contest certainly lived up to expectations with a thrilling battle.
Dominant winners from the singles van den Hurk and Heemskurk teamed up looking to continue their side’s success.
However, Young and Kelly were in no mood for giving in and put a tough afternoon behind them to give it their all.
Some brilliant back and forth rallies were the result and the down-on-confident Reidy Park pair pushed its opponents into a tiebreaker.
Having won everything already, Centrals/Uniting was not looking to give up its stranglehold and van den Hurk and Heemskurk snuck home.
Van den Hurk made it a hat-trick when he teamed up with reserve Daniel Moon to defeat Young and Childs.
This occasion was a more one-sided affair with the home duo going out 6-2 winners.
Despite the defeat, Childs was able to bounce back and manufacture Reidy Park’s first win of the day.
Childs and Kelly had an answer for everything Thomas and Moon threw at them to score a breakthrough 6-3 win.
Normal service resumed when Karen Mitchell and Walker came together and proved too string for Jayme Young and Edwards in a competitive 6-4 battle.
Fresh from missing the singles Mitchell then backed up the win with an even more comprehensive triumph alongside Maxwell as the pair defeated Jayme Young and Madison Kelly 6-2.
Centrals/Uniting had eyes on finishing in style, but Edwards and Maddison made sure Reidy Park could finish a tough afternoon on a high with a strong 6-3 performance.
However, the late defeat did not detract from Central/Uniting’s warning shot to the rest of the competition that it is firing on all cylinders ahead of the festive season break and the chasing pack must raise its game to keep up.
Glencoe came so close to a maiden win against West Gambier, but fell heartbreakingly six games short of victory after the 12 sets were shared evenly.
Around the courts the top three positions of the Division 2 ladder held station.
West Gambier Red remained on top after its inter-club battle with sister side Blue, while Glencoe kept up its strong form beating Mount Schank 7-5.
The big mover was Reidy Park which jumped up into the top four following an important 7-5 victory over Mount Gambier Green.
A big mismatch took place in Division 3 where the undefeated Suttontown Tigers took on the winless Moorak.
But the final result of 8-4 my had been closer than many expected, while more expectations were defied in the other Suttontown clash.
The Suttontown Dons had appeared to be the more complete team with three more wins from the first eight rounds.
However, Centrals took its fancied rivals down 7-5, while Mil Lel outclassed Uniting 8-4.
