The top grade of the Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association heats up this weekend with some vital matches in the penultimate round before the festive season break.

The two adversaries fighting for the ladder lead – Centrals/Uniting and Reidy Park – will go head to head after the battle got even more interesting last weekend.

Both sides were neck and neck heading into round 8 with Reidy Park holding the high ground, but not for long.

The team led by Zayne Young was expected to knock over West Gambier away from home, but the Jo Sealey’s squad had a surprise in store.

West Gambier flourished on its home courts of Malseed Park to finish an entertaining afternoon of tennis all square at six sets apiece.

Meanwhile, Reidy Park’s title rival Centrals/Uniting was busy destroying Glencoe 12 sets to none.

Mark Heemskerk and Jade Delaney were in strong form winning their respective singles and doubles by big margins.

The comprehensive performance meant Centrals/Uniting snatched the ladder lead from Reidy Park and its strong form could be a sign of things to come.

Although recent form is in the reigning premier’s favour, a winner is hard to chose after both rivals shared the honours from the previous two battles this summer.

Another important battle will take place at Glencoe where third and fourth on the ladder face off.

West Gambier and Glencoe will lock horns with the former on a high from taking the fight to one of the flag favourites.

On the other hand a 12-0 defeat is the latest setback for the winless Glencoe which appears to be drifting further away from the pack.

Although West is Glencoe’s nearest rival on the ladder, it has struggled to keep up with Sealey and co in previous contests and needs to lift to score a sought-after overall triumph.