The tightly fought race for the 2021-22 Mount Gambier and District Tennis Association Division 2 minor premiership took a big turn at the halfway mark of the season on Saturday.

The big winner was West Gambier Red, which is now a game clear on top of the ladder after defeating Mount Gambier Blue which slipped to third being displaced by Glencoe.

West Red started the big contest at Malseed Park on the front foot after Shuann Robinson overcame Lachlan patzel to the tune of six games to one.

But showing it was up for a fight Mount gambier Blue answered in emphatic style after Will Cameron and William LeCornu won their battles by the same margin.

The stage was set for a classic fight for the ladder lead, but the home side took control by flexing its muscles winning the next four rubbers.

The first singles win was a hard-fought set after Steph Ward and Taryn Gartner duked it out.

After six games each, a tie-breaker was needed and West’s Ward stepped up to the plate to score the crucial win.

Elzette Le Roux and Dale Domleo did not break as much sweat overcoming respective opponents Jayel van den Hurk and Rylee Seidel by more comfortable margins.

The chain of wins gave the hosts all of the momentum into the world as the doubles commenced.

Robinson and Henry Haywood made sure it continued with a 6-4 win over Patzel and Cameron.

More success followed when Robinson teamed up with Rylan Ward to win by the same margin.

The third and final success for Mount Gambier Blue on a disappointing day was secured by Cameron and LeCornu, who knocked off Haywood and Ward with ease.

The remainder of the afternoon was full of West Gambier celebrations as Ward, Le Roux and Domleo dominated the final three doubles.

Ward and LeCornu were forced to endure the closest contest against van den Hurk and Gartner.

The doubles did not give an inch and played some entertaining rallies to force the battle into a tiebreaker.

Being more comfortable on their home court, LeCornu and Ward won the pressure point as West Red cruised to a six-set win.

Glencoe made its big leap to second on the ladder after overcoming Reidy Park away from home.

Although Michael Ellis put Reidy Park on the map in the opening set, Glencoe wrestled back the ascendancy easily with some big singles wins.

Sam Auld and Declan Hurley were particularly dominant defeating Christopher Cowland and Mark Lennerth by comfortable margins.

The women’s singles also followed a similar path as Ruth Thami and Jenna Paproth also cruised to wins.

Sarah Brown ensured the hosts stayed in the hunt by beating Eliza Cole 6-3.

A 6-3 doubles win by Ellis and Lennerth could have inspired Reidy Park to a late comeback, but it proved to be a false dawn.

Feetom and Auld returned serve with a 6-2 win over Ellis and Cowland, while the Thami, Paproth and Paproth and Cole combinations were even more dominant winning by five games.

The home team enjoyed a late cheer when Maddison Kelly and Brown had a ballistic battle with Thami and Cole.

The contest went down to a tie-breaker and the Reidy Park crew finished on the winning side.

However, a four-set overall defeat forced Reidy Park to drop down from a semi-finals berth the second from bottom on the ladder.

The face off to avoid the wooden spoon proved to be the tightest fight for the main prize as only two sets and five games were the deciding factors on the scoreboard.

After travelling to Heriot Street to meet Mount Gambier Green, Mount Schank enjoyed a rollicking start.

Brendan Mcinnes was rearing to go for his singles clash and opened proceedings with a commanding six-love win, while Will Boston overcame Tim Benny by four games.

However, the tables were flipped dramatically as the hosts snatched all four of the remaining singles.

Andrew Le Cornu was forced to fight hard for a 6-4 triumph over Alex Laube, while Grace Edwards smashed her opponent.

Lucy Clarke and Amelia Hancock were the other victors.

With Mount Gambier Green holding almost all the aces with twice the amount of sets at the halfway mark, Mount Schank had to fire in the doubles and did just that.

Mcinnes and Boston were in fine form dismantling Ben Kerin and Tim Benny 6-1.

But Boston found the going tough when he stood alongside Laube.

The pair were in a fierce fight against Benny and Le Cornu as it became an infamous tie-breaker.

Eventually Boston and Lauble got the job done by the skin of their teeth 6-7.

Nell Eastough and Abby Hood also had to work hard in their rubber, but outworked Grace Edwards and Lucy Clarke.

Mount Schank’s come-from-behind triumph was secured by Eastough, Hood and Bella Laube, who rose to the occasion combining to win the final two sets 6-3 and steal the premiership points.