Spring Gully Mozzies 50-4-4 lt Bendigo Lawn 85-8-8
With key players Jamie Brown and Travis Toner unavailable for the big clash,
Spring Gully Mozzies were always going to be up against it in their battle with
a full strength Bendigo Lawn.
The match started to script with Lawn’s opening mens doubles pairings of Curt
and Ward Garwood, and Stephan Butson and Michael Nihill, outclassing their
opponents. In the opening womens, as expected, the mozzies combination of Jess
Hartland and Bronwyn Osbourne got their team off and racing after a solid 8-5
victory.
The match then headed to the singles, again Curt Garwood was irresistible, while
Brad Booth scored a come from behind win against Ward Garwood to keep his team
going.
However, then the big story from this match was the stunning 8-5 victory of
Lawn’s Mandy Connors-Butson over competition no 1 Jessica Hartland. Whilst their
was many sets to be played, it was a key win for the Lawn no 1 and would prove
to be the straw to break the Mozzies back. Connors will take real strength from
the victory, and following some early hick-ups maybe the result she needs to get
her game back to its best level.
The Lawn men of Stephan Butson and Tiger Nihill performed extremely well for
their teams, scoring strong wins in both the 3 & 4 mens singles and following
doubles and mixed.
In the end it was a solid team performance from the Lawn, whilst Brad Booth and
Bronwyn Osbourn both captured 2 sets for their team.
Strath Park 57-2-2 lt South Bendigo 87-10-10
South Bendigo handed Strath Park an old fashioned hiding in there round 4
premier league encounter. In a ferocious performance South won all but 2 sets
for the day, picking up 12 handy points and relegating Strath to the bottom of
the premier ladder.
The match opened with two close matches in the opening mens and womens doubles.
Aiden Fitzgerald, in his first match for the year, teamed with Frank Ryan to
overcome a dogged Alistair and Jack Baker in a close tiebreaker. For the women
it was South’s Ashlea Baker and Erin Colman who outlasted Heather Robbins and
Paige Ipsem 9-7.
From that point in though Strath didn’t look like winning many games, much less
sets in the singles encounters. South Bendigos men of Fitzgerald, Ryan, Leader
and Kelly went on a rampage, conceding only 14 games in four stunning singles
victories.
Strath Park had to wait until the 9th match of the day to be complete to record
their first point of the afternoon. It came when young Paige Ipsem secured a
strong singles victory for her team 8-2 over Erin Colman.
The mixed was largely the same as the rest of the match, Fitzgerald and Baker
and Leader and Colman easily accounting for their opponents.
Jack Baker and Leon Retallick rallied late in the afternoon to secure 2 points
for Strath, by taking the last set of the day 8-3 over Ryan and Kelly. It was
too little to late though for Strath, who will need to lick their wounds and
prepare for next weeks task when they take the mozzies.
For South, they couldn’t have been happier. All players made positive
contributions and the form of Aiden Fitzgerald would give their team great
confidence that his game isn’t to far from its best.
Stath Park Storm 70-7-7 df Castlemaine 73-5-5
The last match of the premier league round was a closely fought battle between
Strath Storm and Castlemaine. Whilst it was top verses bottom on the premier
league ladder, the “maine” nearly pulled off a major upset, just going down 7
rubbers to 5.
Castlemaine opened the better of the two teams, wining two of the opening three
doubles through strong performances from Leigh Campbell and David Carr, and
Alyssa Cole and Jessie Culpitt.
However, as sure as the sun rises in the morning Stath Storm knew they could
rely on the experience of Terry Smith and Andrew Lethlean to steady the ship.
The two combined to defeat Matt Hartland and Shane Burke respectively, before
both went onto secure solid singles wins in the hot and humid conditions.
A mention must be made of Terry’s outstanding 8-3 win over his younger student
Matt Hartland in a high class singles clash. It leaves Smith undefeated this
year and the 66 year old shows no signs of slowing up against many rivals, some
who concede nearly 50 years.
In the women Alyssa Cole and Jessie Culpitt snared strong wins. It is Culpitts
first in premier league and should give her the confidence that she is up to the
grade.
With the match in the balance at the mixed, the Storm secured two vital wins and
gave them enough sets to secure the victory on the day.
Best players for the winners included Terry Smith, Andrew Lethlean and Jono Guy.
Whilst Jessie Culpitt and Alyssa Cole were the best for the runners up.
Section 2
BLTC Bronze 4-44 lt BLTC Green 6-60
Epsom 3-43 lt Spring Gully Sensation 7-67
Spring Gully New China 6-76 df Spring Gully Blue 4-60
Section 3
BLTC Gold 2-50 lt BLTC Red 8-64
BLTC Rafa 5-56 df BLTC Federer 5-53
BLTC Blue 6-61 df Strath Park Symmetry 4-57
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