Janes and Philip edge a close encounter in Men's A Division

IN THE Brewin Dolphin Mannamead Winter Tennis League Men’s A Division, there was a competitive match which could have gone either way between Chris Janes and Varun Philip, playing Dave Gale and Steve Matcham.

- DAVE AND SUE GALE

Despite some deft touches from Dave and great baseline rallies from Steve, Chris and Varun ultimately edged the game 6-5, 6-4, 6-4.

In a great game between Dave Gale and Steve Matcham, against Andy Weymouth and Bob Verey, there were many long rallies with good serving from all four pairs. Despite some stunning pick-ups from Bob and drop volleys from Andy, Dave and Steve managed to win the first set after a very close battle.

They then went 5-3 up in the second set, only for Bob and Andy to get it back to a tie-break which they won 7-4. The final deciding set was very close with both pairs still hitting good winners.

Dave and Steve finally edged the set to win 6-3, 5-6, 6-4 and celebrate their first win of the season.

Alex Cox played his first match in several weeks after having to take time out for a shoulder injury and returned to the court with a great energy level and ruthless volleying to back up Eric’s high level returning and reaction volleys at the net, which proved to be just a little too much for Phil Hore and Paul Cooper.

Paul did some great sliced serves and Phil’s backhand was solid as always and kept Alex and Eric in countless hard-fought rallies. However, Alex and Eric won 6-0, 6-1, 6-0.

In a very even match in Men’s B Division, Jon Jacobs and Mike Scott started well and managed to clinch the first set.

Andrew Regan and Dan Baugh came back strongly in the second set with an early break before Jon and Mike regained some composure and managed to clinch the last few games.