Good second week for Badenoch and Strathspey’s tennis clubs in Highland leagues
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There were some great results for the Badenoch and Strathspey clubs in the latest round of matches in the Galbraith Highland Tennis Leagues.
Kingussie: The women’s A team are sitting pretty at the top of Division 1 with a 100 per cent record.
It is very early days to be making predictions but if they can match the excellent results achieved so far then they will definitely be in with a shout to take the title.
The most recent result was a fine 5-3 win at home to Inverness. The match was really a game of two halves with both Kingussie pairs having comfortable wins against the visitors second string.
The rubbers against the Inverness top duo were totally different.
First out were Marjory Deans and Helen Peebles who lost but, crucially, picked up the second set, winning on a tie break.
They went on to lose overall but taking the Invernessians to three sets helped the team win the three points.
In the second round, Anna Green and Michelle McCormick ran out of time in their 1v1 rubber but, losing the first set and then finding themselves 3-0 down when the time limit was reached it did not look at all rosy if they had been able to complete the rubber.
But, it did not matter because, had they gone on to lose the second set, the final result would haven 5-4 instead of 5-3.
The Women’s B team also won. In a very closely contested match at Aberlour, the difference between the teams was Christine Sutherland and Moira Webster winning the first set of the 1v1 rubber.
Deborah Tait and Mary Anderson lost their tie against the homesters’ first seeds. Both visiting
pairs beat the Aberlour seconds.
The club’s B team sit top of Division 4 with a 100 per cent record.
The club’s men’s quartet sit in second place in Division 2.
Having drawn their first encounter, they were given a walkover when Tain forfeited because of difficulties raising a team.
Kingussie sit in second place on the same points total as Bellfield Park B who have a slightly better sets percentage.
Grantown: The Men’s A’s match at Bellfield Park (Inverness) was cancelled at the last minute because of late call offs.
An 8-0 scoreline was recorded and a one point penalty was imposed on the Strathspey team.
The women’s A foursome are in second place, with only sets percentage keeping them off the top spot.
The team had a scare at Rothes when they won 5-4. Pauline Mitchell and Sarah Williamson won both 1v1 and 2 v 1 rubbers.
But the Rothesian first pair forced the second set to a tiebreak, which if they had won, the points would have been shared.
The reason for that is Lindsay Tinney and Rachel Knight staved off a a straight sets defeat against the Rothes second pair by taking the second set.
The three points means Grantown ladies are on course to jump straight back up to the first division. Their main rivals will be the young Bellfield A team. The two teams meet, at Grantown, this week.
Rothiemurchus & Aviemore: The Ladies A’s suffered a heavy defeat at Elgin.
Eve Wilkinson and Jo Evans managed to grab a set against Elgin’s second pair, to prevent what looked likely to be a whitewash.
Following their easy victory at Rothes, the C team had to share the points in their encounter at Bellfield.
Despite this slight setback, the team remains in contention for the promotion place.
As with the women’s C team, the men’s A team returned home, from Rothes, with the three points firmly tucked away with Finlay McDonald, Paul Singleton, Dougie Somerville and Gavin Musgrove dropping only 11 games between them.
The club’s mixed A team also left Rothes with the three points but this one was a much closer affair.
Having won the first set, Finlay McDonald and Wendy Munro found themselves on the backfoot in the second, the Rothes pair coming out, all guns blazing, to record a 6-1 scoreline.
The R&A pairing managed to steady the ship, taking the tie-break 10-5.
A tie break (this time first to seven) was required in the 2v2 rubber with Michelle McCormick and Dougie Somerville taking it, then romping through the second set, 6-1.
Men:
Division 1: Bellfield Park A w/o Grantown A.
Division 2: Kingussie w/o Tain.
Division 3: Rothes C 0 R&A A 8; R&A B 0 Inverness C 8.
Women:
Division 1: Kingussie 5 Inverness A 3
Division 2 Rothes A 4 Grantown A 5; R&A B 2 Bellfield Park A 8
Division 3: Grantown B 4 Forres 5
Division 4: Aberlour 4 Kingussie B 5; Bellfield Park C 4 R&A C 4
Mixed:
Division 1: Rothes A 3 R&A A 6
Division 2: R&A B 5 Nairn B 5.
