Sport
25 February, 2023
Central Park prevails in thriller
CENTRAL Wimmera Tennis Association’s battle for top spot in pennant will come down to the final round of the season after the penultimate round saw the top three teams remain on equal points. The battle for top spot will continue with Horsham...
CENTRAL Wimmera Tennis Association’s battle for top spot in pennant will come down to the final round of the season after the penultimate round saw the top three teams remain on equal points.
The battle for top spot will continue with Horsham Lawn, Central Park and Kalkee all on equal points after 15 rounds of the season have been completed.
Saturday’s pennant matches saw Central Park survive a tense battle with St Michaels, while Horsham Lawn produced a commanding display against Drung South.
The match at Central Park was destined for a close finish from the opening set when St Michaels pair Ian Nitschke and Peter Hayes prevailed in a tense tie breaker over Justin Slade and Reece Harman.
The rubber was squared up in the first ladies doubles match when Willow Sainsbury and Sue Walter put Central Park on the board with a decisive 8-1 win.
The opening singles followed a similar path as the doubles when Nick Robertson gave St Michaels its second win with another tight tie break win over Brendan Nitschke before Sharon Clough again squared sets with an 8-3 win over Barb Crough.
Leading by 10 games, Central Park grabbed a vital break in the second round of doubles, claiming 8-5 wins when Slade and Brendan Nitschke and Sainsbury and Clough teamed to give their team a four sets to two lead.
But St Michaels again fought back with another tense tie breaker going the way of Hayes over Harman before Ang Nitschke made it four sets each with an 8-2 win over Walter.
Central Park held a nine-game break as the third round of doubles started but was quickly reduced to five game when Hayes and Robertson claimed an 8-4 win over Harman and Nitschke.
If the tennis wasn’t tense enough, the final ladies doubles clash took the match to another level when Walter and Clough played the fourth tie breaker of the day and claimed a vital win over Nitschke and Crough which again squared sets at five each and a 67-61 games lead to Central Park.
Looking to take a breather from the tension in the air, players from both teams sat back and watched on as St Michaels again took the lead on rubbers when Ian Nitschke claimed a tight 8-6 win over Slade giving St Michaels a 6-5 lead on sets and a four game difference in favour of Central Park.
The final match of the day saw a decisive win to Sainsbury when she claimed the final rubber 8-1 which squared the ledger at six sets and extended the final winning margin to 11 games, 81-70.
The match on the Horsham Lawn courts saw the home team continue its way at the top of the table with a commanding win over Drung South, nine sets 83 to three sets, 63 games.
A big start had the home team up and about early claiming three of the opening four sets after Drung South’s Logan Casey and Aaron Jennings won the opening mens doubles 8-6 over Patrick Hall and Lachie Punchard.
But the next four sets went the way of the home team before Drung South broke the run in the second ladies doubles.
Some tight tennis took place with four of the opening six sets being decided 8-6 before Horsham Lawn claimed three of the last four sets including a tense tie breaker in the final ladies singles match.
Lawn’s Punchard and Cherie Wood claimed their singles matches 8-5 and 8-3 respectively before the final singles saw Drung’s Casey win 8-1 and Lawn’s Tahlia Thompson claim the final set 8-7.
In A Special, the battle for fourth place will come down to the final round when Kalkee and Telangatuk East sort out positions with Kalkee holding fourth by two premiership points.
Kalkee climbed into fourth when they claimed a commanding 12-2 over Horsham Lawn Dorman, while Telangatuk East went down to second placed Horsham Lawn Thompson.
Other winners on the day were Central Park, Brimpaen and ladder leader Natimuk.
In A Grade, the top four is set with Haven, Horsham Lawn Bardell, Central Park and Horsham Lawn O’Connor filling positions one to four.
Central Park claimed a strong win over Lawn O’Connor in the only battle between top four combatants as Haven and Lawn Bardell claimed strong wins.
B Special produced the match of the day when just one game separated the top two teams when ladder leader Central Park won a thriller over St Michaels 79 games to 78.
Other winners for the day were Haven, who claimed an upset win over Laharum, while Natimuk proved too strong for Horsham Lawn.
RESULTS
Pennant: Central Park 6 – 81 def St Michael’s 6 – 70; Horsham Lawn 9 – 83 def Drung South 3 – 63
A special: Kalkee 12 – 101 def Horsham Lawn Dorman 2 – 61; Haven 3 – 66 def by Central Park 11 – 104; Drung South 2 – 46 def by Natimuk 12 – 108; Telangatuk East 4 – 67 def by Horsham Lawn Thompson 10 – 104; Homers 4 – 65 def by Brimpaen 10 – 99
A grade: Haven 11 – 89 def Homers 1 – 29; Central Park 8 – 83 def Horsham Lawn O’Connor 4 – 65; Horsham Lawn Bardell 8 – 83 def Drung South 4 – 49
B special: Laharum 4 – 56 def by Haven 8 – 74; Natimuk 7 – 72 def Horsham Lawn 5 – 63; St Michael’s 6 – 78 def by Central Park 6 – 79
JUNIORS
Junior open: Homers 5 – 33 def Horsham Lawn Green 1 – 18; Horsham Lawn Gold 0 – 13 def by Natimuk Yellow 6 – 36; Natimuk Blue 3 – 28 def Central Park 3 – 22
Section 1 boys: Central Park 4 – 27 def Natimuk 2 – 26; Haven 6 – 36 def Quantong 0 – 16
Section 1 girls: Haven Purple 2 – 21 def by Homers 4 – 29; Horsham Lawn 5 – 35 def Haven Red 1 – 15
Section 2 boys: Haven 4 – 28 def Central Park 2 – 23; Horsham Lawn Green 3 – 30 def by Homers White 3 – 32; Homers Red 4 – 31 def Horsham Lawn White 2 – 23
Section 2 girls: Central Park 4 – 30 def Horsham Lawn Gold 2 – 20; Haven 2 – 21 def by Horsham Lawn White 4 – 27; Horsham Lawn Green 4 – 28 def Homers 2 – 21
Section 3 boys: Round 14 : Horsham Lawn Green 5 – 33 def Haven 1 – 19; Horsham Lawn Gold 2 – 20 def by Horsham Lawn White 4 – 31
Section 3 girls: Homers 0 – 11 def by Haven 6 – 36; Horsham Lawn Gold 2 – 21 def by Horsham Lawn White 4 – 33; Horsham Lawn Green 6 – 36 def Natimuk 0 – 9
Section 4 boys: Haven 6 – 36 def Horsham Lawn White 0 – 10; Horsham Lawn Red 4 – 31 def Natimuk 2 – 27
Section 4 girls: Homers 1 – 8 def by Haven Pink 5 – 33; Horsham Lawn White 5 – 35 def Central Park 1 – 11; Haven Orange 2 – 29 def by Horsham Lawn Green 4 – 27
Match play section 5: Horsham Lawn Gold 0 – 8 def by Natimuk 6 – 24; Horsham Lawn Pink 0 – 8 def by Horsham Lawn Purple 6 – 24; Haven 2 – 12 def by Central Park 4 – 19; Horsham Lawn White 1 – 15 def by Horsham Lawn Red 5 – 20; Horsham Lawn Green 1 – 13 def by Horsham Lawn Yellow 5 – 23
Match play section 6: Horsham Lawn Gold 0 – 10 def by Homers 6 – 24; Horsham Lawn Blue 1 – 10 def by Natimuk 5 – 21; Central Park 2 – 17 def by Haven 4 – 18; Horsham Lawn Green 1 – 11 def by Horsham Lawn Orange 5 – 23; Horsham Lawn Red 0 – 9 def by Horsham Lawn White 6 – 24.