Autumn Mixed Comp - Grand Final report
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 04 June 2015 11:25
The Grand Final of the Autumn Mixed Competition at the Hamilton Lawn Tennis Club was played on a chilly but clear night on Wednesday. Hot favourites Baimbridge (Paul Davis, Doug Ward, David Bain and Tryleen Phillips) took on plucky challengers BARK (Bernie Grant, Sally Allen, Lyndel Robinson and Wally Koch) for the big prize. The players soon warmed to their tasks and the first set between Wally Koch and Sally Allen for BARK and David Bain and Tryleen Phillips for Baimbridge was a thriller. Fortunes fluctuated throughout the set and BARK seemed to be on the verge of a great win until Baimbridge rallied and won the tiebreak to take the set 7-6.
Unfortunately for BARK this result seemed to deflate their confidence and the polished Baimbridge outfit showed no mercy in the other 5 sets. In the end Baimbridge were a class above all opposition and richly deserved their Grand Final triumph 6 sets to 0 (37-8).
Captain Doug Ward beamed with quiet satisfaction as Baimbridge captured its first trophy in 15 years after many competitions where they have been very close to premiership success.
A post season review of all of the other teams revealed the following assessments;
Endangered Species (Graham Wolfe, Butch Walker, Jen Neaves, Kathy Willsher and Ken Lampard)- Ultra consistent and ultra-loyal to each other and the club. Great competitors.
Pierce Week(Willow Sainsbury, Arthur Perry, Danny Franc, John Pierce and Deb Dark) – The team that stretched Baimbridge the most during the season. Willow Sainsbury and Arthur Perry are always dangerous opponents and John Pierce is working hard to devise another variation to his surname to launch a new team.
CG Racquets (Lachlan Wark, Hamish McDonald, Tracey Deary, Alan Oakley and Alicia Peach) – Always thereabouts in matches and perhaps if Lachlan settles into the line-up on a permanent basis, this team will move up the rankings in future competitions.
AJ’s Angels (Aleesha Phillips, Bill Sharp, Cate Mercer-Grant, Maz Gough and Joanna Cochran) – Played very good tennis during the competition but need another strong male player to balance their line-up.
Easy Hit (Adrian Sainsbury, Rob Graziadelli, John Sarena and Sue Creedy) – Much improved.
Musketeers (Andrew Lacey, Marcus Winter-Cooke, Rod and Prue Evans, Amanda Gubbins) – The return of Marcus Winter-Cooke for the final rounds certainly added depth to the Musketeers line-up. Their big decision is to whether to entice Michael Kelso back to the court for the spring competition.
Mixed tennis will have a winter break and resume on Wednesday 27 August 2015.
