Latest Highland League tennis fixtures throw up some local derbies
The mixed 1st division tie featuring Grantown A and Rothiemurchus & Aviemore (R&A) A turned out to be a very close affair with the hosts ultimately winning the three points.
The outcome turned out to hinge on two match tie breaks both involving the Rothiemurchus second string, Michelle McCormick and Colin Ramsay.
The pair were to lose each of them: 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 to Walter Cruikshank and Lindsay Tinney, and 4-6, 6-1, 10-7 to Matthew Davies and Paula Starritt putting Grantown up 4 sets to 2.
The remaining rubbers saw Davies and Starritt beat Wendy Munro and Finlay McDonald 6-2, 6-3 with the latter duo going on to defeat Tinney and Cruikshank.
Men’s Division 3 threw up another Strathspey derby at Grantown, this time a share of the spoils was the end result.
This was a game of two halves with both Grantown pairs defeating the Rothiemurchus second string, Robert Farrell and David Phimister.
Walter Cruikshank and Malcolm Reynolds winning 6-0, 6-2, and Angus Robinson and Chris Rose winning 6-4, 6-3.
The R&A first pair Nick Morgan and Gavin Musgrove levelled the score with a 6-2, 6-3 over Grantown’s first pairing and 6-4, 6-3 over their secnd string.
In the 2nd division, Kingussie men travelled to Forres with a draw the outcome.
Both Kingussie pairs, Sandy Peebles and Kenny Deans and Grant Davies and Rafael Salazar lost their respective rubbers to the homesters first couple.
The Kingussie lads found it a much easier task against the second string.
Davies and Salazar got out of the blocks pretty quickly, racing to take the first set 6-0.
The Kingussie duo kept up the pace, dropping only one game to make the match score 4-2.
Peebles and Deans had a slightly trickier. The first set was taken 6-2. However, the Forres men rallied as the visitors faded and very nearly lost the second set, only taking it by winning the first to seven tie break.
Kingussie women lost at home to Nairn.
The second round of the match was curtailed due to the time limit being reached, a result of a long first round, 1v1, contest which went to a championship (first to ten) breaker, eventually won by Kingussie’s Michelle McCormick and Moira Webster 1-6, 6-3 10-3.
The home pair won the first set of their next rubber to level matters after Marjory Deans and Helen Peebles lost 5-7, 4-6. It was all down to the 2v1 rubber and unfortunately Nairn took it 3-6.
Whether Kingussie might have gained the upper hand had the match managed to be completed will have to remain a mystery.
Rothiemurchus ladies A won 6-2 on their visit to Inverness.
Lauren Gunning and Eve Wilkinson led the way with 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-1 wins. Wendy Munro and Caroline Bashford, despite losing to the homesters leading pair, sealed victory for the Strathspey side with a fine 6-1, 6-3 win.
In Division 2 Grantown Ladies A team just missed the chance to go top of the table, losing to the young Bellfield Park team.
The visitors top seeds sped through both their rubbers, dropping only two games in the process.
Diane Sellars and Lindsay Tinney pulled two sets back defeating the Bellfield second pair.
It was now down to Mandy Davidson and Sarah Williamson.
Although, at this stage in the match, Grantown could not win, a two sets to love win would mean the overall result would be a draw.
As it turned out, Davidson and Williamson were slow in getting into their stride and found themselves trailing by a margin they could not reduce.
The galling part was that the Grantonians went on to win the remaining two sets, albeit the match tie-break was an extremely closely fought affair with Davidson and Williamson taking it 10-8.
The damage had been done though and Grantown are now sitting in third place behind Bellfield and Rothes.
They still have a lot to do to regain their 1st division status at the first time of asking.
Latest local results:
Mixed
Division 1: Grantown A 6 R&A A 4
Division 2: R&A B 6 Forres A 2
Men
Division 1: Grantown A 2 Rothes A 6
Division 2: Forres A 4 Kingussie 4
Division 3: Grantown B 4 R&A B 4
Women
Division 1: Inverness A 2 R&A A 6; Kingussie A 3 Nairn 4
Division 2: Grantown A 4 Bellfield Park A 5; R&A B 6 Elgin C 3
Division 3: Tain v Grantown B (rained off)
Division 4: Gordonstoun 8 Kingussie B 0
