Leaders resist challenges

Press, 3 December 1979, Page 23

Leaders resist challenges

Tennis 1

The two most recent title- ’ holders in the B.N.Z. men's < senior tennis competition sur- ' vived tenacious challenges to s hold their leading positions at i Wilding Park on Saturday. | United, winner of the grand 1 final last summer, scraped home ; on a count-back of games : against Edgeware, which is mak- < ing a better showing than most; tennis followers expected. Elmwood, winner of the cham-i pionship in six preceding sea-: Isons, experienced the anticipated i hard struggle with North Linwood, but survived because of its lower order strength. The unlucky Woolston side made a spirited bid to upset Avonside, and its loss by four matches to two was no indication of its effort. Woolston was only a few points away ;from reversing the match score, i The fourth encounter was I dominated by Shiriey, and Sum- : ner's hopes of gaining a long overdue success had virtually evaporated after the failure of its doubles challenge. The competition lead is still I in Elmwood’s hands, and it has; increased its tally to 40 points. l United is second, with 32, and then come Avonside 28, Edgeware 27, Shirley 24, North Linwood 23, Woolston 15, and Sumner 3. The former Avonside captain, Barry Knight, has certainly thickened the Edgeware tail this season. On Saturday he teamed smoothly with Michael Mooney to beat United’s top pair, Lindsay Walton and Hugh Robinson, in two sets, and then accounted for the reliable Neil Pattinson in the singles. Knight is a robust player, and his cleanly hit forehands defied the attentions of an occasionally blustry nor’-wester. Mooney, sporting a new hair style and a more controlled brand of tennis, gained an imi portant win over Robinson in ; the top singles. It was a tight i match all the way, with Robin- • son’s long reach serving him 1 well, but Mooney tightened his game and played with quiet con- . fidence, bringing off many I cleverly angled winners. United’s Pattinson and Ralph Webster form probably the toughest second doubles combination in the competition. On Saturday they won well again, and Webster went on to win solidly agaist Noel Dillon in the singles. On an adjacent court Walton sprinted to success against Simon Agar, but Edgeware drew level on rubbers with the singles victories by Mooney and Knight. The teams were level, too, on sets, but when the games were tallied United was six in front. Elmwood did not have such a close call in its contest with North Linwood, even though, Jim Martin displayed his ex-1 perience to good effect in winning the final singles against a

volatile Richard Dalman. However before this match Elmwood had a 7-4 advantage in sets, so Martin's bold finish was all in vain. i Bill Thom made a notable return to the Elmwood team after a brief absence. His canny placements frustrated Barry Finsh’s efforts and he teamed up well •with Warren Edgecumbe for a clear-cut doubles win. In the third singles, .Edgecumbe gave Elmwood a winning break when he overcame Mike Purcell in two sets. Both of them were keenly fought, for the lefthanded Purcell is in Edge-

cumbe’s league as a retriever. l It was the first time they had played each other, and it was a fascinating duel In the tup singles, Stephen’ Harley (North Linwood) was in' command against the promoted Ken Eliiott, although the Elmwood man put up a strong battle in the second set. The most spectacular match was that between Martin and Dalman. The powerful young Elmwood player won the first set in a blitzkreig, but he was so astray in the second that Martin often just had to keep the ball in play to win points. The deciding set ended, appro- 1 priately, in a tie-breaker. After first Martin and then Dalman had failed to clinch match points, the North Linwood man finally prevailed at 9-7. Woolston must have fielded one of the oldest No. 1 players for many seasons when the 40-year-old Barry Aldridge vaulted from the lower order into the “hot seat.” temporarily vacated by Alistair Chapman. In common with several other regular com-i petitors. Chapman was playing (or Canterbury junior teams. The No. 1 position held no fears for Aldridge, who played there many times for Woolston in the 19605. and he pvt up a

good showing against no less an opponent than Peter Haiuptu.* t (Avonside). The Canterbury' Wilding Shield captain did noti seem in danger of losing at any; point, but Aldridge did well to I take eight games from him, and, battled sternly to the end. Woolston’s frustration, how! ever, lay in the fates suffered by Colin Hunt and Douglas Chap-j man. Both players won their first| singles sets, only to go down: narrowly in the next two to Marty Searle and Derek McKay, respectively. The writing was on the wall for Sumner when its experienced ' second doubles pairing of David Blackwell and Ryan McCutcheon' lost to the youthful Shirley play-! ers, Mark Wilson and Russell; Pyne. A confident Brett Hib-i bert then played Shirley into a safe position in quick time, and Bruce Clark confirmed the victory by edging out McCutcheon; in a punishing singles. Results were:— Avonside 4, Woolston 2 P. Hampton beat B. J. Aldridge. 17-5, 6-3: M. Searle beat C. A-. . Hunt, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5; D. McKay beat D. Chapman, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6; T. Tyler lost to D. Lawn. 0-6, 3-6. Hampton and Searle beat Hunt and Lawn. 6-2. 6-3: McKay and Tyler lost to Aldridge and Chap-

man, 2-6, 6-4. 2-6. Elmwood 8 sets, North Linwood 6 K. Elliott lost to S. Harley, 1-6. 5-7; R. Dalman lost to J. P. Martin, 6-2. 1-6, 6-7; W. Edgecumbe beat M. Purcell, 7-5, 6-4; W. Thom beat B. Finch. 6-0, 7-5. Elliott and Dalman lost to Harley and Martin, 6-4, 2-6. 4-6; Edgecumbe and Thom beat Purcell and Finch, 6-3, 6-3. United 59 games, Edgeware 53 H. Robinson lost to M. Moonev. 6-7. 4-6; R. D. Webster beat N. Dillon, 6-2, 7-5; L. \\ alton beat S. Agar, 6-3, 6-1; N. Pattinson lost to B. T. Knight. 1-6, 5-7. Walton and Robinson lost to Mooney and Knight. 3-6. 3-6; Webster and Pattinson beat Dillon and Agar, 6-1, 6-3. Shirley 5, Sumner 1 B. Hibbert beat M. Tiffin, 6-0, 6-1; B. Clark beat R. M. McCutcheon. 4-6. 6-3. 6-2: R. Pyne beat D. Blackwell. 7-6. 6-1 M. Wilson lost to J. Hayes, 1-6. 3-6. Hibbert and Clark beat Tiffin and Hayes. 6-3. 6-1: P> ne and Wilson beat McCutcheon and Blackwell, 6-2, 3-6. 7-5. BOYS UNDER 18 Shirley A 5. North Beach 1: Spreydon 5. Beckenham 1: St Martins 5, United A 1; Bishopdale 6, Shirley B 0; Fendalton 9 sets, Elmwood B 5; United B 7 sets. F’mwood A 6.