TOWN’S WIN AND LOSS

Southland Times, Issue 23990, 4 December 1939, Page 3

TOWN’S WIN AND LOSS

Eastern Southland

Beaten

NARROW DEFEAT BY WESTERN

Two representative tennis matches were played on Saturday. At Gore Town beat Eastern Southland by 21 sets to three in a disappointing exhibition. Play was much more interesting at Riverton, where by winning the last two sets, Western beat Town. The final result of the Western Dis-trict-Town encounter on the Riverton courts was not decided until the last game of the mixed doubles. The games stood at 11-all with two results to come and Western won them both. J. Hughes injured his ankle during his match with A. T. Baird and with the Western player leading the game was defaulted to Western. In the last mixed doubles A. Miller also hurt his foot but Western did not f accept the default and the Town captain, A. Fortune, played as a substitute. All the games were very evenly contested; in no case was there a runaway victory. The game between J. J. Banks ana A. Breen was a great effort and brought to light some exhilarating passes, both players being swift, accurate and on their toes. ’ The game between J. Gazzard (Otautau) and L. Larcombe (Invercargill) was also a long, dour struggle. Larcombe’s service, though disconcerting, was soon accepted by the Otautau player without bother. The men’s doubles, between Baird and Banks and Hughes and Larcombe was another outstanding game, the score (9-8) being an indication of the encounter. The women also played some fine tennis but all were well matched.

Though the Town men were even with the Western men, the. Western women reversed what has invariably been the style of this district by not proving their superiority. Curiously, the decisions in the doubles were the opposite of the play in the singles. A cool breeze sprang up in the middle of the afternoon and disturbed what had been a bright and sunny afternoon and umpires and visitors were glad to get to the shelter of the pavilion. During the afternoon the respective captains thanked the Riverton Club for the entertainment. The scores with Western District names first, are: . Men’s Singles.—A. T. Baird v. J. Hughes (unfinished) 3-0; J. J. Banks v. A. Breen 9-4; J. Gazzard v. L. Larcombe 9-8; D. Taylor v. A. Fortune 2-9; A. Higgins v. L. Harrowfield 7-9; W. J. Grant v. A. Miller 6-9. Women’s Singles.—Mrs Cappie v. Miss M. Mahoney 4-7; Miss D. Higgins v. Miss M. Woods 7-5; Miss E. More v. Miss M. Shand 7-4; Mrs Owen v. Miss I. Morton 4-7; Miss D. Somerville v. Mrs J. Clarkson 6-7; Miss G. Chamberlain v. Miss J. Moir 6-7. , Women’s Doubles. —Mrs Cappie ana Miss Somerville v. Misses Mahoney and Shand 7-6;.Misses Higgins and Chamberlain v. Miss Woods and Mrs Clarkson 6-7; Miss More' and Mrs Owen v. Misses Morton and Moir 5-7. Men’s Doubles.—Baird and Banks V. Hughes and Larcombe 9-8; Gazzard and Higgins v. Fortune and Breen 9-7; Taylor and Grant v. Harrowfield and Miller 8-9- , Mixed Doubles.—Miss Higgins and Baird v. Miss Mahoney and R. Sleeman 7-1; Mrs Cappie and Grant v. Miss Woods and Breen 7-3; Miss More and Banks v. Miss Shand and Larcombe 7-4* Mrs Owen and Gazzard v. Miss Morton and Fortune 7-5; Miss Somerville and Taylor v. Mrs Clarkson and Harrowfield 6-7; Miss Chamberlain and Higgins v. Miss Moir and Fortune 7-2.

TOWN’S EASY WIN OVER EASTERN

The annual tennis match between the Town No. 1 team and Eastern Southland was played on the Gore Club’s courts on Saturday afternoon, the Town team winning easily by 21 matches to three. B. Whelan was the only Eastern man to win his singles and he beat I. Shand in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. It was expected that C. Baird would beat A. J. Deaker, but after losing the first set 2-6 the latter settled down and took the second and third sets 6-2, 6-2. In the other men’s singles the Town men secured fairly easy wins in straight sets. The second match to be won by Eastern was the first men’s doubles. Whelan and D. S. McLeod played exceptionally well in this match and beat McKay and Deaker in straight sets, 6-0, 7-5. The second men’s doubles went to three sets, the result being in favour of the Town pair. Some good tennis was produced in the third men’s doubles. Scott and McFarlane, the Eastern pair, did not get going very well in the first set, which was won by Perrin and Coward 6-1. However, the Eastern players settled down in the second set and fought, hard, the set eventually going to Town 10-8. Town was much too strong in the women’s matches and won all the singles and all of the doubles. The third match to be won by Eastern was the third mixed doubles, McKay and Miss Barrett going down to Baird and Miss Sherbourne 8-9. The remainder of the mixed doubles were won fairly comfortably by Town. Details, with Town names first, are: Women’s Singles.—Mrs D. Bruce beat Mrs D. S. McLeod, 9-0; Miss K. Cutt beat Miss M. Whelan, 9-5; Miss L. Mehaffey beat Miss A. Sherbourne, 9-5; Miss L. Barrett beat Mrs E. McFarlane 9-5; Miss I. Henderson beat Mrs F. J. Townsend, 9-4; Miss J. Kelly beat Mrs D. E. Scott, 9-2. Men’s Singles.—l. Shand lost to B. Whelan, 2-6, 2-6; A. Deaker beat C. Baird, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2; A. McKay beat D. S. McLeod, 6-3, 6-3; D. Bruce beat W. Irvine, 6-2, 6-2; D. Perrin beat E. McFarlane, 6-2, 6-2; J. Coward beat D. E. Scott, 6-1, 6-3. Women’s Doubles.—Mrs Bruce and Miss Cutt beat Mrs McLeod and Miss Whelan, 9-2; Misses Mehaffey and Barrett beat Miss Sherbourne and Mrs Townsend, 9-3; Misses Henderson and Kelly beat Mesdames McFarlane and Scott, 9-8. Men’s Doubles.—McKay and Deaker lost to Whelan and McLeod, 0-6, 5-7; Shand and Bruce beat Baird and Irvine, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; Perrin and Coward beat McFarlane and Scott, 6-1, 10-8. Mixed Doubles.—Deaker and Miss Cutt beat Whelan and Miss Whelan, 9-4; Bruce and Mrs Bruce beat McLeod and Mrs McLeod, 9-5; McKay and Miss Barrett lost to Baird and Miss Sherbourne, 8-9; Shand and Miss Mehaffey beat Irvine and Mrs Townsend, 9-4; Perrin and Miss Henderson beat McFarlane and Mrs McFarlane, 9-2; Coward and Miss Kelly beat Scott and Mrs Scott, 9-3.

Town, 21 matches, 29 sets; Eastern, three matches, seven sets.