Section 3 Open ladder leaders Highton Blue continued its good form when it hosted Moolap Black at Pioneer Park.
Highton’s Peter Duxson and Corey Hird came bounding out of the blocks to claim a rare ‘double bagel’ victory in the first singles and the trend continued in the singles with Brant Mitchell claiming a 6-2, 6-1 win.
Moolap rallied back to claim the third rubber with Joseph La Spada clinching a 6-2, 6-2 singles victory, however, with Mitchell and Hird victorious with a hard fought 6-3, 7-6 win in the second rubber doubles, they also claimed overall victory for Highton three rubbers to one.
Ocean Grove pushed into second spot after travelling to, and defeating, Waurn Ponds White. Ross Gibson and Mark Kruger kicked off the match for Ocean Grove with a 6-3, 6-2 win while Mitchell Field posted a 6-4, 6-2 win for the home team in the first singles.
The Grove’s good doubles form continued in the second with Kruger teaming with Adam Golding in their 6-4, 6-1 win while Gibson came back from a set down in the reverse singles to get up 4-6, 6-1, 10-8 resulting in a 3-1 win to Ocean Grove.
Waurn Ponds Red travelled to Highton to go toe to toe with its Gold team, but like their White counterparts, struggled on the day. Anthony Eyles put Gold on the board with a 6-4, 6-0 in the first singles while teammates Martin Costello and Derek Dobson posted a come from behind win 4-6, 6-3, 10-6 in the doubles.
Costello successfully backed up in the second singles winning 6-3, 6-3 and Dobson and Eyles rounded out a 4-0 win taking the second doubles 6-4, 6-3, moving Highton Gold into third, behind Ocean Grove on percentage.
The final match for the section saw Moolap Gold host Grovedale, but the home court advantage was not enough for Gold with Winter Section 3 premiers Grovedale too good on the day. Andre Attard continued his winning form taking the first singles 6-0, 6-4 while brother Beau and Jaylen Sach continued the team’s form with a 7-5, 6-2 win in the doubles.
Sach posted his first singles win for the season 6-4, 6-3 in the second singles before the Attard brothers completed a clean sweep with a 6-1, 6-2 win. The team moved into fourth, only one point behind Ocean Grove and Highton Gold.
