It was Round 12 this week in Tennis Geelong Junior Pennant, and with three rounds left to play everyone is playing for finals position, and this is especially the case in 7 Boys.
At the start of the day Barwon Heads in sixth place were only nine points out of the four, and they closed this to seven with a win by the narrowest of margins against second placed Highton. Both teams had posted a win in their two previous encounters and this week was another great contest between two evenly matched teams.
The match was played in great spirits and the boys had fun and showed terrific sportsmanship throughout the day. The match started with doubles, and both teams took a set with Lachie Bromley and Harvey Thompson getting the first for Highton 6-4 while Sonny Duvall and Harry McKellar gave the Heads a slight lead winning 6-2.
The singles went two each way leaving the teams tied on sets, but the Heads finished with a one-game advantage, giving them the two points for the win and keeping them in finals contention.
Ladder leaders Surfcoast Jan Juc had their hands full when they hosted Geelong Lawn in another close encounter. Jan Juc played well in the first two singles with Tom Kemp and Nathan Long winning 6-1, 6-2, while Lawn did the same in the remaining singles with Campbell Ryan and Oliver Chudoschnik levelling the match with 6-0, 6-3 wins.
Ryan and Chudoschnik took the second doubles for Lawn 6-2, but Kemp and Long came through for Jan Juc in the first 6-0, giving them a two game lead with the sets tied at 3-all. The result leaves Jan Juc with a slightly larger lead on Highton while Lawn remain five points out of the four.
It was third versus fourth in the final match of the round, and with only two points between them and with both teams having wins at home in their previous matches, it was difficult to predict the outcome.
The match started with the doubles, and in two long sets Bannockburn prevailed with Mitchell Showler and Thomas Crossley winning a tie-break in the first while Charlie Morgan and William Crossley did the same in the second.
Bannockburn continued with their good form with Morgan and William Crossley winning their singles 6-4, 6-2, before Nate Schoenmaekers put Grovedale on the board winning his set 6-3. The final set saw Thomas Crossley get over the line in the third tie-break for the day, giving his team a 5-1 win, but by only eight games.
The win pushed Bannockburn ahead of Grovedale, and with sudden death finals for the six team section this positioning could be important once finals come around.
With the section so tight every match is important and all teams need to be playing well to ensure they make finals and give them the best chance of making it through to the grand final.
