There was plenty of movement in team ladder positions in Tennis Geelong’s Section 2 Men this week as things get more competitive as we head toward finals.
Ocean Grove got itself off the bottom of the ladder with a 6-0 win over Hamlyn Park, reversing the 5-1 loss it suffered in the teams last meeting.
The Park seemed shell shocked winning only 10 games for the day, although it came close to getting on the board in the third set, going down in a tie break.
Geelong Lawn pushed itself into the four with a 5-1 win over Geelong East Uniting, relegating the home team back to sixth.
Lawn toughed it out in the first two sets with Steve McGann and Toby Lawrence winning 7-5 while Michael Collins and Kyale Maccoll took their set 6-4.
Lawn continued its winning run in the third and fourth set taking those 6-1 and 6-0, then McGann and Maccoll claimed their third set for the day winning 6-4, before Uniting’s Sean Olsen and Rod Davies won the final set 6-2.
Moolap Black moved into third this week behind second placed Moolap Yellow, with only percentage separating the club rivals, when Black won their grudge match this week.
Black set up with a good start in the opening sets with Jeffrey Bacareza and Abbie Figuracion taking the first 6-3 and John Domugho and Joshua Simic the second 7-5.
From there the match was evenly poised with Sam King and Kyle Beattie putting Yellow on the board with their 6-3 win while Figuracion and Simic kept Black ahead winning 6-4.
Beattie and Riley Kotic did their best to help Yellow, taking the final set 6-1, but with Black’s Bacareza and Simic getting through 6-1 in the fifth, Black won the day four sets to two by only four games.
The closest match of the day saw Western Heights Uniting almost upset ladder leaders Waurn Ponds, but fell two games short when the teams tied at three sets all.
The match remained close all day with the teams alternating sets. Jeff Smith and Andrew Ryan opened Uniting’s account with a 6-4 win in the first while Jack Tolley and Ben Rankin put the Ponds ahead by a game winning 6-3 in the second.
Smith teamed with John Hambrook in the third to put Uniting ahead with a 6-2 win, before Mikaela Mullen paired with Jack Tolley to take the third for the Ponds 6-2.
The final sets were hard fought with Tano-Li Quach and Ben Rankin putting the Ponds ahead with their 6-3 win, and while Uniting’s Ryan and Hambrook won the last 6-4, it left the team just short of the win.
With three rounds to go, it seems Waurn Ponds has the minor premiership in hand with a 13 game lead, but with only three points separating Moolap’s Yellow and Black, Geelong Lawn and Western Heights Uniting the final four is far from decided.
