LOCAL TENNIS Donna Schoenmaekers
It was put up or shut up for Tennis Geelong’s junior and senior players in the final round of the home-and-away season last Saturday.
In the Section 2 mixed seniors three teams battled for fourth spot with Portarlington (fourth) just one premiership point ahead of opponent Wandana Heights (fifth) going into the round, and Ocean Grove (sixth) another point back.
Portarlington would have hoped for a repeat of its comfortable 4-2 win against Wandana Heights in round 7.
But last Saturday started badly for Portarlington with Wandana making the most of its home court advantage to take the first two sets 6-2, 7-5.
The men’s set put Portarlington on the board with a 6-2 win, but Tania de Koning-Ward and Robyn O’Donoghue countered for Wandana in the ladies taking a tight set 7-5.
The final two sets saw Wandana take a comfortable win in the fifth 6-2 and go down in a tie-break in the final set, with the 4-2 win pushing them past Portarlington into fourth.
The win left Ocean Grove needing a straight-sets victory over seventh-placed Waurn Ponds to leapfrog into fourth.
But Waurn Ponds proved too tough an opponent at home for an easy scalp, with Ocean Grove only able to eke out a four-game win with the sets level at three-all.
The match seesawed throughout the day with five sets decided by just two games.
The difference came in the men’s set where Lochie Treharne and Beau McGoldrick blasted their opponents 6-0 to give Ocean Grove the win on games.
Ocean Grove passed Portarlington but finished agonisingly short in fifth.
Top team Moolap cemented their place as minor premiers with a 6-0 win over wooden-spooners Anglesea.
With only one loss for the season, the team of Courtney Leech, Sophie de Wit, Lachie Edgar and Mark Core are showing ominous form leading into the first semi-final against Grovedale Black.
The two teams played each other twice in an interrupted season with one win each, so it will be a match to watch.
The final clash of the round was a grudge match between Grovedale’s second-placed Black and third-placed Yellow.
Black were four points ahead at the start of the day so, with a lower percentage, Yellow needed a 5-1 win to push past their club rivals.
But Black had other ideas and came out strong taking the first two comfortably 6-2, 6-3.
Yellow’s men rallied to take their set 6-2 but in the ladies Bronwyn Attard and Lynette Marshall proved too consistent taking the next 6-4 for Black.
Black took the final two 6-1, 7-6, consolidating second place and a double-chance final against Moolap, with Yellow now facing a sudden-death clash against Wandana Heights next Saturday.
