Finals are drawing closer in both Junior and Senior Saturday Pennants, and all teams in contention are putting their game faces on.
Section 3 Men has proved to be close all season, and up until this week, six of the teams were still in finals contention, however, the final four now seems set after Saturday’s results.
Ladder leaders Ocean Grove bounced back from their first loss of the season against Drysdale last week, with a win at home over second placed Inverleigh four sets to two. Dean Lennon and Andrew Hamilton had their work cut out for them against Shane and Ethan Lubcke, before eventually winning 6-4 while Michael Bollard and Phil Grinter toughed out a 7-5 win giving the Grove an early advantage.
From there the teams split the sets, with only one game the difference at the end of the day, Phil Grinter winning his three sets for the day.
Clifton Springs secured their place in the finals with their 4-2 win over fifth placed Wandana Heights, and will be breathing easier with the bye this week. The Springs were eight points ahead of Wandana going into the round, so doing well was critical.
Similar to the first match, the first two sets were tight with Will Vlahovic and Raphael Nicholls winning 6-4 and Dante Nicholls and Jack Van Zyl 7-5 giving the Springs youngsters a handy lead.
From there the teams split the sets with the Springs up on sets and ahead by 5 games at the end of the day.
A highlight for the day was Raphael Nicholls winning his three sets.
The final match for the day saw third placed Drysdale host fifth placed Grovedale, with Grovedale looking for a good result to keep their finals hopes alive. Drysdale picked up where they left off winning the first three sets 6-1, 6-2, 6-0, but from there Grovedale fought back winning the final three sets 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 to tie the match on sets, but Drysdale won the match by six games leaving them three points from second.
With positioning of second and third still up for grabs Inverleigh will be wanting to do well against last placed Western Heights, while Drysdale will have to make the most of their opportunities against Wandana Heights to have a chance to move up and gain the second chance come finals time.
