It was a tense week for Tuesday Women’s Section 5, almost two-thirds into the season and all six teams still capable of making finals, with Portarlington and Hamlyn Park only five points outside the four.
Portarlington stayed in touch with an away from home win against third placed Grovedale Black.
The match was hard fought with the wind playing tricks, but Maryanne Bose and Dianne Hutchinson got through the first 6-4 while Grovedale’s Vicki Castven and Kerry Carlin took the second 7-5. Port pulled ahead with Lynne Treloar teaming with Bose for a 6-2 win while Hutchinson and Wendy McLennan pulled out another tough win 7-5.
Castven and long-time doubles partner Therese Wilson kept Grovedale in touch with a 6-4 win, but with Bose and McLennan winning 6-3, Bose got her third set for the day and the win went to Portarlington.
Grovedale’s day didn’t get much better when their Yellow team travelled to Clifton Springs.
Yellow, sitting in second were six points ahead of the fourth placed Springs, and after their last outing decided by only two games, this week was bound to be interesting. Marita Thurman and Beverley Draper got the Springs on the board with a 6-4 win, not to be outdone by teammates Mary-Jane O’Brien and Carol Spivey, who did the same.
Dora Abdullah and Stacey Jensen got Grovedale on the board taking the third 6-2, but Thurman and Spivey kept Clifton Springs ahead taking the fourth 6-1.
Jensen and Jinara Schmidt kept Grovedale in contention, blasting a 6-0 win in the sixth, but Draper and Spivey pulled out a 6-4 win, Spivey’s third set for the morning, to take the match 4-2 pulling them closer to their rivals on the ladder.
Wandana Heights started the day only three points ahead of Grovedale Yellow, but with their loss and a 5-1 win over Hamlyn Park, the Heights stretched their lead to eight. The home team picked up the first set with Catherine Thomson and Penny Leishman winning 6-2 while Hamlyn Park’s Robyn Payne and Janeene Barry took the second 6-4.
From there, however, the Heights took control, dropping only five games in the remaining four sets with Anita Dobney and Nerida Potter also contributing to the win.
While Wandana have pulled away at the top of the ladder, the rest of the teams have bunched with only 16 points between second and sixth, six between second and fourth and Portarlington only five points outside the four. The next round will be round 10 and everyone will have played each other twice, which may give us a preview of where the teams will finish after round 15.
