TWO Taunton Tennis Club teams, the men’s A team – who play in the North Somerset Tennis League – and the mixed A team (West Somerset Tennis League), were involved in top-of-the-table clashes on Monday evening at Blackbrook Pavilion, and both got the result they needed.

The men’s A team were looking for at least a point from their last match of the season, to secure promotion to Division 2.

It was no easy task, given that the match was against Congresbury A, the top-placed team in the division.

Oli Knowles and captain Nigel Hatfield lost 6-3, 6-4 to a strong Congresbury pairing of Dean Cope and JL Hagger, but David Walter and Shingo Yamada beat Ben Powell and Michael Holder 6-3, 7-6.

Knowles and Hatfield then beat Powell and Holder 6-2, 6-2, while Walter and Yamada lost to Cope and Hagger 6-3, 6-1.

That made it four sets all, but Congresbury took the two points for the win, with 37 games to Taunton’s 36.

This was the second time this season that the teams have been separated by a single game.

The result gives Taunton an unassailable lead in second place over Wrington A and Bridgwater, and it marked the end of a very enjoyable season for the Taunton team.

In the other match, Taunton’s mixed A team beat Taunton School A 6-4 for the second time this season, with five sets to the school’s four.

It couldn’t have been much closer; as in the men’s match, there was only a single game between them.

The result puts Taunton six points behind the school team, having played one match less.

With three matches to go, captain Elliott Rugg is hoping to be able to make up the gap and win the league for the first time in several years.

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Yeovil & District Tennis League
Mixed Doubles Division 4
Stoke St Gregory 7, Beaminster 5

STOKE St Gregory hosted Beaminster on Monday night, for what turned out to be a very strange match, with both teams suffering inconsistent periods of play, and therefore it was difficult to identify the likely winners.

Clare Graydon and Nick Butling faced Rachel and Gordon won their first two sets, 6-1, 6-2.

On the adjacent court, Kathy Davidson and Stuart Mark found it much harder going, winning only a single game in each set against Dianna and Nick.

At this point the inconsistency came into play, as Graydon and Butling won their first set against Dianna and Nick 6-0, then went on to lose the second set 6-2 and also lose the deciding tiebreak.

In Davidson and Mark’s rubber, it nearly followed the same pattern.

Stoke easily won the first set, 6-1, but then went on to lose the second set 6-2, the Beaminster pair having upped their game.

The resulting 10 point tie-break was quickly won by the home pair.

So the overall match result was five sets each, but with Stoke winning 31 games to 29, they gained seven points to Beaminster’s five.

This was an odd repeat of the away match in Beaminster in May, as that was also tied in sets, Beaminster winning by a single game.

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AT last, after three very close matches, Minehead D managed a home victory on Monday, June 9, on a hot and sticky evening.

Minehead had been thoroughly mauled in the away fixture with Taunton Vale, but they happily reversed the tables, with different players featuring in both teams, winning 7.5 sets to 1.5 and by 8.5 to 1.5 in points - a much-needed boost to the hosts.

Playing first pair, Maggie Rutty and Matt Daniel’s rubber took almost two hours.

The score was level, with a tiebreak set win apiece.

Both captains agreed to split the deciding set, as the second pair were patiently waiting and the players were anxious to complete the match in daylight.

Sue Taphouse and Tony Middleton won their mixed 6-4 6-4, and both ladies’ and men’s doubles were won in straight sets.