Highland Tennis Leagues round-up: Elgin 'A' Men lose out in top-of-the-table clash
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A MUCH-ANTICIPATED top-of-the-table clash in Highland Tennis' Men's Division One turned out to be a damp squib.
Bellfield Park, of Inverness, ran out thumping 8-0 winners at Elgin A to keep their unbeaten season record intact.
The homesters were without Henry Archibald and the Bellfield captain Stephen Anniss was busy looking for a fourth player on Tuesday evening to no avail. The rest of his squad were unavailable.
He decided to cancel his coaching sessions and field himself to fulfil the fixture. The rest, as they say, is history.
The other two matches in Division One were draws – with Forres A and Grantown tieing 4-4 and Inverness A and Elgin B drawing 5-5.
In Division Two, Inverness B thrashed Gordonstoun 8-1, while Lossiemouth beat Kingussie 7-2.
In Division Three, the Rothes teams are sitting at either end of the table. The As lead the way, while the second string sit in bottom place.
The A team played two matches in the week, recording an 8-0 win over Nairn C followed up a 4-4 draw at Rothiemurchus. The B team lost 8-0 to Forres B.
Women's
The big story in Women's Division One was Nairn A pulling out of their match with Elgin A.
Elgin were handed a walkover win, but Nairn B played their second division fixture – despite rules stating that a club's higher-placed team should take precedence.
There is also some doubt about player eligibility.
In Division Two, B came through what was a topsy-turvy evening against bottom dogs Inverness B.
Three rubbers were emphatically won and the fourth went to a match tie break. Angela McWilliam and Teresa Tait had a great night, losing only four games in the process of putting the team 4-0 up.
Jane Sim and Eilidh Grant came a cropper in the 2v1 contest losing 6-1 6-0. The 2v2 rubber started in magnificent style as the pair romped to take it 6-2. Going off the boil a bit, they lost the second set and also the match tie-break.
However, they had done enough to get the three points. The result means that they are level at the top of the table with Kingussie and Nairn B but lie third because of an inferior sets won to sets played percentage.
Kingussie were 8-0 winners over Forres A, with Nairn B winning by the same scoreline against Elgin C.
Rothes are setting the heather alight in Division Three. The team are unbeaten in four outings, winning 8-0 against Rothiemurcus and Aviemore D.
Mixed
Torrential rain put paid to most of the mixed card. Only two fixtures, both in the First Division, managed to escape the poor weather.
Elgin were without Henry Archibald for their match with Inverness A but were more than covered, drafting in top player Keith Meisner for this crucial encounter.
Elgin came close to pulling off a victory before drawing 4-4. Meisner and Jasmin Taylor made short work of both opposing pairs with the loss of only four games. McPherson and Sally Walker had much closer encounters.
The reason for hope came when the pairing pushed both of their rubbers to first set tie-breaks.
Unfortunately, the brave attempt ultimately failed as they lost those breakers and, fading in both second sets, were unable to help take the team over the winning line.
Rothiemurcus and Aviemore A won 8-0 against Grantown and Elgin B were given a walkover win versus Nairn A.
