Galbraith Highlands Tennis League title chase hots up as Elgin ladies stay on course while Rothes mixed team continue fine form
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Elgin Ladies A continued their quest to retain the Galbraith Highland s League Division 1 title with a 6-2 home win over Grantown.
The result leaves the Strathspey women at the foot of the table, facing almost certain relegation.
June Buchan and Jasmin Taylor lost only three games in the four sets played. Second seeds, Isla Dickinson and Riana Oescheger lost their first round rubber (1-6, 3-6).
For Grantown to have any chance of forcing a draw, they had to win the 2v1 rubber. Set number one was a tightly-fought affair with Dickinson and Oescheger holding their own against the more fancied visiting pair.
It went all the way to 6-6 when the first to seven tie-break came into play. The Duff Avenue side made a valiant effort but couldn’t find the killer touch that would have settled the set and the match. Having spent so much energy, the Elgin pair totally faded in the second set, going down 6-0.
With the 2v2 contest remaining, the score sat at 4-2 to Elgin. A rejuvenated Dickinson and Oeschger stamped their authority from the get go, eventually winning 6-1, 6-3.
The club’s C team had an easy ride at home to Nairn B. Angela McWilliam and Fiona Coull won 6-0, 6-1; won 6-1, 6-0. Teresa Tait and Sarah Macdonald won 7-6, 6-3; won 6-1, 6-0.
Also in Division 2, the Elgin second team’s unbeaten record came crashing down in spectacular style, losing 8-1 against Inverness. Their promotion hopes are still very much alive despite the hammering they received. Angela McWilliam and Hilary Cromar lost 3-6, 3-6; lost 5-7, 6-2, 5-10. Lorna Bain and Irene Stables lost 0-6, 0-6; lost 6-1, 6-0.
Rothes ladies had to travel to Rothiemurchus with only one pair. The match could still be drawn but it meant that the visitors had to win both their rubbers in straight sets. Marjory Stronach and Jane Sim set off with gusto and had soon secured the scalp of the Strathspey sde’s second pair (6-0, 6-3).
Then came the crunch - could they dispatch the top seeds with the same ease? Or, if not, could they sneak a two set victory? The latter was more likely to be the outcome. The contest was a very nervy affair but Stronach and Sim gradually edged ahead to go one set up (6-4). Rothes was still in it for a share of the points but the homesters had other ideas, reversing the first set scoreline. And so the dream came to an end. The pair went on to take the first-to-ten match tie-break 10-5 but it was the hosts who were smiling as that one set taken was enough to provide a 5-4 home win.
In Division 3, Forres B lost 8-1 against Grantown B. Sharon Carmichael and Paula Phillips lost 3-6, 5-7; lost 6-4, 5-7, 12-14. Isobel Howard and Annerle Douglas lost 3-6, 2-6; lost 0-6, 6-7.
In the men's league, Elgin A continued their forlorn chase to catch up with the all-conquering Bellfield Park with the foursome seeing off the challenge from Kingussie with ease, taking the match by eight sets to one. Lewis Simpson and John Walker won 6-4, 6-0; won 6-1, 6-1. Zen McClure and Ewen Fraser won 6-4, 5-7, 10-8; won 6-1, 6-0.
Meanwhile the second string were plying their trade in Inverness and were soundly thrashed 8-2.
Derek Grant and Mitchell McGrath lost 6-7, 6-0, 2-10; lost 0-6, 0-6. Darren Main and Ed Borrowman lost 6-3, 3-6, 10-12; lost 2-6, 3-6.
In Division 2, another Elgin team received a roasting with the thirds losing 8-0 away at Nairn. Jim Meisner and Alan McConnell lost 1-6, 1-6; lost 0-6, 0-6. Angus Gallacher and Chimaese Onyelwu lost 0-6, 2-6; lost lost 0-6, 0-6.
Forres A had to make the journey to Ross-shire with only two players.Gavin Ross and Ian Tregellas lost 3-6, 3-6 and won 6-3.
High flying Rothes A received a 5-0 win over Inverness B as a result of the Inverness team being short of players and deciding not to travel with only two players, giving up the chance to draw and being docked a point to boot. The Speysiders keep their 100 per cent win record intact
A draw between the leading two teams in the mixed league - Elgin A and Nairn A - has allowed a third, Rothiemurchus A, to move into the title race. Elgin are on 18 points with the other two sitting on 16.
At Duff Avenue, Jasmin Taylor and Ed Borrowman won 6-2, 6-2; 6-1, 6-1 whilst Riana Oeschger and Richard Wormald lost 3-6, 0-6; lost 3-6, 4-6.
Rothiemurchus got themselves into contention with the 8-1 trouncing of Elgin B. The Duff Avenue club are finding it tough going this year. With a gap emerging at the foot of the table, the future does not look bright for the team.
Rothes, who were in the bottom spot a few weeks have had a sudden surge of form which has taken them three points clear of the relegation place.
On Monday evening, the Speysiders notched up their first win over Inverness A in years.
The critical factor in this match was always going to be how the homesters coped against the visitors’ first seeds. As it turned out both pairs did lose the rubbers, but a set was taken in each of the contests - sets that were crucial at the end of the day.
At this stage the Invernessians were up 4-2. The two matches against their second couple were won but under very different circumstances. Michelle Fraser and Peter Scott walked it, recording a 6-1, 6-0 scoreline to bring the teams level overall.
Maureen Turner and Jack McConnachie found it tougher going but showed their fighting spirit in coming back from 4-1 down in the first set to take it 7-5. Even more drama was to unfold. The visitors looked well on the way to winning the second when they took a commanding 5-2 lead. The never-say-die attitude of the homesters once again kicked in and, taking each game as it came, they gradually reduced the deficit and went up 6-5.
There the story took another twist with the visitors managing to stop the rot. That, however, was a momentary blip in the ascendancy of Turner and McConachie. Having their comeback stalled did not phase the Speyside duo one bit. They were by now full of self-belief and took the tie-break by the scruff of the neck, winning the first five points, running out 7-1 victors. They did it the hard way but their victory, in two sets, gave the victory to their team 6 sets to 4.
In Division 2, Forres A moved into third place as a result of a runaway win at home to Rothiemurchus B. Sarah Henbrey and Andy Williams won 6-0, 6-1; won 6-3, 6-3. Lynn Milburn and Owen Davidson Knight won 6-4, 7-6; won 6-2, 6-3
The 16-and-under league got under way at the weekend when a strong Elgin quartet defeated Forres 12-0. Angus Sheldon lost to Lewis Simpson 0-6, 1-6; Matthew Davies lost to Tomas Allan 3-6, 4-6; Adam Rhind lost to Cameron Breheny 1-6, 0-6; Alec Chetwynd lost to Harris Nairn 2-6, 0-6.
Sheldon and Davies lost to Simpson and Allan 0-6, 0-6; Rhind and Chetwynd lost to Breheny and Nairn 2-6, 2-6.
The 14s competition move on to the semi-finals where Lossiemouth have to travel to Bellfield Park and Elgin are at home to Grantown.
