EVERY Wellington Gippsland Tennis Association club was represented during the first weekend of finals, but only the strongest have made it through to Saturday’s grand finals, to be played at Maffra Lawn Tennis Club.
Sale Dahlsens will play Bairnsdale in the senior section one grand final.
Junior grand finals will be played from 8.30am, with seniors taking to the court from 1pm.
HEADING east on Saturday, senior section one sides Sale Dahlsens, Maffra CSC and Heyfield joined ladder-leader Bairnsdale on its classic clay to determine who booked a grand final spot, who got the boot, and who had to give up their Sunday.
In what was a tense contest, Bairnsdale’s men put on a dominant display to take all three rubbers over Sale, 9-8, 9-7 and 8-5.
After Sale let the first two women’s sets slip through its hands 4-8, 4-8, Regina Virgo and Kelly Hudson seized a tie-breaker win in the third rubber to chalk up Sale’s first set of the day.
After a heated on-court clash, Sale’s Anthony Zafaris and Jess Board comfortably pocketed the first mixed set 8-2 over Toby Radford and Steph Barnett, and were soon after joined by teammates Sam McGregor and Hudson on the winner’s list, after they defeated Kerryn Scott and Tom Deller 8-4.
It wasn’t enough to get Sale across the line though, and after Cal Board and Virgo dropped the third mixed 2-8 to Daniel Stormon and Amber Archer, Bairnsdale sailed across the line, 64-55.
A court over, Maffra easily accounted for Heyfield, five sets to one, to save its own head from the semifinal chopping block.
After being plagued with fill-in troubles all season, Heyfield was unable to secure its named women’s line-up for the finals, while Maffra had its A-team in comprising Alecia Dignan, Julie Foat and Kaylene Runciman, whose steady hands achieved solid 8-2, 8-4 and 8-6 wins across the women’s sets.
Maffra’s men were only bothered in the third set, when Heyfield’s Dave Taylor and Rex Wright put on a clinic to defeat Tom Supplitt and Jason Garrett, 8-6.
Needing only three games to clinch the match, Maffra’s Mitch Allman and Dignan took to court to play the first mixed set, and at 3-0 , were able to call it a day, pulling curtains on Heyfield’s grand final hopes.
On Sunday, a smarting Sale met Maffra on its home courts, and more than made up for Saturday’s loss against Bairnsdale, launching a thorough campaign on an unsuspecting Maffra.
With Sale taking all six of the men’s and women’s sets, it was beyond recovery for a stunned Maffra, who could no longer win on points or games.
The home team pulled the pin and handed the grand final spot over before the mixed sets even took to court, leaving Sale and Bairnsdale to duke it out for a rematch of their semi-final tomorrow. In what is bound to be a highly-strung section one clash, the winner will be determined by who can keep their cool the longest.
SHOWING the competitiveness of section two this year, its two thriller semi-finals came down to a single game on Saturday.
By the skin of its teeth, ladder-leader Longford skidded through to the grand final ahead of Sale Chicken, 57-56.
Determined to keep its 2020-21 season record to one loss only, Longford won six of the match’s nine sets, but Sale wasn’t about to be shaken that easily.
There were plenty of close battles, but when Sale won sets, it won them well to grapple back lost ground.
Notably, Longford’s Jackie Hamilton was a three-set winner, but it was the final set of the day, Jack Sharp and Abbey Kinnish’s big 8-1 mixed win, that was the final nail in Sale’s coffin.
In the other decider for the section, Maffra GRE inched past Heyfield White to secure a 61-60 victory.
In a hard-fought contest, either side was unable to bag a victory greater than 8-4, with three 8-5s and three 8-6s.
The determining factor in the day’s outcome, Chris McMahon was able to safeguard his three sets for Maffra.
On Sunday, Sale Chicken redeemed itself convincingly, defeating Maffra 70-37.
Mirroring the purposefulness of its section one counterpart two courts over, Sale did not let its guard down, and was rewarded with eight sets for its efforts.
The man of the match, Sale’s 14-year-old Sen Goold, did more than his bit for the Chickens by handing out an impressive three donuts to Maffra.
Neil Jeremiah and Tom Lee won Maffra’s only set for the day, 8-4.
THEY say finals is completely different game, and the proof presented itself on Saturday when finals favourite Heyfield suffered its first loss of the season.
Briagolong rallied to inflict a 52-42 wound in Heyfield’s semifinal campaign – on Heyfield’s home courts, no less – after playing some great tennis to bag five sets to three.
Stand-outs for Briag included number one man Harry Conway, whose 8-1, 8-2 and 8-6 wins truly made their mark in the scorebook, and number two ‘man’ Alison Alexander’s three victories also eased the underdogs over the line.
Heyfield’s women did their best to keep their team’s head above water, dutifully winning all three women’s rubbers, but it really fell apart for the westerners in the mixed, with Conway and Alexander simply proving too strong.
In the other semi, Longford was clinical in its 9-0 demolition of Maffra Adams, with the entire team able to claim the coveted three-set winner title.
While play began contested, with a tiebreaker in the first women’s and a narrow 9-7 victory to Longford in the men’s, it was clear it was all over by the mixed, when Longford allowed Maffra a measly four games across the three sets.
Longford was unable to back up its form in the preliminary final, as Heyfield found its feet and reminded everyone why it finished on top of the ladder.
The Roos rallied to take a heartening 60-48 victory at Maffra ahead of its grand final rematch against Briagolong.
Thomas Campbell shouldered what he could, winning his three sets for Longford, but they were the only three sets Longford was to win all day.
Heyfield’s stand-outs were Raelene Hanratty and Kelly Gray, who simply did what they do best, and will be looking to give a repeat performance this Saturday.
THE highlight of the junior semi-finals was a draw between the Sale Pelicans and Owls in section three, with the Owls eventually triumphing after extra sets were played.
Other close matches included section two’s Longford Orange clinching victory by two games over Sale Condors, and section six’s Stratford Echidnas inching ahead of Nambrok by a single game.
In the junior preliminary finals played on Sunday, there was plenty of friendly-fire as Longford Blue proved too strong for Longford Green in section one, and Stratford Kangaroos bounced away from Stratford Emus to book their place in the section five grand final.
After re-entering the competition for the first time in years, Nambrok are in the contest for the section six cup, beating Sale Canary 27-24 in Sunday’s preliminary final, and will face off against Stratford Echidnas.
Junior grand finals – section one: Sale Hawks v Longford Blue; section two: Sale Falcons v Longford Orange; section three: Briagolong v Longford; section four: Briagolong v Sale Magpies; section five: Heyfield Kangas v Stratford Kangaroos; section six: Stratford Echidnas v Nambrok; section seven: Sale Sparrows v Sale Wrens.
