Tennis News

The Consett club whitewashed lacklustre New Blackwell of Darlington.

The 6-2 success by Great Ayton was achieved only after the interval when the opening rubbers were shared. Wellfield, at home, and the unbeaten Violet Group winners, took the women's doubles with county veterans Anne Waldin and Annie Neville as their pair. Mike Hall and Kevin Rowley though captured the men's doubles for Great Ayton, the narrow winners of the White Group.

Helen Knifton and Margaret Lunn then assisted their men players to take both mixed doubles rubbers for the 44 games to 23 success.

New Blackwell meanwhile travelled to Consett and collected 13 games only in the 8-0 rout, with the Blue Group winners continuing their good form, having dropped three rubbers only in their five league matches.

The top half of the draw has Jesmond firsts against Jesmond seconds, after respectively disposing of Durham High School 1 and Cramlington Bath Terrace, by 6-2 in each case.

Nunthorpe were second to New Blackwell in the Indigo Group, but have beaten Sunderland Racquets in the 'second eight consolation event quarter final.

The tie In Sunderland ended two rubbers all, and four sets all but the Teesside club had a 36-35 games advantage at the countback. The Doxford Park club led by 3-1, winning the ladies doubles with Sandra Maxwell and Clare Smith and drawing the men's But Nunthorpe hit back, Steven Preston and Brenda Marquis taking two and Stan Webb and Krissie Smith adding another. The two games advantage Racquets had at the interval had now become a tie winning single game for Nunthorpe.

Blaydon I beat Cullercoats, and Morpeth got the better of Gosforth I to reach the northern half semi-final. Nunthorpe play either Bishop Auckland or Thirsk.

Main event quarter-finals: Wellfield 2, Great Ayton 6:

Men's doubles - R Skinner and I Waldin lost to M Hall and K Rowley 0-6 0-6.

Women's doubles - A Neville and A Waldin bt H Knifton and M Lunn 6-4 6-4.

Mixed doubles - Waldin and Neville lost to Rowley and Lunn 4-6 2-6; Skinner and Waldin lost to Hall and Knifton 2-6 3-6.

Shotley and Benfieldside I 8, New Blackwell 0:

Men's doubles - P Atess and M Wake bt P Newman and R Wright 6-2 6-1.

Women's doubles - C Heppell and L Winstanley bt J Devlin and J Easton 6-1 6-2.

Mixed doubles - Atess and Heppell bt Newman and Easton 6-2 6-1; Wake and Winstanley bt Wright and Devlin 6-2 6-2.

Consolation events:

Second Eight Quarter-Finals:

Sunderland H and RC 4 (35), Nunthorpe 4 (36):

Men's doubles - S Johnson and I Stewart drew with S Preston and S Webb 2-6 6-4.

Women's doubles - S Maxwell and C Smith bt B Marquis and K Smith 6-4 6-4.

Mixed doubles - Johnson and Maxwell drew with Webb and Smith 6-0 2-6; Stewart and Smith lost to Preston and Marquis 4-6 3-6.

Other Results:

Second Eight - Morpeth 5, Gosforth I 3; Blaydon I 8, Cullercoats 0.

Third Eight - Jesmond III 5, Stocksfield 3; Durham Archery II 7, Collingwood 1; Durham Moor 8, Eldon Grove 0.

Fourth Eight - Gosforth II 6, Shotley and Benfieldside II 2; Durham Archery III 7, Norton 1.

Fifth Eight - Durham High School II 7, Burnmoor 1; Great Broughton and Kirby 1, Barnard Castle 7.

Brown Shipley North-East Premier League

Tennis World Middlesbrough have taken the lead for the first time in the Northern Division of the NEPL - thanks to an unexpected walkover from County Ground Newcastle.

The five points thus gained have increased TW's total to 20, four ahead of David Lloyd Teesside; this New Year good fortune certainly putting the Marton based club in the driving seat now.

Invicta Sunderland and Puma Sunderland follow close behind. These four teams are hoping to clinch the top four places and enter the playoff with the Southern Division's top four in February.

Sheffield are the dominant force in that, with 22 points and a led of six. Since they play the fourth placed in the Northern, the likes of Puma, Invicta and now David Lloyd are anxious to finish higher than that to avoid that quarterfinal. Sheffield have such as David Sherwood and Jonathan Marray, national standard players, in their ranks.

January's fixtures pose many questions as the top four plus fifth placed Academy Harrogate are all capable of beating each other. Matches against the bottom three can be crucial as each rubber acquired is a league point; a two-all defeat could prove valuable. But it imposes pressure on the second ranked couples in each team as well as the first, and thus determines team strategies in arranging partnerships. One third of the matches already contested have ended 2-2.

Tennis World's Nigel Beavers and Mark Franklin, a Durham and Cleveland County pair, recently split themselves in the fixture with David Lloyd; which ended in a narrow six sets to fix win for them.

These leaders travel to both Sunderland clubs to finish their fixtures. David Lloyd meanwhile have an easier run-in. Academy Harrogate, pre-season favourites for the honours, with Yorkshire County's Doug Keen and Jason Torpey in their line-up could score highly against Yarm and Invicta, and push themselves into the reckoning.

Placings, Northern Division: Tennis World Middlesbrough 20 pts, David Lloyd Teesside 16, Invicta Sunderland 14, Puma Sunderland 13.

Southern Division: Sheffield 22, David Lloyd Leeds 16, Hull 15, Doncaster 15, Carnegie Leeds 10, Queens Halifax 6, York 6, Heaton Bradford 0.

Recent results: Puma Sunderland 2 (40), Invicta Sunderland 2 (35) - Adam Barrat-Clough and Graham Fowler bt Ainsley Kershaw and Gavin Sutcliffe 6-3 6-2, bt Guy Galpin and Sean Galpin 6-1 6-4; Ian Lumley and Richard Whitfield lost to Kershaw and Sutcliffe 4-6 2-6, lost to Galpin and Galpin 6-7 4-6.

Final fixtures, Northern Divison: January 12/13 - Invicta v T World, Academy v Yarm, Puma v Univ., C Ground v D Lloyd. January 26/27 - C Ground v Yarm, Puma v T World, Invicta v Academy, D. Lloyd v Univ.