CURLEWIS went into its match on Saturday in tennis pennant as the top side in the competition but came out of it in third place on the ladder.
After leading the way right through the pre-Christmas period, Gray dropped back into the mix in 2013 but finished the season with an absolute blitzkrieg, reclaiming top spot with a 37 game win over the hapless Curlewis side.
The Gray men were in super form, with Gene Brooks, Michael Shean, Derek MacFarlane and Darryl Roberts all posting unbeaten records for the day.
This effort put the team up by 18 games — an insurmountable lead.
The only Curlewis pairs to claim wins were Stuart McGregor and Marcus McCaig, and Lachlan Carroll and McCaig.
Neil Selleck and Ken Grisdale went close, losing a tiebreak to MacFarlane and Shean.
There was no luck for Curlewis in the women’s sets either, where it conceded another nine games.
After a good start, when Hayley Siddons and Olivia Gleeson beat Gray’s Jacqui Brooks and substitute Natalie Plant 8-7, Gray put the pressure on with three wins — Lucy Martin and sub Sophie Sartori, Plant and Ellen Roberts and Brooks and Martin all scored with strong performances.
Chrissy Hendry and Jamie Gorringe won the final set for Curlewis to limit the damage by two games.
Gray made sure of victory and stepped up its assault on the top place with four wins in the mixed sets.
Gene and Jacqui Brooks led the way with a win in the first set, Shean and Martin, followed up, and the last two pairs — MacFarlane and Ellen Roberts and Darryl Roberts and Sartori won close ones, 8-7 and 8-6 respectively.
Only McCaig and Gleeson were able to keep the Curlewis flag flying with a solid 8-5 victory.
For more on this story see Monday’s edition of The Guardian (March 11, 2013).
