STRADBROKE and McCrae played the closest match of the round in Swan Hill tennis pennant on Saturday, with 11 games separating the sides.
The Stradbroke men were instrumental in the victory, gaining a 12 game lead over their McCrae opponents.
McCrae got away to a blistering start, when Danny Gardner and Garry McCaig won 8-1, but Stradbroke won the next five sets.
Tony Evans, Neil Selleck and Brayden Young all played great tennis to put Stradbroke in front.
Gardner and Richard Wardle back ended the men’s sets with a strong win for McCrae.
The McCrae women won three of four to put their side up by two with the mixed to play.
Natalie Plant and Lucy Martin were in great touch, and Janet Barnard and Sheryl Miceli backed them up well.
Substitute Connie Rovere partnered Julie Croton for Stradbroke’s only win.
With the match well and truly in the balance, Stradbroke’s mixed pairs took up the challenge.
Alan Thompson and Colleen Rundell-Gordon battled out a narrow 8-6 win from McCaig and Plant, but the next two sets made sure of victory when Evans and Bec Grey, and Selleck and Rovere won 8-2 and 8-1 respectively.
Will Gardner and Miceli picked up a couple of games for McCrae in the final set.
For more on this story, see Monday’s edition of The Guardian (November 11, 2013).
