MCCRAE and Gray will go head-to-head in a tantalising Swan Hill tennis final next week after the sides overcame their opponents in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The semis produced one outstanding match, and one less than inspiring one, with the thriller undoubtedly the McCrae versus Curlewis match-up.
McCrae has been the form side for much of the season, but it had nothing up its sleeve in this must-win scenario.
Curlewis got off to a great start when Chris Lewin and Brendan Angus snared the first set, beating Danny Gardner and Marcus McCaig 8-6, only to see Rick Plant and Brayden Barry rip through the next set with an 8-3 win for McCrae.
Ben and Anthony Lewin secured a hard-fought tiebreak win in the third men’s set, beating Paul Bethune and Graham Gardner.
Meanwhile, McCrae started fast in the women’s sets, where Natalie Plant and Lucy Martin won 8-5 from Louise Angus and Sarah Young, but Elise Morrison and Teagan Mays hit straight back for Curlewis, with a brilliant 8-3 result.
With five sets played the overall score stood at 32 games apiece.
Chris Lewin and Max Carroll recorded a terrific 8-4 win to give Curlewis the lead again and Cooper Angus and Anthony Lewin continued the trend with a tough 8-6 score, before McCaig and Bethune grabbed back two games when they beat Brendan Angus and Ben Lewin.
The third women’s set was a tiebreak win to McCrae’s Plant and Janet Barnard, and the next went to Martin and Sheryl Miceli, who won 8-6 from Young and Mays.
After 10 sets, Curlewis held the narrowest possible lead, on 67 games to 66.
The remaining three men’s sets gave McCrae a boost.
Although Carroll and Craig Roberts won their doubles 8-5 for Curlewis, Danny Gardner triumphed in the singles, and Richard Wardle and McCaig beat Carroll and Brendan Angus, and this pair of 8-4 victories put McCrae ahead by three games over the nine men’s sets.
The mixed was a topsy-turvy affair.
Roberts and Angus scored a big upset win over the Plant combination in the first, but Bethune and Martin leveled the score for McCrae in the next.
McCrae battled hard in the final two sets, with Barry and Barnard winning 8-6, and Graham Gardner and Morrison scoring 8-5, to put McCrae into the grand final by eight games.
For more on this story, see Monday’s edition of The Guardian (March 31, 2014).
