Melton Mowbray Tennis Club make history as men promoted to Premier League

The Knighton win made them the first team from Melton to reach this level since the league was introduced.

Melton were just two points clear going into the winner-takes-all home match with the Division One title in the balance.

The visitors arrived in buoyant mood, but even they could not have expected to find Melton in such devastating form as they served up a 9-0 whitewash.

The match was full of high-class rallies with both sides looking like possible winners in the early stages.

But skipper Ben Mactaggart and partner Tom Rowe led from the front and were always in command as they collected a fine maximum three wins.

Pierre Luiggi and Eban Straker-Meads at second pairing were in sparkling form as they lost just seven games, and Ryan Parmar teamed up with James Rowe to cap the sensational win with three wins following a final rubber tie-break win.

Head coach Di Burdett and club coach Brent Horobin were delighted to see youngsters Ryan and brothers James and Tom involved in such a milestone match having come through the junior programme.

The successful squad also included Tom Ellis, Luke Smith, John Sturmey, and Gabriel Johnson.

Mactaggart’s commitment has been a driving force of the team as he topped the leagues player statistics with 22 wins from 24 rubbers.

He received superb support from James Rowe (20/24), Tom Rowe (19/21), Parmar (14/15), Ellis (12/18) and Straker-Meads (9/9).

Scores v Knighton: B. Mactaggart/T. Rowe W 9-5, 9-2, 9-2; P. Luiggi/E. Staker-Meads W 9-2, 9-2, W 9-3; R. Parmar/J. Rowe W 9-8, 9-5, 9-4.