Melton Mowbray Tennis: Firsts seal second spot in Premier

They entertained Leicestershire A and gained sweet revenge with a 7-2 win at the Sports Village courts to seal second spot in the Premier Division.

Leicestershire had inflicted a 7-2 defeat on Melton in July on a rain-sodden night when all other matches were cancelled.

On that occasion, three Melton players had deemed the match to be off, arrived late and rubbers were immediately claimed by the home side to end Melton’s title chances.

In the rematch, Ben Mactaggart and Tom Rowe, and skipper Ryan Parmar with teenager Oliver Aley notched maximums, with Simon Hawthorne and Neil Johnson picking up a single win.

The result left Carisbrooke A champions for a second successive year and Melton edging Leicestershire to the runners-up spot by a narrow games percentage.

In the individual statistics, Pierre Luiggi finished in 10th spot with 15 out of 18 wins, while Ben Mactaggart was 11th with 14 out of 21, and Ryan Parmar 13th with 13 out of 18 wins.

Scores: B. Mactaggart/T. Rowe W 8-1, 8-1, 8-2; R. Parmar/O. Aley W 8-7, 8-5, 8-0; S. Hawthorne/N. Johnson W 8-6, L 5-8, 4-8.

* The mixed first team received a setback to their Division One title hopes when they were beaten 6-3 at favourites Charnwood.

Tom Rowe and Sarah Diver collected two wins, and Ryan Parmar with Jess Gadsby took a single win.

Scores: T. Rowe/S. Diver W 8-3, 8-5, L 2-8; R. Parmar/J. Gadsby W 8-2, L 3-8, 3-8; J. Beagle/E. Jenkins L 6-8, 1-8, 0-8.

* The mixed second team were in devastating form as they entertained Stoney Stanton Firsts and ran out massive 9-0 winners in Division Two.

Despite the result, the match was a real tight affair, with two rubbers going to tie-breaks and both going in Melton’s favour.

Scores: J. Horobin/E. Jenkins W 8-3, 8-7, 8-3; T. Rowe/J. Golland W 8-4, 8-4, 8-5; J. Beagle/S. Fox W 8-4, 8-7, 8-6.

* Melton’s mixed third team kept up their Division 5A campaign with a narrow 5-4 win over visitors Lutterworth Seconds.

Neil Johnson and partner Jo Heggs paved the way with a terrific three wins, losing just 11 games on the way.

Second pairing Jason Wheatley and Carol Gilchrist added a single win, and Kevin Knowles and Sarah Medcalf clinched the points.

Scores: N. Johnson/J. Heggs W 8-2, 8-4, 8-5; J. Wheatley/J. Gilchrist W 8-4, L 7-8, 2-8; K. Knowles/S. Medcalf W 8-4, L 5-8, 1-8.