Melton Mowbray tennis ladies secure league title

The victorious team who won at Leicestershire C.

Melton Mowbray Tennis Club’s ladies second team made it a happy new year when they clinched the Division Five title in their very last match when they finally visited Leicestershire C.

Cancellations had pushed the match into 2022 but the team arrived knowing they needed a minimum of a 6-2 scoreline, and they did just that to edge in front of long time leaders Loughborough Greenfields.

Ending level on 50 points the Melton Ladies took the title and promotion by means of more wins, recording five wins to Greenfields’ four, but more importantly finishing unbeaten over the seven matches.

Following the Ladies first team who had won the Division One title a few weeks earlier, this title takes the clubs overall total to 30 titles and cups in in the space of just four seasons.

Laura Hayward, Jess Simpkin, Alison Stone, Sarah Medcalf, Jill Woods, Danielle Wells, Carol Gilchrist, Kim Stratford and Beth Lowe all represented the victorious team.

Results: Jess Simpkin & Kim Stratford won 6-2, 6-3 and 7-6, 6-0; Carol Gilchrist & Danielle Wells drew 6-0, 4-6 and 3-6, 6-2.

Finishing high up in the County player statistics were Jess Simpkin and Kim Stratford, both with seven out of 10 wins.

Laura Hayward had four out of six and Beth Lowe three out of four.

Following a fixture mix-up on dates and times, the men’s first team had to concede a match to near neighbours Rothley but, adding insult to injury, they also had 10 points deducted, meaning Rothley were saved from the drop and fourth-placed Melton were relegated.

Fixture secretary Brent Horobin said: “The real sadness for me is that teams are using this rule to either win a league or in this case, to save themselves from relegation, surely not a true reflection of the league?

“But we move on and the whole club is looking forward to the 2022 season.”