Wellow’s mens over 45s A team completed their summer league programme with a resounding 3-1 victory away to Riverside from Salisbury.

Wellow’s Kevin Stansfield and Gordon Taylor were on top form winning all four of their sets for the loss of just seven games. Second pair Simon Blowers and Mark Patience had an excellent win against the Riverside first pair on a championship tiebreak deciding set to secure the team victory. This win leaves Wellow in second place in Division 2 of the Hants & IoW over 45s league – with promotion to the top division hinging on the results of third-placed Thornden’s final two matches.

Meanwhile Wellow’s mens over 55s A team lie in third place in Division 2 of the over 55s league. A narrow defeat on sets 5-4 against Winchester after a three-and-a-half hour marathon prevented them from going top but it was only Winchester’s floodlights going off at ten o’clock that brought the match to an end with Wellow leading in both second rubbers. The team of Mike Bevan, John Moret, Sheridan Easton and Rich Millard excelled on the unfamiliar surface. Wins for Wellow in their next two matches will secure promotion.       

A fine win for Wellow’s ladies team in their final match against Riverside C was not enough for the team to gain promotion from Division 3b despite remaining unbeaten. They lost out narrowly on to Andover with whom they had drawn earlier in the season on percentage of sets won. Wellow’s mens A team currently lie fourth in Division 3 and the B team are third in Division 4b following a very good win 6-2 against Avondale B with John Turner and Symon Blowers starring in winning both their rubbers.

In the Sarum league, Wellow’s A team lie third in the top division. Remarkably their B Team playing in the same division became the only team to take a point off champions elect Salisbury in a thrilling 4-4 draw with all four Wellow players – Will Arnold, Mark Patience, Judy Wallis and Sandra Peckham contributing to a fantastic result. Not to be outdone Wellow’s C team have staged a mini-revival in Division 3 with an outstanding performance against Riverside B winning 8-0 for the loss of just eleven games. Elaine Pickering produced an incredible afternoon’s tennis in winning all four of her sets without dropping a game.  

In the top division of the Portsmouth & District Master’s league, Wellow’s men had another marathon match against Swanmore just losing out 5-4 on sets with John Moret and Mike Bevan playing for over 3 hours without a break to secure the 4 sets. In the top division of the mixed league Wellow lie second with just one match remaining.