The Andy Bay Originals and Andy Bay Uni scored wins over Balmacewen and Taieri respectively in the latest round of the Dunedin senior competition.
The Andy Bay Originals faced off against Balmacewen with the latter missing a few key players.
Promoted to top singles, Saul Moore (Balmacewen) had a tough ask going against Rafferty McIntosh. Despite a valiant effort from Moore, McIntosh got the win 6-2, 6-2.
The other two men’s singles also ended in straight-sets wins to the Originals, Omar Khir beating Fraser Richardson 6-1, 6-3 and Phil Mirfin beating Olaf Bork 6-4, 6-2.
Down 3-0, Balmacewen needed a win to keep the tie alive.
Ella Richardson stepped up in the women’s singles. Playing against Jenny Mockford, Richardson was able to hold her nerve during the big points and win 7-6(3), 7-5.
With the Originals needing a set from the remaining two doubles, McIntosh/Khir shut the door on a Balmacewen comeback. Playing against the experienced pair of Moore/Richardson, the Originals pair used their speed and power to win 6-3, 7-5.
Bork/Richardson beat Ian and Jenny Mockford 1-6, 7-5, 10-7 in the last mixed doubles, the tie ending with a 4-2 victory to the Andy Bay Originals.
In the other tie between Andy Bay Uni and Taieri, a countback on sets was required to find a winner.
Jenna Bowie give Uni the perfect start in the women’s singles as she beat Tessa Richardson 6-1, 6-1.
Marwan Samy then made it 2-0 for Uni as he was too strong for promising junior Bilal Ahmad 6-1, 6-2.
Kobus Faber though pulled one back for Taieri as he took down Jake Gilchrist 6-1, 6-1.
In the match of the tie, Taieri’s Connor Morrison faced Alex Abadie.
In the first set, Abadie’s court craft was too much to handle as he won it 6-0.
But Morrison then got into a rhythm in the second and negotiated Abadie’s game style, winning it 6-3. Carrying on the momentum, Morrison was able to win the super tiebreak and the match 0-6, 6-3, 10-7.
With the tie at 2-2, Andy Bay Uni needed to win one of the remaining two matches in straight sets to clinch the tie.
The top doubles pairing of Samy/Gavin Mockford did just that as they beat Ahmad/Faber 6-2, 6-0.
Taieri were able to win the last mixed doubles match as Morrison/Richardson beat Gilchrist/Bowie 4-6, 6-4, 10-3.
