St Clair was too strong for Balmacewen 1, winning the Dunedin premier club tie without dropping a set on Saturday.
The first singles match had Mitchell Sizemore (St Clair), playing his first competitive match since March, taking on David Barnard (Balmacewen 1), Sizemore winning 6-2, 6-3
Tim Wilans and Tony Ryder (St Clair) beat Gerard Farrell and Henry Gong 6-3, 6-4 in the first doubles.
Needing to win the No 2 singles, Balmacewen sent out Farrell to play Wilans, but the latter had too much firepower, winning 6-2, 6-3.
The last doubles was also won by St Clair, giving the club a 4-0 win and a seven-point lead at the top of the competition.
Otago Boys-Taieri got much-needed points as it got its first win of the season, beating Balmacewen 2.
In the first singles match, Charlie Byers, Otago’s top female junior, was pitted against Ben Sinclair, Otago’s No 2 male junior.
The first set went to a tiebreak as Byers’ aggressive play allowed her to snatch the set 7-6 (2).
In the second set, Sinclair tightened up his game to take it 6-3.
The tiebreak had many swings of momentum with Byers holding on to win 10-8.
In the first doubles, the return of former pro Jaden Grinter was always going to be a challenge for Balmacewen 2.
Grinter and Andrew Aitken beat Mason Bell and Matt Nolan 6-0, 6-1.
OBHS-Taieri then sealed the tie as Grinter and Byers took down Sinclair and Nolan 6-1, 6-1.
The win took OBHS-Taieri to fifth in the table with a match in hand.
The last tie was the clash between the two Andersons Bay teams.
Andy Bay 1 fielded Marco Hartono, Matthew Campbell and Anthony Mirfin, and Andy Bay 2 fielded Ben Smith, Mike Smith and Harrison Young.
Ben Smith got Andy Bay 2 off to the perfect start as he took down Hartono 6-2, 6-4 in the top singles.
Mike Smith and Young then extended Andy Bay 2’s lead against Campbell and Mirfin 6-2, 6-7 (8), 10-0.
Campbell got one back for Andy Bay 1, beating Mike Smith 6-3, 7-5.
Coming down to the last match, Ben Smith and Young had a nailbiting win over Hartono and Mirfin, 6-4, 4-6, 10-8, giving Andy Bay 2 a 3-1 tie win.
Points: St Clair 17, Balmacewen 2 10, Balmacewen 1 7, Andersons Bay 2 6, OBHS-Taieri 5, Andersons Bay 1 1.
By: Paddy Ou
