Shootout success for tennis teams

Under the new format for these matches it is possible to have a drawn match at the end of the two rounds of play.

If this is the case then a tie-break shootout is brought in to play.

There were a number of these taking place over the weekend.

Boston Men’s Seconds – Ryan Frankish, Will Cheer, Tom Cozens, Sam Felipes, James Newton and Geoff Short – played Bourne in a Division Two match away at Bourne.

The teams were locked at 3-3 at the end of the second round, so each pair played a Championship tie-break against the pair that they had not played.

Boston came through this to win and gain valuable points for the league table.

A similar situation unfolded for Boston’s Men’s Fourths in Division 3A.

Robert Griffiths, Terry Mastin, David Makins, Geoff Presland, Tom Piggins and Tom Mecklenburgh faced Eastgate Seconds.

After two rounds the score was again 3-3, but a tie-break shootout went the way of Boston.

As the two men’s teams made this format work for them, the Ladies’ Thirds, playing in Division Two, proved to be less fortunate.

After missing out on a few in a couple of close matches during the first two rounds, the team of Catherine Ellis, Helen Duckett, Denise Priestley, Helen Motson, Penny Gibbons and Mary Smura lost the round of shootouts.

It was more clear cut for the Ladies’ Fourths, competing in Division Three B, when the team played away at Woodhall Spa Seconds.

Diane Sharpe, Sue Dring, Norma Hunter, Sarah Grant, Jenny Murphy and Hilda Hastings won 4-2 after two rounds had been played.

The Ladies’s Fifths played Horncastle in Division Three B but lost comprehensively.

Although on this occasion all tie-breaks would have been very welcome, the opportunity did not arise for the beaten side.

The team was Jorga Pick, Katy Smith, Carla Slade, Isabelle Servonat, Rachel Atkinson and Mary Smura.