Tennis: Meads match-ups come thick and fast

The ladies’ first team had the toughest assignment with a trip to Angmering in the highly competitive national league.

A gutsy effort by the ladies could not prevent a 6-0 defeat to some very talented opponents.

The first team men travelled to The Green tennis club in Hastings.

Mike Shallcross and Nick Price battled hard in their two matches but could not avoid defeat while Anthony and Chris Rummins returned home with one classy win and one lossm leaving the final score 3-1 to The Green.

The club’s second teams were also in action at home.

For the ladies, against Crowborough, Clare Greenwell and Wendy Lambert made the opposition work very hard for their victories but the performance of the day went to Brigid Argyle and Carol Robson.

Bouncing back from defeat in their first match they pulled off a thrilling win via a championship tie break in their second match.

Their heroics could not stop Crowborough claiming an overall 3-1 victory.

The men’s second team ensured there was something for the club to celebrate after they secured a 3-1 win over Cross in Hand.

Kevin Boakes and Chris Kilroy were in complete control of their first match racing to a 6-1, 6-1 victory before failing to register another win in their second match by the smallest of margins in a championship tie break.

Meanwhile Noel Bennett and Mike Dixon started slowly but came through in their first match 6-4, 6-3 with Bennett’s volleying particularly impressive.

Their second match was a more straightforward affair producing a 6-0, 6-1 victory for Meads.

Captain Noel Bennett said: “I’ve assembled a strong squad this season and I’ve told them that promotion is a realistic ambition so starting with such a convincing victory has been great for morale.”

The Meads ladies first team began their Wilson Sandford league campaign with a hard-fought 3-1 victory against Cooden Beach.

At the halfway stage it was delicately balanced at 1-1.

Jess Gisby and Lucy Parkin had completed a straight sets victory in their match whilst Hazel Sneath and Mary Sherlock could not quite see off their opponents in an encounter which went all the way to a tense tie break.

Sneath and Sherlock could not be stopped in their second match as Sherlock kept the ball alive from all corners while Sneath accurately dispatched numerous volleys as they swept to a straight sets win.

Meanwhile Gisby and Parkin began their second match in sparkling form with both women unleashing ferocious forehands as they took the first set 6-1 before racing to a 4-1 lead in the second. Cooden Beach launched a brave fightback and took the second set to a tie break but Gisby and Parkin could not be denied and clinched victory to make it final score 3-1 to Meads.