Euroa Lawn Tennis Club

By SALLY REDFERN

THE easing of lockdown restrictions seemed to put a little extra pep in Euroa Lawn players’ collective steps on Saturday, despite the hot, humid, and muggy conditions.

In Section 3 Euroa Lawn played host to Avenel and recorded another easy win to add to their season’s compilation.

Once again, Euroa’s men of Jake Hill, Jacob Tarran and Craig Durkin had a ridiculously easy day at the office, losing just three games in three sets.

The Lawn ladies had a much more even day of play, with spirited results in all the sets.

At the end of play, it was Euroa by 31 games.

The other Section 3 team travelled to Benalla Gardens, where some would consider them unlucky to strike concrete courts on such a warm day.

Fortunately, the beautiful surrounds at the Gardens could almost compensate for the surface.

It was a tough afternoon of tennis, particularly for Jodie Baker who came home with a very sore forehead after copping an overhead smash during one of her sets.

Let’s hope this does not sway Jodie’s willingness to fill in at a moment’s notice.

John and Dublin Anderson were the sole winners for Longwood Lawn, posting an 8/7 win in their men’s set.

It was a comfortable win to Gardens.

In Section 2, Euroa Lawn took on Longwood Lawn and hung on to win by six games at the completion of play.

It was a day of long rallies and lots of laughter.

Rowena Ellis would have gone home very happy with her efforts, winning all her three sets despite stiff competition, with Brent Moore the best for Longwood.

Moglonemby travelled to Terip, fully aware of the difficult task that lay ahead of them.

The first half of the day was very even, with both sides experiencing success.

However, Terip then asserted their authority on their home turf, winning the last four sets and snatching victory by four games.

The fact that Moglonemby won only three out of the nine sets, and yet still only lost by four games is an indication of a close afternoon of tennis.

Gooram played Benalla Lawn in the last match of Section 2, and had the added benefit of being able to watch the cricket on the adjacent picturesque Friendlies Oval - a bonus!

It turns out that the cricket may have been a welcome distraction from the tennis as Benalla won seven sets and by 32 games.

Gooram’s ladies of Chris Ellis, Judy Sands and Julie Harrington more than held their own, winning two of the three sets on offer.

Gooram’s men had a much more trying day, which often happens when there are three young boys playing against experienced players.

The good news is that Gooram’s men are continuing to improve every week, and the harder hitting tennis will only benefit them.

Our Section One team were scheduled to play Avenel but had to forfeit due to lack of fit and able players, but the big news from this team had absolutely nothing to do with tennis anyway.

Congratulations to Dav Mackrell, former ELTC President, on-going committee member and all-round great guy on his recent engagement to the lovely Tess.

We wish them a lifetime of happiness together and should any little smooth talking, left-handed, huge serving, mercurial tennis players happen to result from their impending union, the Euroa Lawn Tennis Club will welcome them with open arms.