BENDIGO Lawn capped a superb premier league season with a 12-0 drubbing of Strathdale Park Storm in Saturday’s final round of the Bendigo Tennis Association’s senior pennant.
The win earned Lawn the minor premiership in the SportsPower-backed competition.
Lawn finished eight points clear of Spring Gully Brougham Arms.
It was a disappointing day for Storm on the Bendigo Bank tennis complex courts in Nolan Street.
Lawn captain Curt Garwood was impressed with the commitment of the team and now faces a tough task of selecting the line-up to play the Broughie in two weeks’ time.
The Garwood brothers, Curt and Ward, and Leroy Miller are in hot form, and Stefan Butson and Nick Bath could play in the No. 4 spot.
Butson overpowered young gun Zoltan Smyth, 8-4, in Saturday’s play.
The women’s combination is also looking more settled for the Lawn, with Tamara Wright having her best win for the season against Tova Penno.
Other impressive results for the Lawn included Curt Garwood’s 8-1 victory over tennis legend Terry Smith, and Miller played superbly to defeat Storm captain Michael Smyth, 9-7, in the windy conditions.
Third-placed Epsom Butterflies suffered a shock loss to sixth-placed South Bendigo.
It was a disappointing result for the Butterflies as they look towards their match against Spring Gully Bigpond in the elimination final in less than a fortnight.
The Butterflies started well enough, capturing the opening two doubles sets.
Matt Hartland and Jono Guy scored an 8-6 win against Alistair Baker and Frank Ryan.
The women’s pairing of Danielle Bowles and Jayne St Clair proved too strong for Paige Ipsen and Maxine Everitt.
South hit back with Grant Leader and Simon Kelly winning, before Ipsen levelled the scores on two sets each with a stunning 8-3 singles win against Bowles.
Epsom picked up the next three singles wins through Matt Hartland, Michael Nhill and Jayne St Clair to hold a one-set lead at the mixed.
But South again rallied, with Alistair Baker and Grant Leader giving their team a big boost with their final set 8-0 belting of Michael Nhill and Jono Guy.
Simon Kelly and Maxine Everitt sealed the team’s sixth as they defeated Rob Jefferies and St Clair.
Matt Hartland and Danielle Bowles picked up the last set of the day, but it was too little too late, as South recorded just its third win of the season.
Spring Gully Brougham Arms ensured its would go into the finals showdown with Bendigo Lawn with plenty of confidence, following an 11-1 hiding of Castlemaine.
It was the second time this summer the Broughie defeated the Maine by such a margin.
Lawn conceded just four sets in three meetings with Castlemaine this season.
Sole winner for Castlemaine was Pat McMillan against Brougham Arms captain Jamie Brown.
For the Broughie, Jessica Hartland, Bronwyn Osborne, Travis Toner, Paul Condcliffe and Peter Valentine were all in terrific form, as they all captured three sets for the afternoon.
Spring Gully Bigpond had the bye.
In section two, the final four was decided following the closest season in recent years. Up until the final round of the year, the top six teams were all within a chance of making the finals.
Teams into the play-offs are Epsom Dragons, Spring Gully Sensation, BLTC Federer and Spring Gully New China.
Draw for the first week of the BTA’s finals series on Saturday, March 13, at the Bendigo Bank tennis complex in Nolan Street:
Premier League:
Qualifying final: Bendigo Lawn v Spring Gully Brougham Arms.
Elimination final: Epsom Butterflies v Spring Gully Bigpond.
Section two:
Qualifying final: Epsom Dragons v Spring Gully Sensation.
Elimination final: BLTC Federer v Spring Gully New China.
Section three:
Qualifying final: BLTC Green v BLTC Red.
Elimination final: BLTC Gold v BLTC Black.
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