3 Dec 2011

The talk of the weekend is the drawn match between Sandfords Manaia and Hareb Deken Motors Oakura.  Manaia were almost at full strength (missing Michael Gate at three).  Everything was split evenly throughout the day.  Starting with the men's doubles the top match was won by Jordan Fleming and Cameron Koch, who played Oakura's Graeme Mitchell and Josh Walden, defeating them convincingly 6-0 6-2.   The bottom men's doubles went the way of Oakura, with Tei Walden and Len Adamson combining to beat Tommy Death and Beauden Fleming 6-1 7-5.  The Ladies doubles saw arguably Taranaki's best women's combination of Nicole Koch and Maree Gopperth (Manaia) beat Oakura's Sue Oldfield and Miaana Walden 6-4 6-3.  The bottom combination again was won by Oakura's pairing of Becky Bruckner and Loiuse Brankin 7-5 6-1 over Manaia's Kelly sisters (Sarah and Grace). 
The men's singles was split 2 a piece, with the top 2 men's singles won by Fleming (7-6 6-3 over Mitchell) and Koch (6-2 6-1 over J. Walden).   At four Len Adamson for Oakura, had to dig deep to beat young 14 year old Beauden Fleming; Adamson winning the super tie-breaker.  Score 4-6 6-2 7-6 and Tei Walden was just to strong for Manaia's Tommy Death 6/2 6/1.
The star of the Oakura ladies this week would have to be the returning Miaana Walden.  Walden won her match against Manaia's number 2 Sarah Kelly 6-2 6-4, and Becky Bruckner (Oakura) dispatched Maree Gopperth surprising easily with a score of 6-2 6-1.  The remaining ladies singles were won by Manaia's Nicole Koch and Grace Kelly.  Final score 6-6.

AWE Huatoki hosted Icon Sport's Tariki Pukekura who were without Louise Waite.  Donna Thorne stepped into the familiar role of number 3 for Pukekura, only to face long time opponent Chris Wilson.  Wilson won the match 3-6 6-1 7-6.  Pukekura's men's line-up had a not so clean sweep in the men's singles with No.1 Callum Old being taken to a third set tie-breaker by Amrit Rai 3-6 6-3 7-6(1).  Taranaki 16s representative Jaime Simpson (Pukekura) had to rally late in the game with Huatoki's Ben Caskey.  Caskey made a come back in the second set before they too went to the third set super-tiebreak, with Simpson winning 6-0 5-7 7-6.
Huatoki's Alice Caskey made quick work of her singles against Linda Reid, winning 6-3 6-1.  Pukekura's Kirsten Adam won her match against Sophie Robertson almost as convincingly 6-4 6-2.  Veteran Jeanette Harding proved she isn't lacking any determination or fitness, when she won her third set tie-break after two very close sets.  Her opponent Lorraine Heerdegen pushed Harding and the game really couldn’t have been closer; Harding winning 6-4 6-7 7-6.
Pukekura won three of the four doubles matches.  Old was joined by Michael Fleming and their combination was too strong for Rai and Alistair Nairn, 6-2 6-4.  The bottom men's doubles pairing of Chris Jury and Simpson (Pukekura) dispatched Caskey and Jeremy Wichman 6-0 6-1.  The ladies doubles went one a piece, with the top ladies going to Huatoki pairing of Caskey and Robertson, against Reid and Adam 6-1 6-3.  Huatoki's combination of Wilson and Heerdegen started slowly but pulled it together to win 4-6 6-1 7-6.  Final Score 9-3. 

Farmlands Okaiawa must be wondering why they can’t catch a break when they hosted Central Finance Rotokare.  Okaiawa manage to win a total of 7 sets but only won 2 matches.  Those two matches were singles wins to Mark Laurence at No.2 and Vincent Baylis at No.3. Their opponents and scores respectively were Kyle Crowley 7-6 6-1 and Shane Devlin 1-6 6-1 7-6.  The top men's singles clash between Okaiawa's Andrew Powell and Malcolm Elder was predictably a third set tie-breaker with Elder edging out Powell to win 6-4 3-6 7-6(9).  Interesting to note that in this match both Powell and Elder won 16 games a piece.  Ryan Stockman (Okaiawa) didn’t expect to face Jacob Gopperth (brother of Manaia's Maree Gopperth).  Gopperth was too strong winning 6-2 6-2.
In the ladies singles, newcomer Emmah Ussher (Okaiawa) found the going just a bit too tough when she was beaten convincingly by Tania L'Ami 6-0 6-0, and Jo Gyde (Okaiawa) just couldn't match the strength of Karen Cranston 6-1 6-0.  The bottom ladies singles were much of the same with Jaimee Baylis and Shannon O'Brien (Okaiawa) unable to match Rotokare's Frances Gray and Juliet Farquhar.  Scores were 6-1 6-2 and 6-2 6-0 respectively.
Both of Farmland Okaiawa's mens doubles combinations pushed the Rotokare team to a third set tie-breaker.  Powell/ Laurence were only just beaten by Elder and Gopperth 6-1 4-6 7-6(8) and Baylis and Stockman were beaten by Crowley and Devlin 6-3 6-7 7-6(7).  Rotokare's ladies were just too strong winning their top ladies 6-0 6-0 and bottom ladies 6-1 6-0.  Final Score 10-2

Soffe Cup Results

Sandford Manaia 6 Hareb Deken Motors Oakura  6; Icon Sport's Tariki Pukekura 9 AWE Huatoki 3; Central Finance Rotokare 10 Farmlands Okaiawa 2

Wilson Trophy Results

Matapu 10 Paragon Insurance Huatoki Silver 2; Waiwaka 10 Reeves Middleton Young Huatoki Gold 2; Hawera 9 v Icon Sport's Tariki Pukekura 3; Farmlands Okaiawa 8 Oakura 4; Inglewood 7 Thomson O’Neill Stratford 5; Ecolab Manaia 8 Laurie Jordan Chartered Accountant Rotokare 4

Sumpter Trophy Results