5 March 2016

Top seeds and defending champions Huatoki powered their way into the Soffe Cup final with a strong win over Rotokare.  Rotokare just didn't have the firepower needed to press their opposition and that resulted in a 7-1 lead in the singles to Huatoki.  Jayden Harrison led off with a 6-4 6-3 win over Malcolm Elder, followed quickly by easy wins to Chris Popata and Murray Keast at No.3 and No.4.  They disposed of Shane Devlin 6-0 6-2 and John Lehman 6-1 6-0 respectively.  Kyle Crowley had a good result for Rotokare when he took the No.2 men's match 6-4 7-5 over Alistair Nairn.  It was one way traffic in the ladies singles to Huatoki.  Hikaru Han overcame a difficult opponent in Karen Cranston 6-3 6-4 at the top of the order.  Tracey Old picked up the win against Tania Atkinson 6-3 7-5 but Ellen O'Byrne was pushed initially by Chantelle Peters before powering away with a 4-6 6-1 6-1 win.  Chris Wilson also stuttered along early in her match against Helena Goodin before coming right and winning 7-5 6-0.  Rotokare put up some immediate resistance by taking out the top men's doubles match but with the other three doubles going to Huatoki and the No.4 combines for good measure, Huatoki had more than enough matches to have achieved a winning margin.

Third seeded Pukekura Park caused a minor upset when they were able to display a better team depth than Oakura and move on to the final with a 10-6 victory.  Oakura were dogged by injuries at the wrong time of the season and this may have contributed to their demise but Pukekura Park had beaten Oakura in both round robin matches and again had their measure when it counted.  Pukekura's Dani Guerra handed Graeme Mitchell the loss in the top men's match 6-1 6-4.  Andrew Hood made it two for Pukekura when he defeated Len Adamson 6-2 6-2 in the No.4 matchup.  Oakura leveled it up with wins to Brady Simpson over Meto Snegirev 6-3 6-4 and Beauden Fleming over David Barnard 6-4 6-2.  The Pukekura Park ladies had the better overall depth with Louise Waite wasting no time with a 6-0 6-1 drubbing of Sue Oldfield.  This was backed up by an exciting win to Donna Thorne over Jackie Keenan 5-7 6-4 6-2 and Marcella Jones way too good for Chris Davies 6-1 6-0.  Oakura's Ana Spurdle resolutely held her nerve to defeat Jeanette Harding 6-3 5-7 6-2.  With a 5-3 lead in the tie, Pukekura simply needed to share all remaining matches to achieve the win.  The men's and ladies doubles were both shared one apiece, leaving the overall score in the tie at 7-5 to Pukekura.  Pukekura confirmed the win by taking out three of the combines.

The Soffe Cup final will be held at Huatoki on March 19th.  The Wilson Trophy final will be held at Matapu when they also will play a Pukekura Park line-up.


Soffe Cup semi-finals

Pukekura Park 10 Oakura 6

Dani Guerra b Graeme Mitchell 6-1 6-4
Meto Snegirev lost to Brady Simpson 6-3 6-4
David Barnard lost to Beauden Fleming 6-4 6-2
Andrew Hood b Len Adamson 6-2 6-2
Louise Waite b Sue Oldfield 6-0 6-1
Donna Thorne b Jackie Keenan 5-7 6-4 6-2
Marcella Jones b Chris Davies 6-1 6-0
Jeanette Harding lost to Ana Spurdle 6-3 5-7 6-2
Guerra/Barnard lost to Mitchell/Simpson 1-6 6-0 7-6
Snegirev/Hood b Fleming/Adamson 6-3 7-5
Waite/Thorne b Oldfield/Keenan 6-3 6-1
Jones/Harding lost to Davies/Spurdle 7-6(1) 6-3
Guerra/Waite b Mitchell/Keenan 9-1
Snegirev/Harding lost to Simpson/Oldfield 9-7
Barnard/Jones b Fleming/Spurdle 9-6
Hood/Thorne b Adamson/Davies 9-4

Huatoki 11 Rotokare 2

Jayden Harrison b Malcolm Elder 6-4 6-3
Alistair Nairn lost to Kyle Crowley 6-4 7-5
Chris Popata b Shane Devlin 6-0 6-2
Murray Keast b John Lehman 6-1 6-0
Hikaru Han b Karen Cranston 6-3 6-4
Tracey Old b Tania Atkinson 6-3 7-5
Ellen O'Byrne b Chantelle Peters 4-6 6-1 6-1
Chris Wilson b Helena Goodin 7-5 6-0
Harrison/Nairn lost to Elder/Crowley 7-6 6-4
Popata/Keast b Devlin/Lehman 6-2 6-0
Han/Old b Cranston/Atkinson 7-5 6-0
O'Byrne/Wilson b Peters/Goodin 6-1 6-2
Keast/Old b Lehman/Peters 9-3
Remaining combines not played as a winning margin had been reached.

Scores
Soffe Cup semifinals
Huatoki 11 Rotokare 2, Pukekura Park 10 Oakura 6
Wilson Trophy semifinals
Matapu 10 Inglewood 6, Pukekura Park 10 Hawera 6
Sumpter Trophy
Rotokare 10 Oakura 6, Hawera 16 South Combined 0, Pukekura Park def Stratford by default.

Points
Sumpter Trophy
Pukekura Park 79, Rotokare 58, Oakura 55, Hawera 51, Huatoki 37, Stratford 22, South Combined 20.