14 Nov 2015

RE/MAX Pukekura take the lead in the Soffe Cup competition despite being held to an 8 all draw by Farmlands Okaiawa/Manaia.  Previous leader Huatoki drop to second place after being decisively beaten by Oakura 13-3.  Central Finance Rotokare recorded their first win of the season 11-5 over Stratford to lift themselves marginally off the bottom of the table.

Oakura showed what a force they can be when they field a full strength team, by defeating the defending champions Huatoki at the Huatoki courts.  Graeme Mitchell wasn't troubled in his match against Alistair Nairn, winning 6-0 6-0.  Jaime Simpson at No.2, also had an easy victory over Jayden Harrison 6-0 6-2 but Brady Simpson was pushed to a three set match after he dropped the first set to Chris Avery, eventually winning 5-7 6-2 6-3.  Beauden Fleming made it a clean sweep for the men, disposing of Ronan Avery 7-5 6-1.  Sue Oldfield (1) and Jackie Keenan (3) continued the tally for Oakura by defeating Tracey Old 6-1 6-1 and Chris Wilson 6-3 6-2 respectively.  Huatoki came back with two singles victories via Ellen O'Byrne over Bailey Bruckner and Jae Wilson over Chris Davies, both scores being 6-4 6-2.  Huatoki were only able to pick up one further match winning the bottom woman's doubles but were perhaps unlucky to lose the bottom men's doubles in an 11-9 tiebreak decider.  All the other matches were very one-sided affairs in favour of Oakura, who finally showed their true potential after the third week of the competition, lifting themselves to third on the table.

Farmlands Okaiawa/Manaia had their best result of the season so far when they held last years beaten finalist RE/MAX Pukekura to an 8-8 draw at Pukekura.  Pukekura had a 5-3 lead after the singles play and would have been confident that they could hold this lead throughout the day.  David Barnard (No.2) reversed his loss last year to Vince Baylis, winning 6-4 7-6(2) and Andrew Hood (4) had a surprise win over Alaister Murdoch 6-3 6-4.  All of the Pukekura ladies were looking to have comfortable wins until Linda Reid (No.2) succumbed to a leg injury, gifting the match to Georgia Jackson.  Pukekura's Louise Waite had a 6-0 6-0 win over Lauren Fraine, Donna Thorne beat Helen Johnson 6-2 6-0 and Jeannette Harding held off the gritty teenager Dayna Corbett 6-4 7-5.  Okaiawa/Manaia's victories came via the top men's singles match where Mark Laurence had the firepower to overcome Meto Snegirev 7-5 7-5 and also the No.3 men's match where Josh Murdoch squeezed through 7-6(3) 7-6(2) over Thomson Matuku.  The men's doubles were shared with Snegirev/Barnard going down to Laurence/Baylis 7-6 6-3 but Matuku/Hood then stole the match from Murdoch/Murdoch 2-6 6-2 10-8.  With the default by Linda Reid, the top ladies match went to Okaiawa/Manaia and the combined side were also able to snare the bottom doubles 1-6 6-4 7-6.  With the tie at 6-6, the combines were shared two each for the resultant draw.

In the remaining tie between Rotokare and Stratford, Rotokare fielded their best team of the season whilst Stratford were missing their top man from the previous week.  A splendid performance from Blair Crowley at No.1 for Rotokare ensured that each of the Soffe Cup ties had a 6-0 6-0 result at the No.1 spot.  In this case the victim was Andy Roberts.  Kyle Crowley continued the good results for the city team beating Bruce Cleland 6-2 6-3, as did Shane Devlin when he overcame Grant Kite 7-5 4-6 6-3.  Stratford's Paul Waite (No.4) restored some decorum to his side winning over Laurie Jordan 6-4 5-7 6-0.  The Rotokare ladies were dominant at No.1, No.3 and No.4 with Karen Cranston, Juliet Farquhar and Tania Atkinson having easy wins over Lyn Stanners, Reagan Boland and Katie Stanners.  Mylie Thwaites got one back for Stratford defeating Julie Foley 6-4 7-5.  Rotokare picked up three of the doubles matches to secure the win and then the combines were shared.

Oakura 13 Huatoki 3
Graeme Mitchell b Alistair Nairn 6-0 6-0
Jaime Simpson b Jayden Harrison 6-0 6-2
Brady Simpson b Chris Avery 5-7 6-2 6-3
Beauden Fleming b Ronan Avery 7-5 6-1
Sue Oldfield b Tracey Old 6-1 6-1
Bailey Bruckner lost o Ellen O'Byrne 6-4 6-2
Jackie Keenan b Chris Wilson 6-3 6-2
Chris Davies lost to Jae Wilson 6-4 6-2
Mitchell/J.Simpson b 6-0 6-0
B.Simpson/Fleming b Avery/Avery 6-2 4-6 11-9
Oldfield/Bruckner b Old/O'Byrne 6-2 6-3
Keenan/Davies lost to Wilson/Wilson 6-2 6-2
Mitchell/Keenan b Nairn/Old 9-3
J.Simpson/Oldfield b Harrison/C.Wilson 9-4
B.Simpson/Bruckner b C.Avery/O'Byrne 9-2
Fleming/Davies b R.Avery/J.Wilson 9-3

Okaiawa/Manaia 8 Pukekura 8
Mark Laurence b Meto Snegirev 7-5 7-5
Vince Baylis lost to David Barnard 6-4 7-6(2)
Josh Murdoch b Thomson Matuku 7-6(3) 7-6(2)
Alaister Murdoch lost to Andrew Hood 6-3 6-4
Lauren Fraine lost to Louise Waite 6-0 6-0
Georgia Jackson b Linda Reid 0-6 0-1 ret
Helen Johnston lost to Donna Thorne 6-2 6-0
Dayna Corbett lost to Jeannette Harding 6-4 7-5
Laurence/Baylis b Snegirev/Barnard 7-6 6-3
Murdoch's lost to Matuku/Hood 2-6 6-2 10-8
Fraine/Jackson b Waite/Reid by def
Johnston/Corbett b Thorne/Harding 1-6 6-4 7-6
Laurence/Jackson lost to Snegirev/Waite 9-6
Baylis/Fraine b Barnard/Reid by def
J.Murdoch/Corbett lost to Matuku/Thorne 9-5
A.Murdoch b Hood/Harding 9-3

Rotokare 11 Stratford 5
Blair Crowley b Andy Roberts 6-0 6-0
Kyle Crowley b Bruce Cleland 6-2 6-3
Shane Devlin b Grant Kite 7-5 4-6 6-3
Laurie Jordan lost to Paul Waite 6-4 5-7 6-0
Karen Cranston b Lyn Stanners 6-0 6-2
Julie Foley lost to Mylie Thwaites 6-4 7-5
Juliet Farquhar b Reagan Boland 6-2 6-0
Tania Atkinson b Katie Stanners 6-2 6-3
Crowley's b Roberts/Cleland 6-1 6-2
Devlin/Jordan lost to Kite/Waite 6-4 6-2
Cranston/Farquhar b Stanners's 6-1 6-2
Foley/Atkinson b Thwaites/Boland 6-3 6-4
B.Crowley/Cranston b Roberts/Thwaites 9-1
K.Crowley/Foley lost to Cleland/L.Stanners 9-3
Devlin/Atkinson b Kite/Boland 9-6
Jordan/Farquhar lost to Waite/K.Stanners 9-6

Results
Soffe Cup
Oakura 13 Huatoki 3, Okaiawa/Manaia 8 Pukekura 8, Rotokare 11 Stratford 5
Wilson Trophy
Hawera 9 Pukekura 7, Huatoki 13 Rotokare 3, Matapu 14 Okaiawa/Manaia 2
Sumpter Trophy
Oakura 16 Huatoki 0, Stratford b Hawera by def

Points
Soffe Cup
RE/MAX Pukekura 37, Huatoki 35, Oakura 29, Thomson O'Neil Stratford 26, Central Finance Rotokare 19, Farmlands Okaiawa/Manaia 18.
Wilson Trophy
Matapu 43, Hawera 32, Pukekura 27, Inglewood 27, Huatoki 19, Rotokare 6, Okaiawa 3
Sumpter Trophy
Oakura 33, Stratford 25, Pukekura 21, Huatoki 15, Hawera 14.