Stratford topple Okaiawa in Soffe Cup

Stratford’s victory hinged on determination.  A great example was Courtney Tippett’s top women’s match against Trudy Vince from Okaiawa.  Having conceded the opening set in a tiebreaker, Tippett came out in the next set, when players sometimes capitulate, to dominate proceedings 6-2. The final set was a repeat of the second set 6-2.  Maryanne Drummond also fought out a tight victory for Stratford over Michelle Cornish, 7-6(6) 6-4.  After the singles the score was tied at 4-4. 
 

During the doubles another three tiebreaks were played and Stratford managed to win them all.  The most important was the women’s top doubles where Stratford’s Tippett and Lourie came out on top of Vince and Symes 7-6(4) 4-6 10-5. This gave Stratford the lead 7-5 heading into the combines. The combines were shared so Stratford claimed their first victory of the season 9-7.
 

Oakura ran out comfortable winners over Inglewood 11-5. The closest match up came between Inglewood’s Derek Spurdle and Oakura’s Len Admason.  Spurdle managed to defeat Adamson, 7-6 2-6 6-4. 
 

Pukekura were also too strong for Huatoki, winning 13-3.  Interestingly, the women’s doubles were both claimed by Huatoki.  Robertson and Old of Huatoki managed to get the better of Pukekura’s Barnard and Rogers, and Wilson and O’Byrne defeated Fleming and Kowalewski, even though all the Pukekura players won their singles. This may be an area other teams look to exploit in the future.

At this stage of the season the points are Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Pukekura 52, Oakura 35, Okaiawa Hotel Okaiawa 32, Central Finance Rotokare 31, McDonald Real Estate Stratford 27, Latitude Homes Inglewood 24 and Huatoki 15.

This Saturday November 28 will see Okaiawa host Huatoki, Rotokare welcome Stratford, Oakura take on Pukekura at home in a top of the table clash and Inglewood have the bye.