2017 West Cumbrian Tennis League Round Up

All the doubles leagues in 2017 were made up of a 1st division and a 2nd division. 

Mens 1st team
The Mens 1st team were in the 1st division in 2017 and had a strong pool to pick from which contributed to the overall finish of 2nd place. However the league winners Seascale ran away with the league, so it was a fight between Maryport 1sts, Lorton 1sts and Keswick 1st for the runner up position.
The main players during the season were Dougal Atack, Rob Saxton, Rob Moir, David Lake, Jonny Piercy and Ed Ma. 

Mens 1st Division Table

Mens 2nd team
The mens 2nd team were playing in the 2nd division and struggled due to a large number of men wanting to play, but not quite enough regulars to warrant a 3rd team. As a result the captain took the decision to give everyone an opportunity to play rather than try and fight for promotion. This was probably a wise idea for 2017 as Maryport 2nds are usually a steadfast 1st division team, and Seascale entered an extra team due to the addition of a few strong members and the improvement of some of their school leavers. This resulted in a fight for promotion between Maryprot 2nds, Lorton 2nds and Seascale 2nds with only 2 points difference! Keswick finished 4th overall.
There were a lot of different players used during the year, but some of the more frequent players were Ian Hollinshead, Martin Pavlu, Mike Green and Kevin Pratt.

Mens 2nd Division Table

Ladies 1st team
The ladies 1st team were playing in the 1st division and since being promoted have mainly had to focus on staying up while improving year on year. This year was different due to a formidable partnership between Julie Saxton and Clare Pinkney losing only 2 sets during the whole season meaning that they could really begin challenging the traditional top 2 of Cockermouth and Lorton. Although not quite there yet, the Ladies 1st team finished third and can hope to improve on this in 2018.
The main players during the season were Julie Saxton, Claire Pinkney, Rachel Bazire, Sally Lansbury and Ali Lightford.

Ladies 1st Division Table

Ladies 2nd team
2017 was the first year in recent memory (perhaps ever) that the club has entered a 2nd team. As its the first year they started off in the 2nd division and had quite a pool of players to choose from. Although there were no expectations for the year, a lot of the newer players found they were more than capable of holding their own and finished a respectable 3rd place. Similarly to the Mens 2nd team, the focus was to give many people a game, but with the knowledge of their abilities and opponents, there may be an opportunity in 2018 to challenge for promotion!
The main players during the season were Timea Vizmathy, Janaki Spedding, Ali Lightford and Evie Tonkin.

Ladies 2nd Division Table

Mixed 1st team
The mixed 1st team were competing in the 2nd division in 2017 after they were demoted from the 1st division in 2016 which was slightly surprising given the strength of the individual Mens and Ladies 1st team. With only 3 or 4 matches to be played in the season, every match holds significance. Determined to immediately bounce back up again, the first team was made of 3 strong pairings and ended up comfortable winning all their matches finishing 1st.
The main players during the season were Julie Saxton, Dougal Atack, Clare Pinkney, Rob Saxton, Anna Hollinshead, Jonny Piercy, Rachel Bazire and Neil Maxwell.

Mixed 2nd team
The mixed 2nd team were also competing in the 2nd division. This led to the interesting fixture of Keswick 1sts v 2nds. Played in good spirit and despite a strong effort, the 1sts managed to secure the victory that was needed to gain promotion. However the 2nds still had a strong pool to pick from and managed to pick up two wins during the season and came 3rd overall. Again it is not unrealistic to expect the 2nds to challenge for promotion in 2018.
The main players during the season were Sally Lansbury, Rob Moir, Ali Lightford, Pete Armstrong, Janaki Spedding and Ed Ma.

Mixed 2nd Division Table

There were no teams competing in the mixed 1st division in 2017.

Mixed 1st Division Table