ANDOVER Ladies A were in action against Oakley A recently and had a convincing win by seven sets to one.

Claire Coomer and Claire Reid beat Julie Frankland and Julie Greenslade 6-0, 6-3 before going on to beat Paula Wiseman and Elaine Wilson 6-0, 6-2.

Andover’s second pair of Fay Fradgley and Sarah Rolfe drew with the first pair 6-3, 0-6 and won against the second pair 6-2, 6-4.

Andover men’s team bounced back from a narrow defeat to beat Salisbury 7-2 in their third Hampshire and IOW Division 2 match.

The highlight was 18-year-old Michael Cartridge, making his first team debut.

Called in two hours before the match, he played with coolness, consistency and skill, with his volleying especially brilliant.

After the first round, Andover were leading 2-1. Then Hallam Doney and Ant Brown beat the third Salisbury pair 6-2, 6-1, Andrew Winnett and Martyn Isherwood beat the second 7-6, 6-4 – the latter pair finishing strongly from a 3-0 deficit in the second set. Cartridge and Alex Lee lost 6-1, 6-1 to Salisbury’s first pair.

The second round saw Winnett/Isherwood win easily 6-2, 6-0 against the third pair, then Brown/Doney played some amazing tennis to beat Salisbury’s strong first pair in a tie-break after the match finished one set each.

Brown’s serve, with Doney’s ground strokes, was too much for the opposing number ones.

On the adjacent court, Lee/Cartridge were having their own battle against an extremely experienced Salisbury second pairing.

They eventually won 6-4, 7-5 giving the Andover team a winning 5-1 lead.

Every set is crucial, so the team knew a victory would help with their push for promotion.

Winnett/Isherwood lost to Mahony/Smith 3-6, 1-6, but Brown/Doney won 6-0, 6-1 against the second pair, as did Lee/Cartridge, 6-1, 6-0 against the third pair, completing a dream club debut for Cartridge.