ANDOVER Tennis Club Men’s A are still in with a chance of securing the Basingstoke Winter Division One title with two games left to play.

Their two matches this year have seen two 6-2 victories against RSF A and Kintbury, with Mike Prince and Martyn Isherwood winning seven of their eight sets and Shaun McDonald and Robbie Hadfield bagging five.

Previous 8-0 wins against Winchester A and Andover B before Christmas, along with a defeat against Old Basing, put them second in the table.

Their final two matches are against bottom of the table Totally Tennis and leaders Kingsclere, which should decide who lifts the trophy.

Meanwhile the Ladies team have done very well in Division Two, under Claire Reid’s leadership, having lost only seven sets out of 48, and have one more match left to play.

The team has played in all weathers to consolidate this lead in Division Two, with Fay Fradgley, Sarah Rolfe, Kate Sloan, Georgia Moon, Amy McDonald, Liz Smith and Jo Smith being among the players to contribute to this excellent season of play.

The winter season for the Sarum team in Division 1 has been hardfought.

With many of the regular male players now off at university, Jennie Pope and Ros Hursell have teamed up with Mike Prince, Gregor Corcoran, Martyn Isherwood, and Chris Pugh to play some difficult matches in howling winds and freezing temperatures.

Although not able to achieve against the larger clubs of Salisbury, and Winchester, the team have battled hard to finish the season in fourth place.

Wins against Downton A and Wellow A mean that their place in the division is safe.

Andover have two men’s teams in the top division, the B team having won promotion last year.

This was mainly due to the efforts of talented youngsters.

Team players have included Bill Stuart, Adrian Shapter, Rob Moon, Tommy Mackie, Gregor Corcoran, George Beare, Dan Arnold and Will Moon.

The team has found life at the top more difficult, winning only one match of five so far.

The youngsters have produced some terrific tennis with great rallies of good shot making and athleticism but the key to survival at higher levels is consistency and good doubles tactics.

The experience will have been instructive as they will be in Division 1 in the summer as well, when the club will be operating at their new Balksbury site.