It’s the penultimate week of competition for the majority of Strathfield Sports Club’s Autumn Badge teams this weekend.
All six of our teams have enjoyed competitive campaigns in 2017, with a few still in the reckoning to contest the finals.
We’ve checked in with our Team Captains to get an update on their progress and prospects as their respective seasons near completion.
Strathfield 1 (Premier League)
The Club’s top ranked team recently went down in the final of the Premier League competition, narrowly beaten 4 sets 35 games to 3 sets 25 games by Men’s Hills DTA 1.
John Field reports the 1’s got off to a flying start in the decider, taking the opening two sets, with the scores locked at two sets all at the change.
Unfortunately they were narrowly beaten by the league’s top seeds, with the final result likely to have come down to games if all matches were completed.
Results:
Kyle & Pat v. Blake Smith & Jordan Smith – 1/6, 1/6
Greg & Mike v. Neil Smith & Igor Jovanovic – 6/1, 6/5
Kyle & Pat v. Neil Smith & Igor Jovanovic – 6/5, 3/1 (play stopped as Hills won on games)
Greg & Mike v. Blake Smith & Jordan Smith – 2/6, 3/6
All in all it was another great season for the 1’s and they’re already looking forward to returning next year.
They expect to remain unchanged and hope to retain Mat Maraga and Miladin Tepsic, who both formerly held ATP Tour rankings (singles & doubles).
Strathfield 2 (Men’s 1.2)
It’s taken a while for combinations to gel for Strathfield 2 in the Men’s 1.2 competition in what has been a big step up in standard for the team.
Mark Padd reports the 2’s had a resounding win last weekend against fifth-placed Sydney Uni as they try to sneak into the finals over the final two rounds.
Inhwa & Mark and Jiwan & Jimmy claimed a comprehensive 7-1 win after dropping the first set 6-0.
The result saw them leapfrog their rivals on the ladder, however they’ll need to keep their run of form going if they’re to press for a top four finish.
The next challenge comes at home this weekend where they’ll play league leaders Tennis Valley.
Having only lost by a single game when the two teams met in the opening round the boys are confident of reversing the result and putting on a good show on Saturday.
Strathfield 3 (Men’s 2.2)
Our Men’s 2.2 team currently sit in third spot, thanks to some strong recent results and are only a few points behind second place.
Daryl Hart is wary of complacency however with a couple of tough ties to round out the regular season.
The team is confident of securing a spot in the finals where anything can happen!
Strathfield 4 (Men’s 2.3)
This season has been a challenging one for our Men’s 2.3 side, who currently sit in seventh place but still have fourth spot in their sights.
Steve Chen was proud of his chargers after they notched a tight win on games last weekend against Marrickville.
On their day the team feel capable of beating any other in the division but they’ve been let down by some inexperience with their combinations.
The 4’s are aiming to finish the season with three straight wins but unfortunately may just miss out on the chance to play finals.
Strathfield 5 (Men’s 2.5)
Things are also heating up in the Men’s 2.5 division with our 5’s a strong chance of taking out the title.
The team have enjoyed a stellar campaign however surrendered top spot on the ladder last weekend following a narrow loss away to Mosman.
This weekend’s match-ups loom as crucial as the top sides jostle for position, with first set to play fourth and second to play third.
It’s possible the team will play away to Mosman or Hunters Hill in the finals so Robert Moh is keen for his team to practice their grass court game over the next fortnight.
Strathfield 6 (Men’s 3.1)
Following the completion of Round 12 our Men’s 3.1 division sit in third spot, seven points behind second placed Manly (whom they recently defeated).
Phil Low has high hopes of a top two finish to earn that all-important home court advantage in the semi-finals (and avoid a long trip to the northern beaches!)
The father and son combo of Graham and Corey King, by stepping up from reserve to regular player status, have played a significant role this season.
Phil feels his team are nicely poised heading into the business end of the campaign and are ‘rearing to get stuck into finals.’
He also reports that his injury is healing well, having discarded the ‘moon boot’/knee scooter and commenced physiotherapy sessions.
On behalf of everyone at SSC we’d like to wish all our teams good luck for the rest of their seasons and we’ll be cheering on the teams playing at home this Saturday.
As always they’d appreciate any support from our members and if you’d be interested in joining a team in the future or finding out more information about the competition you can contact the Club.