A late surge in results has secured promotion against the odds for the ladies team at Kirktonhill Tennis Club.

The team had been sitting comfortably in Division 4 before their final two matches.

However, back-to-back wins of 8-1 over one weekend were enough to see them leapfrog over Helensburgh Ladies 2 and clinch the runner-up place and promotion.

First up on that defining weekend were Hamilton who were returning to complete a match which had been abandoned two weeks earlier due to a heavy downpour.

A big factor of the team’s success this season has been the consistent form of first couple Karen Haggarty and Trish Cameron who remained unbeaten throughout the campaign and dropped only one set along the way.

Against Hamilton, they continued where they left off and took little time in securing a 3 sets win of 6-0, 6-2, 6-1. On court 2 were Marissa Gordon and Fiona MacDonald.

Their match resumed at 5-5 in the first set and it was the home pair who got off to a strong start, taking this set 7-5. After that it was a confident and assured performance which saw them take the remaining sets 6-0, 6-0.

At third couple were Clare Donnelly and Anna Currie. Although they lost the first set 2-6, they fought back well to take the second set 6-4. In the third set they found themselves 5-2 down with 3 match points against them but to their immense credit they fought back to level it at 5-5 before getting the 7-5 win they deserved. Final score 8-1 to Kirktonhill.

The following evening the team travelled to David Lloyd Hamilton. This proved to be a nervy affair for the team as they were aware for the first time that promotion was now well within their grasp if they could win at least 6 of the 9 sets available.

On court one, Karen and Trish won their first two sets 6-3, 6-1 but struggled in the third. Indeed, they were 5-2 down before they re-established their dominance and went on to win 7-5.

Second couple Marissa and Fiona had to work extra hard to take the first set 6-4. Fortunately this seemed to settle their nerves and they were able to take the remaining sets 6-2, 6-2.

Anna and Clare on court 3 have grown in confidence as the season has progressed and they showed this in their strong performance, winning 6-0, 5-7, 6-2.

With this comfortable win and 8 points in the bag, the team were able to celebrate their runner-up position in the league and can now look forward to playing in Division 3 next year.

Meanwhile the Gents team have also had a good set of results, their most recent being a convincing 9-0 home win against Newlands 4. Andy Bone and Douglas Mackechnie played on court one and put on a fine performance to win the sets 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. On court 2 were David Corcoran and Alan Barbour. They took their first set comfortably at 6-2 but found the going tougher in the second before overpowering their opponents 6-1 in the third. Finally, the third pair of Steven Diver and Michael Corcoran produced some strong shots to beat their opponents 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. With only one match left to play the team are confident to finish in the top half of their league.