Two Dave Walkers, there’s only two Dave Walkers! – Portsmouth Winter Tennis League round-up

And so, when the pairs entered on Lee’s scorecard for their Men’s Division 3 match with Seacourt read Dave Walker/ Alwyn Lewis and Dave Walker/Richard Bullen, it was naturally thought a mistake had been made.

But no, there were two Dave Walkers playing in the same team – and they’re not related! To distinguish them, club members call the original member ODW (Old Dave Walker) and the newer member NDW.

Both Walkers won a rubber as Lee shared the rubbers, but Seacourt took the winning draw points by just three games in a very close contest.

The two ladies matches in Division 1 also ended up with the rubbers shared equally. Helen Brind and Tiffany Dinsdale won both their rubbers for Lee, but Chichester rescued a losing draw point when each of their pairs edged past Lee’s second pair Megan Cremer and Mandy Reid.

And it was a similar story when Warsash entertained Avenue. Lauren Howard and Tash Li won both their rubbers for the home team, but Avenue levelled when both their pairs beat Cathie Russell and Katy Firrell.

Anna Newman and Jo Edwards started their final set knowing they needed to win it 6-1 to tie the match. And they nearly managed it, racing 4-0 ahead before being held to 6-2 - Warsash collecting the winning draw points by a single game.

Chichester’s 2nd and 3rd ladies teams were also in action. The 2nds travelled to Ventnor but came home empty-handed as the home team won all four rubbers, while the 3rds also went down 3-1 to Alverstoke.

Angela Wiseman and Becky Jansz showed that their recent week’s coaching in La Manga had paid off when they overcame Alverstoke’s top pair in a match tie break.

In the other Division 5 match, Lee scored a 4-0 over Denmead.

Lee 2nds and promoted Lee 3rds are both playing in Men’s 2 this season. The 2nds stormed to a 4-0 win over Ryde Mead, the closest Mead getting to a set was when Paul McCathie and Alex Baughan forced Josh Maitland and Mark Wallis into a tie break for the second set.

The 3rds found life in the new division hard, Chichester’s Silva Pillai and Andrew Newton scoring a double and backing up Callum Budd and Gerald Edwards’ 7-6 7-5 win in the top rubber.

Southsea opened their Mixed 3 campaign with a 3-1 win over Alverstoke, with Claire Keiditsch and Richard Libby leading the way with a double.

Southsea also started their midweek mixed masters campaign with a win, though this was rather more fortunate, because Rowlands Castle were hit by a communication problem and were a player short. With two rubbers conceded, Castle did well to rescue a point by winning the two rubbers that were played.

Swanmore entered a team in the winter midweek mixed for the first time and, based on their performance in the summer league, were placed in the top flight. However, they ran into a strong Avenue team in their first match, going down 3-1.

Other matches in that division saw Ryde Lawn show they do not intend to give up their crown easily, beating Wellow 3-1, while David Lloyd West End eased to a 4-0 against Lee.

CourtX were another team to log a 4-0 win, against promoted Ryde Lawn 2nds, though the match was much closer than that score suggests.

Fishbourne wrapped up the midweek mixed results by taking the winning draw points off Carlton Green, Dick Nicholson and Rob Moore taking a crucial set in their losing rubber against Chris Jenkins and Chris Weatherill.