THE last Winter Series matches were played at Southminster Tennis Club.

Members have been competing for six months, with points awarded for placed positions.

Brett Allan was a clear men’s winner and could not be beaten in the last match.

However, the ladies' result was much closer, with Anne Wodhams and Bernie Weidenauer both possible winners.

However, with more experience and by three clear points, it was Wodhams who took the series.

The runners-up were Dennis O’Mahoney for the men and Weidenauer for the ladies.

Southminster had one men's team in the Stock Winter League and played their final match against Hutton and Shenfield.

In the knowledge they were already safe and had secured their position in division three, the team of Brett Allan and Aidan Monk and Jeff Burditt and Arthur Thurtle were under no pressure and this resulted in an 8-0 victory.

The club’s open day was blessed with a lovely mild spring day and encouraged lots of enthusiastic visitors to come and meet members.

It was good to see so many youngsters trying out the sport.

There were low nets for the really young players and refreshments for all.

The club’s new coach, Mark Cain, was on hand to chat to parents about the junior coaching programme which will be starting after Easter.

There are still spaces available, so if you are interested contact Mark via markacain@live.com or 07741 083192.

Mark is also available for adult coaching for both members and non-members.

If you missed the open day and would like to come and see the club’s facilities, message the club via their Facebook page or call/text Liz on 07722 543585.

The Chelmsford and District Summer League matches began with three matches in the first week.

The men’s first team, in division two, was the first on court, playing against Danbury 2.

Brett Allan and Dennis O’Mahoney won two sets, as did Jeff Burditt and Arthur Thurtle.

However, Peter Begley and Steve Foster, neither of whom had played matches for several months, couldn’t quite cope with the high standard played by the Danbury side, which resulted in an overall loss of 5-4.

The ladies' first team got off to a much more positive start to the summer season and, having been promoted to division two, were pleased to be able to cope with the stronger opposition and gain a 5-3 win over Writtle.

Diane Caulkett and Caroline Timms won convincingly against their first pair, 6-2, 6-1.

The score, however, didn’t reflect the play, with many of the games going to deuce points.

The Southminster pair played well, securing those decisive points.

Meanwhile, Liz Windle and Anne Wodhams had a long battle with the other Writtle pair and finally, after coming back from 5-3 down, went on to win that first set 7-5.

They then narrowly lost the next set 6-3.

Buoyed up, they had a further two long sets against the second pair, winning them 7-5, 6-4.

After a long break between games, Caulkett and Timms couldn’t maintain their level of play and lost against their second pair.

The team was well-pleased with this first win of the season.

Later in the week the ladies' second team played their first match away against Danbury 3.

Unfortunately the team, a new addition for the club to this league, found the opposition too strong and suffered an 8-0 loss.

Captain Sandra Kew said the score belied the very enjoyable tennis played by all, with many of the games resulting in deuce points.

Leslie Hall and Caroline Timms, in the last match of the evening, came back from 5-2 down to force a closely-contested tie-break which they eventually lost 7-5.

The fourth lady player was Samantha Lonergan.