MALTON’S tennis teams endured a tough week – with only one victory to celebrate.

In the Hovingham League, no matches were played, while the Mixed League takes a break for the Spring Bank Holiday, and the opposition for the Ladies team, Alne, were unable to raise a team.

Malton’s team in division one of the Driffield Ladies League gained their second win of the season, at home to Pocklington B.

In a close-fought match, captain Becks Breese and partner Wendy Jackson secured three sets, whilst second pair Wendy Barry and Katie Mitchell gave excellent support with two sets.

Alison Myers and Steph Young paired up for the first time, but were unable to offer too much resistance to the strong Pocklington pairs.

On Thursday evening, none of the Men’s teams were able to win, despite of some close encounters.

The A team, promoted last season to division one, fought hard against Market Weighton at home but narrowly lost 5-4.

Top pair Charlie Breese and Olivier Cordingley won two sets, but missed out on the third set in a tie-break. PJ Guthrie and Danny Alasfar managed to win two sets, but the elusive fifth set to seal victory was out of their grasp.

The B team headed away to Beverley & ER C, the home club of Kyle Edmonds, who had recently brought the Davis Cup trophy to the club to share Great Britain’s success in the competition, with the likes of Andy and Jamie Murray.

However, Malton’s pairings of Pete Glanville and Kevin Dunne, Dan Clarke and Terry Ellis, and Sam Alasfar and Phil Youngs were unable to emulate Team GB. All pairs managed to win a set, but were unable to add to their tally in the other matches.

After their flying start to the season, the Men’s C team was brought back down to earth with an 8-1 defeat at home to Filey.

New pairing of Marcus Lyon and Shaun Shortland managed to win a set in a tie-break, but the other pairings of David and Keir Barnet, and Jim Ferguson and Mike Dixon toiled hard with scant reward.

The junior section of the club has been busy in the last couple of weeks. Sixteen younger players, aged Year 9 or under, took part in the first round of the popular ‘Road to Wimbledon’ competition.

The Girls’ event was won by Evie Ellis, who fought well in a tight final against Clara Reeves.

In the Boys’ event, experienced player Jude Dixon beat good friend James Dawson in the final. The winners and runners up go through to the county rounds next month in Leeds.

One of the highlights of the club’s year is the Junior Davis Cup competition. In spite of poor weather, more than 20 juniors took part, with coach Derek Youngs praising the spirit in which the matches were played. The winning team was Djibouti, comprising Jude Dixon, Clara Reeves, Joe O’Brien and Louie Ellis.