OKEHAMPTON Men`s B tennis team made the journey to Exeter to play Tunnels B looking for big points to re-launch their quest for promotion.
However, Julian Mesling and Chris Searle came up against an experienced pairing and strong volleying proved too much as they lost 3-6, 2-6. John Jarvis and Mark Gibbs quickly found their timing and won their first encounter 6-1, 6-2. Okehampton were expecting Julian and Chris to pick up points against the second pair in the reverse rubber but they found themselves 2-5 down in the first set. They recovered well to take it 7-5 but couldn`t maintain their form and lost the next set 3-6 and the championship tie-break by 10 points to 4.
John and Mark struggled to adjust to the extra power of Tunnel`s first pairing and fell 0-3 behind. They began to pick up the pace of the ball and pulled back to 5-5 before losing 5-7. They changed their game plan and made greater use of the lob to win the second set 6-3. This set up an exciting tie-break decider.
Okehampton were always ahead but Tunnels fought hard and saved four match points before Oke secured a 14-12 victory to tie the match at 5-5.
After scraping home by five sets to four in the away fixture against Newton Abbot Okehampton B expected a tough return fixture at home. However, the opposition brought a much weaker team and Okehampton romped home by eight sets to nil. Mark Gibbs and John Jarvis only dropped five games in their four sets and Stuart Jarvis and John Radnor gained their first maximum of the season with 6-2, 7-5 and 6-2, 6-3 wins.
This comprehensive victory consolidates Okehampton`s third position in the league and closed the gap on Teignmouth, who currently hold the second promotion spot, to two points.