OKEHAMPTON Mens A tennis team suffered their first defeat of the season at Bovey Tracey. Adam Richards and Dan Arnot were beaten 6-1 6-0 in their first match but did better against Boveys second pairing by winning 6-4 6-3.
Mark Gibbs stepped up from the B team and partnered Paul Love. Despite some excellent rallies in both matches, they went down 6-2 7-5 in their first rubber and 6-2 6-3 in the second.
The following week saw Bovey Tracey come to Okehampton for the return leg. It was Stuart Jarvis who stepped up from the B Team this time and partnered Dan. The Oke duo picked up a win against Bovey's second pair, in three sets. Despite being 4-1 up in the first set, they let Bovey back into the match and went on to lose the first set 6-4. However, they came back to win the next set and eventually the match 10-7 in the championship tie-break.
Their second match was a different matter however, losing in straight sets to Boveys very strong first pairing. Paul and Adam also struggled to overcome the power from Bovey's youngsters and also went down in straight sets. In their second rubber, they stormed to a 6-2 first set win but then found themselves 5-1 down in the second. The Oke pair dug in and fought back to a 6-2 7-5 victory. The overall score was 5-4 to Bovey Tracey.
Despite two straight losses, the Okehampton team stay top of the league and have secured promotion to division two with two matches to spare — against Seaton and Budleigh.