Opaki produced the goods to claim the Shirley Corlett trophy in a dramatic last round of Wairarapa Tennis regional one at the weekend.
Gladstone/Carterton had done their best to spoil the party when they comfortably accounted for Masterton/Trinity 7-2 on Friday night, meaning that Opaki would have to defeat Martinboroughto take the pre-Christmas honours. And with no Katie Alsop for this encounter, the pressure was on the Opaki men to deliver and they did just that, getting the better of the doubles rubbers to sneak home 5-4.
The addition of Marco De Groot to the Martinborough line-up added some extra spice to this fixture and his 3-set win over Brett Dymond and dominant singles performances from Rhona Lovell and Katherine Jacobs ensured the Southerners would be well in this contest.
But it's hard to look past the depth of the Opaki men - Chris Davidson, Stu Wyeth and Duncan Oakley recorded straight-sets victories to level the tie heading into doubles.
Despite the combination of Lovell and Jacobs putting Martinborough on the brink of an upset, Opaki were too slick in the men's doubles. The performance of Dymond and Oakley to beat De Groot and Campbell Venning in the top men's doubles was particularly crucial, while the bottom pairing of Davidson and Wyeth have been the form team of the competition and were a class apart.
It was a just result for Opaki who have headed the points table from week one, though they would have had a few nervous moments given Gladstone/Carterton's margin of victory over Masterton/Trinity at Rathekeale.
It was clear the visiting side were on a mission, winning four of the singles matches in straight-sets and then sweeping the doubles to round off a good first part of the season for them.
The leading men's and women's singles matches had plenty of action. Gladstone/Carterton's Matt Spooner has been on the wrong end of two decent beatings from Jono Hurley this season, but on this occasion Hurley was fully extended before winning in the third set.
Meanwhile, Karen Herrick turned the tables on Masterton/Trinity's Georgia Atkinson, triumphing in a tight second-set tiebreaker and then went on to combine with Tracey Donald to win an equally nail-biting doubles.
Kelby Courtney, Alistair McWilliam and Steve Hurley were unbeaten on the night for the victors, while Sophie Fitzgerald notched up a sound win for Masterton/Trinity.
When the competition resumes in 2015, the teams will be competing for the Gawith Shield, the main championship trophy of Wairarapa club tennis.
