GEARING UP: Brett Dymond is facing a tough singles battle.
GEARING UP: Brett Dymond is facing a tough singles battle.
Gladstone/Carterton and Opaki have all but sealed their finals spots heading into the last round of Wairarapa Tennis regional one interclub this weekend.
With a clinical 7-2 victory over Martinborough last weekend, Gladstone/Carterton have opened up a decisive lead at the top of the points table and they will belooking to head into the season decider on a positive note when they take on Masterton/Trinity at Gladstone tonight.
While they will have to do without Matt Spooner for this clash, the home side should still be a warm favourite against a team that has been brilliant at their best, but lacking consistency.
With Baden Stevenson, Kelby Courtney, Alistair McWilliam and Karen Herrick all performing well at the Wairarapa closed championships, Gladstone/Carterton has depth to burn in their squad and has won seven of their past eight fixtures to prove it.
Masterton/Trinity has been in good form also, highlighted by their 5-4 defeat of a full-strength Opaki side on Tuesday night. With the father/daughter duo of Luke and Georgia Atkinson leading the way, they showed they have the firepower to match Gladstone/Carterton provided they front up with a similar strength team.
Mathematically, Masterton/Trinity could still make the final but they would need to secure a big win tonight and hope that Martinborough upset Opaki in the other fixture being played at Martinborough tomorrow.
Clearly, Opaki will be keen to get back into the winning groove after consecutive losses in recent weeks and should do so handsomely against the home side. They are unbeaten against Martinborough this season and were particularly ruthless the last time these two teams squared off on the grass, winning 8-1.
Having said that, there should be some interesting individual match-ups. In their previous encounter, Opaki No 1 man Brett Dymond got the better of Andy Darling and no doubt Darling will be itching to get revenge at home.
Rhona Lovell will also be looking forward to playing on the grass against Opaki's Katie Alsop who has been well below her best recently, in the top women's match.
In regional two action, the top four teams will play their last pool matches, before semifinals next weekend.
The high-flying Masterton 1 team will get a good gauge of their championship credentials when they host their obvious contender Opaki 1. In the other match, Martinborough will start as favourite against a rapidly improving Gladstone outfit.
In the "bottom 5" pool matches, Trinity 1 should have the measure of Opaki 2, while Masterton 2 will take some stopping against Trinity 2. Opaki 3 has the bye.
