Inexperience costs pennant

By Paul Pickering
A DOUBLES double-blow has stripped Springvale North Tennis Club of the Pennant Grade One (Section Three) title, losing to minor premier Dendy Park in the grand final at Dingley on Saturday.
Having split the singles matches the previous weekend, Springvale North’s inexperience in the pairs format proved costly on Saturday.
After resuming play at 2-2 in the first set, Henryk Pawlukowski and Zelko Lovric fell away to lose 6-3 6-3, giving Dendy Park a three rubbers to two lead.
When Stephen Sruk and Trent Cobb lost their first set 6-4, the set deficit had become too great for Springvale North to peg back.
Playing-coach Sruk said young guns Cobb and Pawlukowsi – both 16 – would learn a lot from playing against more experienced doubles players in a pressure cooker final.
“It’ll be a good experience for the younger guys to know that they have to improve their volleying and doubles skills to make it to the next level,” he said.
Springvale North was left ruing chances to seal the match during the singles rubbers.
“We just didn’t take our chances at the right time,” Sruk lamented.
The future, however, looks bright for Springvale North, with another year of competitive tennis for the youngsters and spritely veteran Lovric.
Sruk said he was confident that the recruitment of a couple of experienced players would bolster the team for a tilt at Grade One next year.