SOUTHMINSTER Tennis Club's ladies continued their winning run with three home matches.

The first match resulted in an 8-0 win over Chelmsfordians' third team.

The Southminster team of Diane Caulkett, Caroline Timms, Liz Windle and Anne Wodhams won four sets to love between them and conceded just 15 games in the other four sets.

The final game for Windle and Wodhams ended on a tie-break and Southminster secured the win with a powerful cross-court forehand by Windle.

This was closely followed by a match against Marconi’s fourth team.

Once again, the Southminster side played strongly and dominated the games which resulted in a convincing 8-0 win with the team dropped just 12 games between them out of the 48 played

The final match of the week was against Chelmsfordians' second team, a strong and highly-competitive team that in the latest league standings was in top position.

Having played them away earlier in the season and beaten them 5-3, the Southminster ladies knew they had to play at their best to secure a win.

The evening started well for Windle and Wodhams with a comfortable 6-2 win against the stronger Chelmsfordians pair, however, in the second set they were taken to a tie-break which they lost.

Meanwhile, Caulkett and Timms had also gone to a tie-break in their first set, which they managed to win convincingly 7-2.

They went on to win their second set 6-4 and by the halfway point, the Southminster ladies were leading 3-1.

Unfortunately Windle and Wodhams couldn’t maintain their momentum and in spite of long rallies and excellent tennis, they lost the next two sets to their second pair 6-4, 6-3.

On the other court, Caulkett and Timms won their first set 6-1 although the scoreline does not reflect the quality of the games, as many went to deuce points.

Remaining focused, the Southminster team went on to have a 5-2 lead over the opposition but Chelmsfordians changed their game plan and with a series of unforced errors by the home side crept up to level at 5-5.

The set eventually went to a tie-break, which the Southminster pair won 7-5 and after three hours of play resulted in an overall 5-3 win for Southminster.

With only two more matches to play in this summer league the team is on track to be among the top three and is hoping to reach one of the top two positions and gain promotion for next season.