Saints in Newcomb’s sights
NEWCOMB will get its shot at revenge for its only loss of the season when it hosts St Mary’s in Tennis Geelong Section 1 on Saturday.
Newcomb hasn’t lost a match since meeting St Mary’s in the opening round, proving the most dominant side across the summer competition with 49 points through seven rounds.
But the Saints sit hot on its tail in second with 40 points, 12 points clear of next best Hamlyn Park.
“We’re going well; we’re sort of flying under the radar a little bit,” Newcomb’s Peppe Scorpo said.
“I think where we’re doing well is we’re just a really even side.
“A lot of the other clubs have really good ones, twos and even threes, but their No. 4 guy falls away.
“Usually our No. 4 guy wins his three sets pretty easy, so that gets us through.”
Newcomb proved too strong for Barwon Heads on Saturday, claiming a clean sweep of its six rubbers with a 38-17 games win.
The home side was also without David Kos and Chris Higgins who will bolster the team ahead of the crunch match with St Mary’s, however Scorpo — a former Saint — won’t be available.
“David Kos was playing in a tennis tournament up in Yarrawonga — I think he’s a 50-andover Australian champion in doubles — and Chris was away too, so we had a couple of fillins on Saturday,” Scorpo said.
“It’s always very close (with St Mary’s). We beat them in the semi-final in Section 2 last season; it was four sets to two and there were only three or four games in it, so we always have close matches.
“And they beat us in Round 1 so it’s always very competitive when we play them.”