THE winter season has ended for Penarth Windsor’s men’s and ladies’ second teams and both walked off court assured of finishing their rollercoaster seasons in typical rollercoaster fashion.

The men’s seconds went into their last match of the season at home against Rhiwbina knowing that the winner would retain their place while the loser would slip down a division.

Just one week previously the visitors had triumphed and brought an unchanged line-up confident of a repeat would see them escape from the jaws of relegation that had held them all season.

Penarth Windsor however made three changes. Captain Guy Bradley remained but was this time paired with Luke Catterson while Dyfri Owen and Matt Colmsee joined the line-up as second pair.

Guy and Luke produced a nerveless first match, clinching a controlled 6-3, 6-3 belying the fact that the whole season rested on the outcome of the fixture.

Having not played for a few matches, Dyfri and Matt took some time to find their rhythm and weren’t able to claw back the first set from a sluggish start, going down 6-3.

It wasn’t long before they found their feet and their volleys found the angles and they won the second set to enter the lottery of a 10-point tiebreak.

Despite getting their noses in front, they fell to the resolute Rhiwbina pair to leave the tie hanging in the balance at the halfway point.

The second round saw Dyfri and Matt hit the court running and produced a breathtaking display of focus and technique to close out a 6-2, 6-1 win over the Rhiwbina second pair.

Meanwhile, Guy and Luke locked horns with their opposite numbers and although faltering slightly, they showed quality when it mattered to win a first set tie break and then slam the door on the match with a clinical second set to secure a 3-1 victory and divisional security for the home-side - or so they thought.

A clerical error reveals that Rhiwbina in fact had earned an extra two points over the course of the season and the rectification of the table looks set to make the brave last minute Windsor performance heartbreakingly redundant.

The ladies did their fighting at the other end of the table, and although some of their rivals have matches to play, their own position of fourth is already secured.

The division has been extremely tight and with top spot only a handful of points away going into the last couple of fixtures, Cathy O’Doherty and her team were well and truly in contention for promotion for a remarkable third time in a row.

Unfortunately they fell just short against the first teams of Haverfordwest and David Lloyd but there is every reason to believe promotion is an attainable goal next season.

Special congratulations must go to Cathy and Annabel Richards who both finished the season in the list of top 10 ranked players with both boasting healthy win percentages. Seren Marsh, and Tracy French were not too far behind either, and all would have been higher if they’d played the same number of matches as some of their rivals.