ON Saturday afternoon, in brilliant winter sunshine, Windsor LTC Ladies Cymru Kitchens first team played hosts to Monmouth LTC.

In the first round of play, the Windsor second pairing of Bethan Pilcher and Linda Ellis raced through the first set against the opposing first couple, winning by six games to one.

However at 3-1 down in the second set, the Monmouth first pair steadied themselves and came back strongly to force a tiebreak at five games apiece, but to no avail as Bethan and Linda took the tiebreaker by seven points to three.

In the other first round match, Margaret Richmond and Cathy O'Doherty were too strong for the Monmouth second pair and emerged comfortable winners by 6-0, 6-2.

In the second round, both Windsor duos played consistently well, with both pairs winning their matches. As a result, Windsor recorded a resounding four matches to nil victory.

On Sunday, Windsor Ladies' Vets team travelled to Llandybie, to play a match which had already been postponed twice prior to Christmas due to bad weather.

In the first round, the Windsor first pairing of Ann Davies and Linda Ellis rallied themselves from being 4 -1 down in the first set against the Llandybie first pair to win the match 6-4, 6-1.

In the other first round match, the Windsor second pair of Diane Chisnall and Elaine Newton were narrowly edged out by the Llandybie second pairing, 6-4, 7-6.

In the reverse matches, Ann and Linda were bamboozled during the first set against the Llandybie second couple by a combination of heavy drizzle, winds, and their opponents' clever shots, losing it by six games to one.

However, in the second set, they managed to cut down on their errors and won that set by six games to four.

Ann and Linda then went on to win the deciding third set tiebreaker by ten points to seven. Unfortunately, this was not enough to win the match overall and Windsor went down by five sets to four.

The Windsor Men's vets team have had a difficult winter season losing all three of their fixtures to date.

Are they depressed? Are they downhearted?

Well, to be honest, yes, they have been, but they have always held the belief that their fortunes would improve one day.

That day came on Sunday, when the team of Alan Hope, Peter Owen, Phil Davies and Bill Ellis lined up against St Fagans.

The Windsor first pair of Alan and Peter lost a very tense match against the St Fagans first pair in a third set tiebreak.

But Phil and Bill managed to keep the match alive after an equally thrilling third set tiebreak win against the St Fagans second pair.

Alan and Peter then won their match against the St Fagans second pair by a comfortable 6-2, 6-2 scoreline and created a pressure situation which seemed to bring out the best in Phil and Bill, who went on to win the first set against the St Fagans first pair by six games to three.

Their hopes of a two-set triumph were dashed, however, when St Fagans rallied strongly to take the second set.

Alan and Peter, who by this time were safely home in the clubhouse, could scarcely bring themselves to watch, as the whole match was destined to depend on the result of one third set tiebreak.

Phil and Bill were determined to give their all in one final push for victory. Windsor surged ahead and held their nerve to win the tiebreak by ten points to six.

The result ended Windsor 3, St Fagans 1. Underdogs -maybe Hangdogs - never!

The photograph above shows Daniel Sidaway and Bethan Pilcher (both Windsor LTC members) who are South Wales Closed Tournament Champions at U16 and U/8 respectively.

The club is very proud of their achievement and is confident that further success will follow for these very talented players.

l Windsor Tennis Club offers the opportunity to play tennis to people of all ages and abilities.

The club also runs a comprehensive coaching programme for both adults and junior players. Details of the current coaching programme organised by new club coach Imed Hamrouni are now available in the clubhouse.

For further information, visit the club website, www.windsorlawntennisclub.org.uk