TENNIS: BOTH Palmers teams were in action in the Essex 18 and under Boys league.

The 1sts were playing away to the only team to have beaten them this season, Grove 2. Therefore revenge was definately the motivational factor for team members Charlie Kay, Sean White, Ollie Smith and Andrew Harrod.

And they didn’t disappoint. There were emphatic wins in the singles for Charlie Kay 6-2, Sean White 6-1, Ollie Smith 6-2 and Andrew Harrod 6-3.

The doubles was equally successful as Kay and White, and Smith and Harrod all won easily 6-1.

Palmer`s came out as winners by an impressive six sets to love. The victory was against the second placed team in the league. Palmers seconds enjoyed the luxury of playing at home after having a long run of away fixtures.

Their Division 3 opponents at Stanford Rec were top of the table, Hylands from Hornchurch. The squad for this match was : Alex Gee, Daniel Monk, Marc White and Kepa Beroiz.

Unfortunately in the singles rubbers there were defeats for Alex Gee 1-6, Daniel Monk 2-6, Marc White 4-6 and Kepa Beroiz 0-6.

The doubles fared no better as the pairings of Gee and Monk, and White and Beroiz lost. The final score was six sets to love to Hylands.

l Palmers held their long awaited Red tournament at the sports centre. There was an entry of 12 children.

Matches started at 10am and each match was scored as a tie break, first to 7.

The umpires were head coach, Nick Antoniades and assistant coach Alex Coates.

The standard of play was pretty high, whereby the kids pleasantly suprised their peers and watching parents alike.

After the round robins were completed we were left with four semi finalists who were: Harvey Tsang, Claire Healy, Kyle O`Brien and Daniel Adeusi.

In the semi-final matches, Daniel Adeusi faced Kyle O`Brien and Claire Healy played Harvey Tsang.

The winners of those were Kyle O’Brien and Harvey Tsang who were to meet in the final.

The final pitched the consistant and smooth ground shots of Kyle against the speedy and competitve Harvey.

Both boys played some great tennis with excellent close rallies.

In the end the match went to Harvey Tsang to become the Palmers Red Champ for 2010, with Kyle O’Brien the runner up.

More tournaments will be held at Palmers involving other age groups in the new year. Parents wishing to get their children onto the tennis ladder should contact Palmers Sports Centre on 01375 898613.