Aston Park’s three Mixed Teams all perform very strongly

Aston Park’s success in Mixed Doubles continued over the winter 2018/19 season in the Aylesbury and District Tennis League. The 1st team, in its first year in Division 3, were strong contenders to be divisional winners although ultimately ended up in 2nd place.  Congratulations to the team member all of whom contributed to close wins throughout the season. Aston Park will have its first team ever in Division 2 next winter.

The 2nd team fielded very strong teams throughout the winter and were undefeated in Division 6, losing only one point in a draw with the strong second placed Prestwood team and winning 87.9% of the sets. As Divisional Champions, this team had 4 players (Graham Smith, David Rolls, Kerry Pendlebery and Anna Fryer) in the top 4 positions in the player statistics table.

A 3rd team, new for this year, came a very credible 3rd place in Division 6 winning over 60% of their sets. Promising junior, Tom Pendlebery, and Glen Hickson performed very strongly in this team and it also had an excellent draw with 2nd placed Prestwood in the home fixture.

2nd Men’s Team promoted and 1st come close to promotion but are denied by injury

The 1st team came agonising close to returning to Division 3 next winter but were denied in the final game of the season against Long Crendon 1 when one of the player sustained a knee injury. The team remained up-beat at the end of the match, reflecting on very strong performances all season despite the challenges of getting teams on court.

The 2nd team were crowned Champions of Division 8, pushing a strong Halton 4 into second place and winning over 70% of sets.  Mark Pendlebery and David Rolls were the top two performing players in this Division. Congratulations to these team members.

2nd ladies Team Promoted plus very close Division 3 matches for the 1st team     

The 1st Team, competing in Division 3, had a few excellent results over the winter including Aston Park’s first ever win over the Long Crendon 1 team which has been exceptionally strong for the past few years.  The team have the Aston Park wind to thank for this success as the Aston Park Ladies adjusted better to the windy conditions. This league saw some very close encounters, with little to choose between the middle ranking teams, and it is shame that Aston Park just fell into second bottom place and will contest Division 4 next winter.

The 2nd Team experienced a renaissance after Christmas and ultimately ended up runners-up in Division 6.  Lying 2nd from bottom at Christmas, a shift in team emphasis to field those with more match experience paid off and the team put together six back- to-back wins to move to 2nd spot and defeat the league winners Cublington 2 in a very close encounter lasting over 3 hours.  Pamela Reid was the top performer in this league.

These results mean that these Ladies Teams will be in Division 4 and 5 next winter.

Overall an excellent season for Aston Park and we must be in the running for most Improved Club again with these results.

The summer 2019 season is now upon us and we hope to continue to field strongly competitive teams; we have 2 mixed, 2 Ladies and 2 Men’s Teams playing matches mid- week in the Aylesbury & District League with 4 Teams in the Buckinghamshire Summer Shield at weekends (Two pair Men’s and Ladies Teams plus 2 Mixed Medley teams). Please do contact the team captains listed on the web-site if you are interested in playing match tennis for Aston Park.

Pamela Reid

Aston Park Ladies Captain

4 May 2019