ANOTHER successful season at Cardross Tennis Club culminated in finals day on Saturday.

The village club has gone from strength to strength with both participation and playing standards rising. From a small inactive membership only a few years ago and fielding no club teams, the club now has three gents team and two ladies teams. Three of these teams won their leagues and have been promoted for the second year in a row.

The ladies first team won their overall divisional championship for the second year in a row.

In the junior finals Mia Rooney capped a great season by winning the under-14 girls singles with Tilly Farrow as the runner-up and Mia then combined with Sarah Mitchell to secure the under-14 doubles title over gallant runners-up Jenny Scott and Tilly Farrow.

The boys under-14 singles was won by Findlay Cowie, winning a high quality match over Callum Glen.

Findlay then combined with Fraser Muir to complete his double championship win with a doubles victory over Mark Sullivan and Ben Hogg.

The under under-18 boys was always going to be a close encounter between friends Max McKay, right, and Dylan Brown. Max prevailed in a first set tie break and a single break in the second set saw him home in defending his title.

Dylan dusted himself off and combined with Daniel Clancy to win the under-18 doubles title over Mark Sullivan and Fraser Muir.

The gents singles was a clash of styles with Ross Kennedy’s agility and powerful baseline play having to overcome the slice and slow playing tactics of veteran Keith Wilson.

Ross proved too good, taking the title over ex-champion Keith 6-1 6-4. Last year’s champion David Carmichael was forced to withdraw through injury and Keith wasn’t quite able to recreate the shotmaking required to withstand the heavy bombardment from this talented youngster.

In the ladies singles Gillian Branch defended her title in a straight sets win over Katie Mitchell 6-4 6-0. The relentless weight of Gillian’s serve and groundstrokes eventually taking their toll on Katie in the second set.

Team captains Caroline McDaid and Euan McLatchie both had a chance to be two time champions as they were in the mixed final as well as their respective doubles finals. Caroline secured her first title by combining with Gillian to win a great three set match over Carla Dobbin and Kat McPhie.

After taking a bit off time to work out their tactics they prevailed 3-6 6-3 6-2.

The gents doubles was a very good quality game with long rallies and some heavy serving from all players. In the end Alan McBeath and Jamie Miller won 6-0 6-4 over Euan McLatchie & Alan Crossan. This is a return to the winners enclosure for Jamie having won championships at the club 20 years ago.

The mixed doubles provided Euan with a chance of redemption which he seized with both hands. Euan and Caroline proving too strong a pairing for Kat McPhie and Mark Rooney 6-2 7-5.

The club also presented the Marie Dixon Memorial Quaich for services to tennis on the day to Rob Irving who has worked tirelessly for the club over the years. The award came as a bit of a surprise to Rob as the club had managed to keep the vote secret and having known Marie for the many years she coached at Cardross, Rob was delighted to receive this award.

The most improved player this year was Felix Carpenter who has made huge leaps forward and this was duly recognised.