A COMPETITIVE clash was the feature of last Saturday's Prudden Road Surfacing Inter-League Charity Cup final at Henley-in-Arden.

Studley and Stratford B were the teams at either side of the net and the standard of play was the best seen in a final.

The two sides were closely matched and it took a marathon effort for Stratford's Rob Slatter and Callum Bailey to take the first set on a tie-break.

Gary Jackson and Dave Innes fought back to claim the second 7-5 and, although they looked capable of turning the rubber around, it was the Stratford duo who finished stronger taking the deciding set 6-1.

On the other court, Simon West and Chris Cottrell only just held off Studley's Chris Hughes and Tom White 7-5 in the first set but the Stratford pair then ran out 6-2 winners of the second to give their side a 2-0 lead.

Studley weren't going to give up easily and, after the change, Jackson and Innes pulled it back to 2-1 after victory over West and Cottrell 7-6, 6-2.

Bailey and Slatter, however, proved too strong for Hughes and White and the Stratford pair emerged 6-4, 6-2 victors to win the cup and retain the trophy.

The trophy and medals were presented by the Warwickshire LTA secretary Tony Eskew, who is also chairman of both the Summer and Winter Leagues.

The handsome trophy was supplied by PRS, who also donated a cheque for £250 to the charity nominated by the cup winners. This was added to by a further £100 from the Winter League.