Tennis

SECOND best had to be good enough for Inkberrow's young tennis pair Ricky Allan and Chris Smith after they were beaten in the final of the Prudden Road Surfacing League's Junior Cup.

Shipston's Andrew Moss and Ben Lane took the title, played by youngsters aged 12 years and under, triumphing 6-4, 6-1 at Bidford.

The final was a repeat of last year's, which went the way of the Inkberrow pair. And Allan and Smith opened in determined fashion in their attempt to retain their title.

The Inkberrow duo dominated the net but their opponents had learnt from last year and countered this tactic by lobbing and dictating the pace of play, resulting in them coming from 2-4 behind to take the first set.

The Shipston pair then slowed the play to suit their style and totally dominated the first five games of the second set to race to a 5-0 lead.

Inkberrow stopped the rot to win the sixth game but this only delayed the inevitable as Shipston sealed the match.

Although this wasn't the nail biter of last year, there were some excellent rallies by both sets of players which belied their age.