MINEHEAD D retained their place in Division Four of the West Somerset Tennis League with a win in their play-off match away to Division Five promotion hopefuls Elms C.

Needing to win to avoid relegation, they took six sets to Elms’ three last Thursday.

Heavy rain the night before had cast doubts over whether the match could be played Elms’ grass courts, but after inspection both teams agreed it was dry enough to play.

Lack of experience on grass could have put Minehead at a disadvantage, but some determined play saw them cope well with the unfamiliar surface.

In the first mixed doubles, captain Rick Boxer and his wife Liz took advantage of the low sun and winning the toss to make Elms open the serving into the sun, helping them to break immediately and then maintain the break to win the first set 6-4.

The second set was very fiercely contested with both teams struggling for any clear advantage and it went to a tie-break which Minehead won 7-4 after some strong serving by Rick.

In the second mixed match Keiryn Evans and Maggie Rutty found themselves in a tie-break for their first set which again went Minehead’s way, then Keiryn, playing on grass for the first time, found his form in the second set and he and Maggie made short work of taking it 6-0.

Already four sets to love up, Minehead needed just one more to take the match, and Rick and Keiryn got off to a strong start in men’s doubles, leading 3-0 in the first set before Elms raised their game and went 5-4 ahead, but a determined Minehead pair forced a tie-break which they won to secure the match overall.