WEEK three of the season got under way on Monday with Shipton Gorge A scoring a close 21-17 victory over Springfield B.

Shipton’s Terry Whitfield (9) top scored on the night with Chris Whitefield (7) scoring well for Springfield.

The doubles decided this one with Whitfield and Miranda Edwardes sneaking it in the decider after winning a titanic 18-16 fourth set.

Park District got over their opening week loss to Budmouth A with a crushing 30-5 defeat of Dorchester’s Colliton X.

John Ryan, Ray Cody and Richard Willshere dominated Colliton with only Mick Hogan offering any resistance in scoring all of Colliton’s points including five-setters with both Ryan and Willshere.

In Division Two, Shipton Gorge B defeated Springfield C with a deceptively convincing 27-7 success.

Shipton were too strong for Springfield but many of the sets were closer than their scores suggest and just edged by the visitors.

Brian Cammell and Derek Wheeler both scored maximum points for Shipton in a very enjoyable and competitive evening.

Shipton Gorge C completed a great week for their teams with a 23-16 victory over Colliton C to see them sit second in the division.

Dave Poole (9), Tom Baldry (8) and Joachim Wood (5) all contributed fully to the win and were far enough ahead for their doubles defeat to Katherine Bundy (6) and Peter Loakes (5) to make any difference to the result.

Preston A condemned their counterparts Preston C to the bottom of the division in inflicting a 22-14 defeat on them.

Simon Green secured a maximum for the loss of just a single set for Preston A with Alec Brown (7) and Derrick Shilliday (5) also scoring well. Greg Clarke (6) top scored for Preston C.

Springfield D are in second place in Division Three after securing a 24-10 win over newly-formed Budmouth D.

It was a special evening with the Budmouth boys playing their first ever league match and it was a joy to see their enthusiasm and obvious love of the game. Mike Wood won his first ever league match and finished with nine points for Springfield, including a gritty comeback from two match points down against young Ben Howe.

Springfield may have won most of the points but credit to Budmouth for a game well played.

Pilgrims B sit in third spot and leapfrog their opponents in completing their 25-11 win over Wey Valley TC.

Ken Winship (9) top scored for Pilgrims with Richard Lane (6) chipping most points for the Tennis Centre team.

Budmouth E picked up their first win of the season with a 21-18 victory over Preston D.

It must be many years since a match in the WDTTL has been played with an all-female cast but it happened on Wednesday.

The Budmouth girls opened up a 12-3 lead after the first four matches with Jaimee Browne (4) and Ella Stanton (5) both gaining their first league wins and the more experienced Rosa McKechnie (9) beating Lynda Clegg (7) in a really close match.

The Preston ladies then gradually clawed their way back into the match with Liz Wilkinson (5) and Christine Roy (4) both gaining valuable wins and Clegg beating Stanton 3-2 after losing the first two legs.

The match score was 18-16 to the youngsters with the doubles still to play but with Preston leading 2-1 the last two legs were crucial in deciding the result of the match.

The Budmouth girls came back strongly to win the final two legs and claim the victory.

n Full results, tables and averages can be found at ttleague.co.uk