Opaki almost champions

HELP: Marco de Groot, SOS call from Martinborough.

Opaki have destiny firmly in their hands when they take on Martinborough in the final round of Wairarapa Tennis regional one interclub play tomorrow.

From the outset Opaki have led the race for the Shirley Corlett Trophy and despite some spirited resistance along the way, they should celebrate Christmas a few days early with victory this weekend.

The formula is relatively simple for Opaki - a win will ensure they lock the silverware away in the cabinet, while even a close loss would effectively keep them far enough ahead of the chasing pack. And remembering Opaki steamrolled Martinborough 8-1 in their previous encounter, they could be forgiven for popping the champagne corks a little early.

The only concern for Opaki is the reported non-availability of key player Katie Alsop, which will most likely hand the initiative to Martinborough in the women's department.

Martinborough will no doubt be putting out an SOS call to Marco De Groot given the injury to top men's player Andy Darling last week, and if he was to play that would certainly give Opaki plenty to think about.

But as they have displayed all season, Opaki are always in for the fight and will certainly start as favourites in this encounter.

Still in with a mathematical chance of snatching the title are Gladstone/Carterton, but they would need to wipe the floor against Masterton/Trinity in their match being played tonight and hope Opaki suffer a heavy defeat.

With Jono Hurley and Georgia Atkinson lining up for Masterton/Trinity that would seem a far-fetched notion, so it is likely Gladstone/Carterton will have to settle for the runners-up position and focus on finishing this part of the season on a high note.

The last time these two teams squared off Gladstone/Carterton performed a Houdini act to secure an unlikely 5-4 victory, and it would appear as though a similar result is in the offing here.

Masterton/Trinity have been the "Jekyll & Hyde" package of the competition and certainly have the personnel to rip any team apart on their day, though inconsistency has dogged their season.

For the record, Opaki have a four-point buffer over Gladstone/Carterton while Masterton/Trinity are a further four points adrift.

In the regional two competition, unbeaten Masterton 1 could face their stiffest test to date when they take on fellow contenders Martinborough at Martinborough.

Opaki 1 will start as favourites against the rapidly improving Gladstone while in other action Masterton 2 should have the measure of Trinity 2, and the local derby is a coin-flip between Opaki 2 and Opaki 3.