Hitchin Tennis Club round-up: Fourth team take top spot, sixth's make it three on the bounce, seconds and thirds also win

Hitchin Tennis Club's sixth team won their third Datchworth summer league match in a row, beating Codicote 3-0, to catapult themselves into contention for promotion in their maiden season.

Newly formed this year, Holly Hourihan's side are beginning to find their form after a mixed start to the campaign. Although St Margaretsbury 4s look to be running away with the Division 8A title, Hitchin are now in third place, just a set behind Knebworth 7s, with two teams likely to be promoted.

Despite the final scoreline, it was an incredibly close contest against Codicote 8s on Monday, Hitchin narrowly winning each set 7-6. In the first, it took a tiebreak to separate the sides, Hourihan and partner Peter Mee proving more accomplished at handling the pressure, mixing deep lobs and aggressive net play to win 7-1. 

In the second set, Paul Taylor and Hourihan took a 3-0 lead before Codicote battled back to level the scores. With Taylor's drop shots and cross-court slices proving effective, Hitchin pulled away again to seal the set – and the match – at 7-4, but Codicote grabbed the final two games as a consolation. Knowing that games won might come into play at the end of the season – they are used as a tiebreaker if two teams finish level on sets – Mee and Taylor did not let up in the final set, completing the clean sweep.

Hitchin's promotion hopes could come down to how they fare in their final game of the season against St Margaretsbury on July 10. Hitchin lost the away meeting 3-0 but will have home advantage in the eagerly awaited rematch.

At the other end of the league, Hitchin's first team have stumbled in the Division 1 title race. They briefly climbed to the top of the table two weeks ago but, after a bye week last time out, suffered a 2-1 defeat by new leaders Orchard on Monday, doing well to take the first set before being outplayed by the team that finished as narrow runners up in the top tier last season. Hitchin have dropped down to fourth but have a game in hand on the top three.

Hitchin 4s kept their place at the top of Division 6A with a 3-0 victory over Kimpton 6s. They lead second-placed Watton 3s by a single set but have also won more games, thanks in part to a whopping 12-1 win in the second set on Monday.

Hitchin 3s picked up an away win against Watton's first team to give their Division 3B campaign a much-needed lift. After the teams split the two mixed doubles sets, James Harris and Tom Wilson combined in the men's doubles to win 8-5 and seal a 2-1 victory.

Hitchin 2s beat Division 3A's bottom team Elliswick but still have it all to do to rescue their promotion hopes. The team captained by Jack Grove are fifth, four sets behind second-placed Odyssey but, after Monday's 3-0 win, their overall games-won total is superior to the teams around them in the table.