By Erin Tasker  February 6, 2012

Open A grade tennis leaders Fairton suffered a rare and unexpected loss at the Ashburton Trust Tennis Centre on Saturday.

Fairton was beaten by Hampstead – a team it has already beaten twice this season.
The second full round of open A grade tennis might be finished, but with time left on the calendar, a third full round is being played.
That meant that Fairton, which had a four point lead over first-round winners Dorie heading into the latest round, didn't have the Athol Taylor Memorial Trophy as expected last week.
Instead, they've got to fight for another four rounds yet.
Fairton's loss was sealed by losses at the top.
Hampstead had it all their own way in the top order, with Tony Brosnahan and Dave Hampton too good for Rebecca Robinson and Phil Crozier, winning the top doubles 6-1 6-1.
Robinson's step up to number one also didn't go so well, convincingly beaten by Brosnahan 6-1 6-2 in the singles, while Crozier pushed Hampton, but went down 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
It was an entirely different story in the bottom order with Fairton's Alister Clemens and Toby Thomas beating Devon Francis and Ed Harrison in the doubles 6-4 6-3, before Clemens beat Francis 6-1 7-5.
The winning blow for Hampstead came from Harrison, who won the first set against Thomas 6-4 before losing the second in a tie-break 9-7 and losing the super tie-break third, 10-8. But the set he won was enough to seal the deal for Hampstead, winning 7-6 on a count-back of sets.
Fortunately for Fairton, second placed Dorie didn't make the most of the opportunity that opened up on Saturday.
They couldn't beat Allenton, instead they drew after the two could not be separated on matches, sets or games.
They finished 55-all on games.
It was a hard fought battle from start to end, with four of the six games going to tie-breakers.
Both doubles went to tie-breakers and both ended up going Allenton's way, with Neil Fowler and Luke Glendining beating James Boag and Sam Benny 7-5 3-6 1-0 (10-7), and Ashleigh Leonard and Sarah Hayman beating Todd Boag and Connor Wilson 5-7 6-4 1-0 (10-6).
A default in the number two singles handed Dorie one win, while Leonard took Allenton's only singles victory, beating Todd Boag 6-0 6-0.
James Boag needed three sets to get past Fowler 4-6 6-4 1-0 (10-3), as did Wilson to get past Hayman 3-6 6-4 1-0 (10-7).
Meanwhile, in the day's other clash Ruapuna turned the tables on Methven, making amends for two losses to them earlier in the season by winning 4-2, but it was also hard fought with all matches, bar one, forced to third set super tie-breaks.
The stage was set in the opening doubles clashes, with Ruapuna's top pairing of Jayden Cromie and Don Lake accounting for Andrew Hunt and Peter Withers 4-6 6-4 1-0 (10-7), while Ruapuna's bottom pairing of Rob Withers and DJ Danielson was too good for James Smith and Abbie Muir, winning 6-4 4-6 1-0 (10-8).
Ruapuna sealed the win with Rob Withers beating Smith 6-4 3-6 1-0 (10-7) at number three, while Danielson breezed past Muir 6-0 6-0 in the only match not to go to three.
Methven's only wins came in the top two singles matches, with Hunt winning the battle of the number ones 1-6 7-5 1-0 (10-7), and Peter Withers beating Lake 3-6 6-2 1-0 (10-3) at number two.

Pictured: Dorie's James Boag prepares to slice a backhand back to his opponent during open A grade tennis on Saturday.

Photo Johnny Houston