STEPHEN Barnfield was one of the stars as Ludlow Castle Tennis Club staged its finals day – lifting two trophies before the rain brought proceedings to a premature halt.

Four finals were decided with just the women’s singles being abandoned due to the weather.

All of the matches were hard fought and a sizeable crowd were treated to some thrilling tennis to reward them for venturing out on what turned out to be a chilly day at the end of May.

First on court were Guy Sellek and Gylan Grinker in the men’s singles and this keenly-fought encounter set the scene for the remainder of the day.

In the end, a single break of serve in each set proved decisive with Sellek taking the spoils 7/5, 6/3?.

Grinker did get his hands on some silverware though as he partnered Barnfield to victory in the men’s doubles. Once again it was another excellent contest with a solitary break in each set again proving key as the pair edged out Tom Bordewey and Martyn Jones 6/4, 6/4.

Next on court were the finalists in the ladies doubles and this was a very hard fought and close contest, particularly in the opening set that went a tiebreak before Chris Hood and Linda McMahon edged out Julie Humble and Carolyn Michie.

Boosted by their first set success, Hood and McMahon wrapped up the second set 6-3 to clinch the trophy.

Barnfield was back on court in the mixed doubles and he was again on the winning side in what was probably the hardest fought match of the day.

Playing alongside Rosie Connolly, the pair looked to be cruising to victory after taking the first set 6-3 against Martyn Jones and Rhian Davies.

But Jones and Davies fought back well to take the second set to a tiebreak which they won to force the match to a third set.

And what a set that was to be with Barnfield and and Connolly finally taking the title with a 6-3, 6-7, 10-8 triumph.

It was at this point that the great British weather chose to intervene with Linda McMahon one set up against Lin Dickin in the women’s singles final.

She had taken the opener 6-3 but the second set was evenly poised at 5-5 when play was finally abandoned.

It might have been a slightly disappointing end to the day but it failed to take the gloss off what was another successful Ludlow Castle Tennis Club Finals Day organised by Bob Purcell.