CONISTON came within touching distance of lifting the Cumbria Cup before eventually losing to favourites Heversham.

The tournament at Ulverston Tennis Centre saw the winners of the Barrow & District League up against the three other league champions from across the county in Seascale (West Coast League), Heversham (Kendal League) and Chatsworth (Carlisle League).

As the day unfolded, the competition came down to front-runners Coniston and Heversham.

Indeed, it was the villagers who held the advantage going into their all-important last pair of matches against Heversham, with Coniston requiring victory in just one of them.

To add to the excitement, both matches duly went the distance and were level at one set each.

In the ensuing tie-breaks, Liam Crawford and Jeff Atkinson fought back to 8-8, before Heversham’s Mark Fox and Tom Casey suddenly cut loose with two unreturnable forehands down the line to take the rubber 10-8.

Over on the next court, Coniston’s top pairing of Joseph Wilkinson and Morrison Hodgson were in imperious form, building up a 9-4 lead and holding no fewer than five match points.

However, Heversham pair Harrison Savage and Roger Aubrey decided to throw caution to the wind and reeled off seven points in succession to snatch an astonishing victory from the jaws of defeat.