THE first Southend & District Junior League is up and running with Thorpe Bay U14 topping the Boys’ U14 team events.

Some matches were played before the bank holiday weekend, but the new league’s first round of matches were completed last weekend.

Thorpe Bay U14 claimed an outright victory over Rochford U14 to go top of the league, with Westcliff Lawn in second place after dropping one rubber to Westcliff Hard.

The Boys’ U12 team league saw Hockley’s higher-rated players prove too much of a handful for Rochford’s more inexperience line-up.

But the Church Walk club’s youngsters still put up a good fight.

Rory Taylor led the Hockley first team with a 6-0 6-0 win and team-mate Lloyd Shaw collected a two-set win too.

Rochford had several players away on holiday, so the third rubber was filled by under-14 player Nathan Beales, who beat Hockley’s Robin Graham 6-1 6-2. But for league purposes, Hockley still collect the full spoils for their opening match.

Westcliff Lawn picked up a 3-0 win over Hockley II in the under 12 section on Sunday.

Under 16 action saw Rochford’s Jack Farrell and George Hannah struggled to get to grips with the court surface at Thorpe Bay.

And Westcliff Lawn completed a double over Hockley when their U16 boys won to go joint top with Thorpe in the opening week. The boys’ U14 team event resumes next weekend, while the U12 and U16 continue in June.