Holcombe Brook’s bid to qualify three teams for the Aegon Team Tennis finals remained on course after the crucial round robin fixtures.

The ladies second team were confirmed as runners-up when they won a hard-fought home fixture against Yorkshire club Rawdon, and now must win a home play-off match against the winners of the Scottish group, David Lloyd Edinburgh. Both teams were weakened by late withdrawals and that upset the intended line ups.

Catherine Fall, promoted to number one, lost her singles match but her three team-mates all won theirs to leave the Brook needing just one win from the doubles.

The unfortunate Fall, partnered by Nicole Peterson, also lost a close encounter against Rawdon’s top pairing.

The match was decided in a third championship set tie-break which the Longsight Road pair lost 12-10.

But Holcombe’s second pairing, Daneika Borthwick and Sabrina Federici held their nerve to win 6-4, 6-1 to secure victory and guaranteed runners-up spot behind the club's first team and defending champions.

The men’s team, bolstered by the return of captain Andrew Davies, won 6-0 at Nuffield (Hull) and will take runners-up spot behind runaway leaders Wrexham if they can beat Manchester Northern at home on Sunday.

Their chances will be boosted if British top five player, Liam Broady and his coach Mark Hilton, who have not played in the early rounds, are again unavailable for the Manchester club.