You always know when there's trouble afoot when you get an
unexpected call to play. We were
First up was yours truly playing at 4 playing a chippy
little Irishman. Now I am usually a slow starter, but tonight I set a new
standard, just couldn't settle into it.
Lost the first game 9-1, not good. Second game was better but still way
off the pace. Lost 9-6. Third game was time to get it sorted but I
was still firing on three cylinders when the score was 7-5 to the Irishman. Bad, and much anguish in the gallery. Finally I managed to sort myself out and
avoid a disaster. - due in no small part to some excellent advice from Steve
May. Won 9-7. Fourth game was totally different, it was
like somebody else had come on court. My serving purred, effortless dropshots,
I barely needed to move. Paddy was
looking beguiled. Won that one 9-4. So nicely set up for the fifth and on a
roll. Then I had a wobble. Serving got loose, Paddy got back into it. At 6‑2 things weren't looking good. Clawed my way back to 7-7, got my nose in
front at 8-7. At last victory within my
grasp! But just couldn't finish it off,
lost 10-9. Bugger. The gallery was
exhausted. Lost 2-3
Meanwhile on the next court, big John Catchpole was
dispensing misery. Didn't see the game
but three fairly quick games put the match score on 1 all. Won 3-0
Next was Richard Graham at three, who, it has to be said was
playing probably their best player. He
covered the court well and had a very effective forehand, anything loose was
convincingly put away. Managed to watch
Richard win the third 9-6, but it was not enough. Lost 1-3.
Steve May played at 2.
Steve's demeanour on court is a bit like a man chatting to his neighbour
over the garden fence while leaning on a rake – but 'relaxed'
doesn't come anywhere near it.
Steve's opponent just couldn't get into the game. Tight serves, great shot selection, nicely
weighted shots, he made it look easy.
His biggest threat was overconfidence.
But it was always under control and ran out a comfortable winner. Won
3-0.
So the match was nicely balanced at 2-2. Time for Chaps to
do his stuff. Unfortunately, he
shouldn't even have been playing due to a pulled calf muscle, but had to pick
himself when Harry had to drop out at the last minute. Chances were that he would pull up half way
through the second game. And it didn't
do much for our confidence when he came out with his leg covered in (very
stylish) black tape. His opponent was
definitely not their No.1 - best described as scrappy and aggressive, his game
plan seemed to be based on getting grumpy but fortunately he didn't seem to
notice Mike trying to hide his limp.
What transpired was a masterclass in game management. He had an awkward serve, used his reach well,
didn't bother with lost causes and tried to limp as little as possible. The gallery was nervous, could he keep it
going? The first game was close , could
have gone either way, but experience showed and he won it 9-7. The second game was surprisingly easy, his
opponent was not happy and the grumpier he got, the more confident we
felt. Mike took it 9-1. We started to believe he might be able to win
if he could keep it going. But ours
fears were misplaced and he wrapped the match up winning comfortably 9-4 in the
third.
So we came away with a slightly surprising 16 points to 6
win, still top of the league!! Our
opponents weren't too dismayed, they knew they would struggle but compensated
by being great company over the meal.
Rivets is some club, bit like a northern workingman's club. Good atmosphere, cheep beer and their subs
are about £70 a year!! and the courts are £2.50.
Trojans, Nike!!
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