Weekly Update
Mini Red Fun Tournament!
It was another cracking social tennis event on Sunday! Seven teams battled it out with Andrew Sherwood and Toby winning a very enjoyable event. Everyone enjoyed the day and did their best to consume all the cakes, brownies and flapjacks that were so wonderfully prepared.
Well done to everyone who took part and many thanks to Caroline Dent and Caroline Crane for organising everything so well.
Match Reports
Virgin B v Acle C
As the weather brightened up on Thursday evening last week and all the outside courts at Virgin were empty it was obvious to assume we would be playing outside, so Al Simmons and Paul Chase warmed up on the external surface to familiarise themselves with the bounce and pace. It may have been tactical but as we turned out to be playing inside, the temperature slightly warmer than a Bedouin’s bottom on a trek across the Sahara.
As we approached the courts, from a distance we sighted a youthful muscular lad wearing a Norfolk Tennis shirt and carrying a 64 racquet bag. Credit to him we thought someone so important as he was helping what appeared to be his Granddad on to a seat who had stumbled onto the courts by mistake; it was clear the Gentlemen was struggling in the heat and hiding a rather nasty limp.
Joseph Ketteringham and James Lillistone strolled onto the courts and a discussion was taking place and a little panic was evident upon their faces, as they witnessed this odd duo chatting. You know who that is? I looked at Al, Al looked at me, we nodded but both of us hadn’t a clue, we did not let on though. He is top County, a 3.2 someone said, again a nod - 3.2?! Not a clue. Not to worry we will not be playing him.
What happened next I will remember for a long time, Granddad took off his track suit grabbed a racquet, had a large Gin (Sanato Gin) and joined the Norfolk 3.2 on the court. The limp had gone and he was bouncing about like Husain Bolt on steroids before the 100.
As it turned out Joseph and James faced this duo first and they proved as formidable as had been advised but the Acle Dog’s were strong and stable and played as good as it gets to narrowly lose 7-9. They were using their experience and knowledge of playing at a more competitive level and seemed to relish this exceptionally high standard of play.
If Joseph and James were Strong and Stable, Paul and Al were the Coalition of Chaos on the adjacent court. They played the first 8 games against a mixed pair who would be invited into any clubs first team and did a Corbyn. Al’s serve and volley was divine. No one expected it but we were fed up with the austetirity of our volleys and the ground strokes of the few and not the many. We somehow found ourselves 7-1 up with such a lead going into the second eight games we knew we could do a Theresa and so we did, losing the next 7 games to finish 8-8.
The switch took place and advice was shared. It was useful but to be effective, Al and Paul had to see the ball first before they could implement the great tactics, however, as the ball was travelling at 140 miles an hour it was difficult you might say. We battled on, we never gave up but the pace and performance of the 3.2 was far too good. I felt us going a little UKIP; we were getting in to a right Paul Nuttall you might say. His partner played a blinder worried at the start that he may not find his bearings he had great experience and had a near zero error count, a class act or dare one say actor he read the game divinely. It is hard to explain but finishing with 10 games over all was an achievement for one half of the C Dog’s. The DUP managed 10 and no one thought they were going to amount to much that is until the final count.
Joseph and James continued in fine form and played consistently well, James evidently had far more power in his game than he had shown in the past and the Dog’s benefited from this extra tool in the Lillistone shed, at the net and occasionally on the base line. He also served several games with a rather good following net approach. Joseph kept the momentum high by demonstrating good fitness some strong serving, clever positional movement off the ball and some quality court management during the match.
The City League is as good this year in talent as one can recall you can either resent the varying extremes in quality you face or relish the opportunities it affords, as I believe indeed you should. A club player with limited or no coaching has an opportunity of playing against former and possibly soon to be professionals of the game.
If there is an irony with in this match it came when the Dog’s Captain congratulated, Master 3.2 on his superb talent, he asked what team he had just played and when I said Acle, he replied- O Acle, I know that club I have just had my lesson there!
The C TEAM DOGS LOST 27-37
JOSEPH AND JAMES 7-9 AND 10-6
PAUL AND Al 8-8 AND RAN OUT OF INK
Acle A
The ‘’A’’s have had a couple of tough weeks firstly was an away match with title holders Taverham never an easy place to play and missing their captain who was away glamping in north Norfolk the team of Steven H, Hugo also known as ‘vesty’ Tom B and Joseph took to the stage. The captain with his feet up and pimms in hand waited for the text to come in. When it did the headline was WE LOST although having won 3 of the 4 matches this seemed a little tough on the team overall a 34-30 defeat.
Next up for the ‘’A’’s a home match against the crabs of Cromer also unbeaten another tough night lay ahead. The skipper of the trawler was back from his glamping trip and teamed up with Steven H the other pairing of Hugo and Tom meant that we were at full strength for this one. Steven and the skipper got off to an excellent start against their number 2 pair winning 12-4 Hugo and Tom played some superb tennis but with tom fisher the Cromer first pair were just to strong winning 11-5. Acle up by 2 at the midway point we knew it was going to be close yet again, unfortunately both pairs narrowly lost 9-7 meaning the ship went down to a 31-33 result.
Men D Division 4
We played away to the league leaders Stanmore C on Thursday who included 2 players playing down (because they were low in confidence?) all our players gave the opposition good games as we welcomed back Phil Davey to our normal line up from previous seasons. Score 36/28 to Stanmore all-stars team Craig Witheridge/Mike Pitchers Ray Gallagher/Phil Davey.
Club Tournament Matches
First round matches have been played and every pair should have received an email from Emily with the results and details of the next rounds. Get arranging and playing!
Club Kit! NEW COLOURS AND STYLES!
There’s been a few changes to some of the colour and styles of designs available in our club kit so click on the link to have a look!
http://www.4sportskitshop.co.uk/category-s/1974.htm
Regular Weekly Timetable:
Adult Social Tennis
Monday
10am - Midday - Social Tennis
7pm Club Night
Tuesday
6pm-7pm - Cardio Tennis!
Wednesday
10am - Midday - Social Tennis
Friday
10am - Midday - Social Tennis Saturday Social Tennis 2-4pm
All sessions open to all ages and abilities. No need to book a place just turn up, pay and play. These are friendly relaxed groups, offering the chance to have fun while getting fit at the same time. We would love to see more members playing on a regular basis. Sessions often end with a well- earned drink in the social club.
Group Coaching
Tuesday
7.30pm-8.30pm Intermediate
For any information on the above, or to arrange an individual lesson please contact Ann Nicholls.
Other Bits & Bobs
▪Don't forget that you can buy new balls from the club. Please call Mike Lake on 01493750337 or see Ann Nicholls down at the courts.
▪Money in the safe: could all members please put a note with any money put into the safe detailing who the money is from and what it is for. Please also make sure the club room door locks properly when you leave.
▪Members with a guest: Reminder for members who attend the courts with a guest to kindly put the names on the form pinned to the Club Room wall and put a note with the payment before depositing it in the safe. There are pens, paper and bags provided.
Feedback & Suggestions
If you have any feedback or suggestions about the weekly update or the club itself please feel free to contact either Holly Hornagold at hornagoldh@gmail.com or Andrew Sherwood at Andrew.sherwood@talktalk.net.