There was a tense atmosphere at the Tennis Centre this BUCS Wednesday as both Cardiff Met Men’s and Women’s 1s faced off against their University of Bristol counterparts, with some of the matches even threatening to boil over at times.

The Men’s 1s came into the fixture with only one point separating the two teams in the Western Tier 1 table, where the Archers lie second, and Bristol are 3rd.

Alex Hyman and Evan Kennedy are unbeaten in doubles rubbers at home this season and kept that record up with a comfortable 6-4 6-2 victory to kick off proceedings.

The faithful Cardiff Met crowd gathered around Court 4 making a racket (or should that be racquet?) during Will Dunlop and James Mumford’s second set tiebreaker, but Bristol held on to take the match 6-4 7-6, making it a level match after the doubles contests.

Dunlop was making his first appearance for the team since November and was made to work hard again during the singles with another tiebreak, this time in the deciding set, where he unfortunately lost 4-6 6-2 11-9. Mumford also suffered a loss in his match, leaving Bristol in a commanding position heading into the second round of singles matches.

Kennedy clinched an excellent 6-2 6-0 win, meaning Hyman needed to win his match to rescue the draw for the team. After a long wait due to the length of Dunlop’s match, Alex duly provided the victory in tense circumstances, winning 6-3 3-6 10-8 late in the day.

The 3-3 draw means that both teams stay where they were in the table. The Men’s 1s will be on the road as they travel to Southampton for their final BUCS fixture, looking to retain their place in the top 2.

Have a look at the team warm ups by clicking here! 

Women's First Team

The Women’s 1s lost the reverse fixture 5-1 at Coombe Dingle in October, so they came into the home game looking for revenge over their Severnside rivals.

The Archers got off to a tough start, with Amy Wright and Chloe Efford losing their doubles match in a deciding set, while Disha Gaba and Josie Culliford succumbed to a straight sets defeat.

Amber Khan was drafted in to replace Culliford for the singles rubber, but unfortunately lost her match. Disha Gaba looked uncharacteristically out-of-sorts at the start of her contest, but eventually managed to get up to speed, although her eventual defeat left Bristol with an unassailable lead.

The best the Archers could hope for in this situation was two consolation wins to round off their final home fixture of the BUCS season. Efford eased past her opponent with a 6-3 6-2 win. Then, there was a moment of confusion on Court 1 as Amy Wright thought she had won the opening set, but went on to lose it, before battling to a classic 6-7 6-3 10-8 win in yet another final set decider.

The 4-2 defeat means the Archers stay 5th in the table, and they also conclude their BUCS fixtures away at Southampton next week, before a tricky trip to Loughborough Women’s 2s in the National Trophy on February 15th.

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