Charnwood Tennis Club's men's seniors (over-40s) first team played their penultimate match of the season on the artificial clay courts at Carisbrooke on Thursday night.
Charnwood were able to field a strong lineup consisting of Steve Mears, making his seniors debut, alongside Kevin Leck, with Paul Maguire, getting ever closer to full fitness after a long lay-off, partnering Wayne Butcher at second pair.
Carisbrooke featured second team players James Blackwell and Sunny Punia at first pair, with the experienced Bruce Wattie partnering the enthusiastic Shatij Kapoor to complete the lineup.
Charnwood had not been able to field a team of this quality earlier in the season, which meant that Carisbrooke had opened up a significant lead at the top of the table. The only way Charnwood could put themselves back in serious contention would be to win all eight sets.
Unfortunately, hopes of an 8-0 win were quickly dashed when Blackwell and Punia took the first set 6-2 against Butcher and Maguire, but the Charnwood found their form in the second set to level the match.
On the other court, Mears and Leck were cruising against Wattie and Kapoor, with Mears' quality clear for all to see. The comfortable nature of the first set led to some careless play in the second, but a straight sets victory ultimately ensued.
In the reverse rubbers, Leck and Mears went a break down against Blackwell and Punia, but then took charge and eased to a second straight sets win.
Butcher and Maguire meanwhile found themselves in a tough battle with Wattie and Kapoor, eventually edging the first set, 7-5. As the second set progressed, the light began to fade.
Maguire served for the match at 5-3, but at this point it was becoming extremely difficult to see the ball, and the Charnwood pair could not close the match out.
The set was concluded with a tie-break played in almost total darkness, in which Kapoor's superior night vision proved decisive.
A 6-2 win for Charnwood was not enough to deny Carisbrooke almost certain promotion, but it did show what might have been if Charnwood's better players had been available more often.