With new team Captain Chris Moore juggling with player’s availabilities, it was a new line-up from last year’s relegated winter mixed league that saw Caroline, Debbie, Warren and Jim make their way down to the one venue that everyone hates to visit – windy Royston.
Waiting for Warren to make his big entrance gave the rest of us the chance to give the opposition the once over. Ah well, everybody can look good in practise, so it was only a question of waiting ----- and waiting ----- and waiting for Warren so we could test our theory out.
Caroline and Jim teamed up to take on the Royston 1st pair of Doug and Jen and it soon became evident why the home team decided to use the artificial grass instead of the hard courts. Serves just hammered down and despite the Needingworth pair managing the returns, if it got past Jen at the net, the fast forearm of Doug was invariably there to make the 3rd shot count. Fighting hard but going down 6-2 in the 1st set gave the visitors a chance to get used to the speed of the court. The 2nd set was a much closer affair. Used to the pace of the court and the speed of the top-spin returns, the Needingworth pair upped their level and the set became very competitive, eventually ending up in that lottery, they call a tie-break. Sadly, Needingworth came 2nd.
Like the 1st pair, Warren and Debbie were also struggling with the speed of the court. Worse still, one of the floodlights had failed, making one corner very dark – not good when you have Rich serving flat bullets into that very corner. With Rich’s partner Emma serving from the other end, once more it was obvious that Royston were being quite savvy – and why not, it’s called using home advantage to the full. Undeterred, the Needingworth pair fought hard to win but to no avail. The home team secured both sets and were sitting pretty with 4 sets in the bag.
The start of the 2nd half found Needingworth with mixed fortunes. Our 2nd pair were quickly dispatched and off to the pavilion to keep warm whilst our 1st pair fought to save the indignity of an 8-0 loss. Having taken an initial healthy lead, Needingworth were pegged back and under severe pressure. It took a brilliant serve from Caroline to ace Rich at what seemed an impossible angle to bring up a set point and a cracking rally to secure it. Unfortunately, as the night chill set in, the standard of play from the Needingworth pair also cooled and the 2nd set drifted away.
It might have been a 7-1 loss, but Needingworth showed great courage and fight against a very strong team who deserved their win.