On what turned out to be a very pleasant evening, Nikki, Jim and the 2 J's made their way to the Fenland Town of Chatteris to play on the brand-new courts of the current league toppers. 

John and Jane took on the big hitting Andrew and Georgia in a very tight match that saw all players running around, trying to get to balls that were hitting every part of the court. With all four players enjoying the summer evening and timing shots superbly, a tense 1st set became electrifying as it went into a tie-break.  Sadly, yet again, Needingworth lost the lottery just as Nikki and Jim were sinking against their opposition of Tony and Minam.

It’s fair to say that the Needingworth 2’s struggled to come to terms with the really slow and incredibly bouncy court.  Having lost the first 3 games, it took a bit of time before getting onto the scoreboard, and you can’t give that much of a lead to good players and get away with it.  Going down 6-2 and knowing that by our own standards we were playing badly, left a sour taste.

With the evening not looking good for the visitors, things took a turn for the better.  The Needingworth team woke up and started to play aggressive tennis.  John performed like Nijinsky (no -not the dancer, the fast horse) running around and returning everything for Jane to pick off everything at the net. Wow, what a turn-around, a bagel set but at a price – John tweaked his Achilles.  On the other court, the 2’s also turned things around.  Finally, Jim realised that the net was higher than 2 feet and provided you could return the ball to the opposition, you had every chance of winning the point and now used to the bounce and playing as a partnership, we did, beating the opposition 6-2.

What now, could John’s injury be the undoing of the team? Would he be able to continue? What do you think?  Leading by example, captain John soldiered on and let Jane take control of the play.  Knowing that any positive result hinged on their rubber, the 2 J’s dug in deep and although hindered with John’s injury, took the set 6-2.

Initially astounded by the speed of Andrew’s hitting, the 2’s quickly went 3-0 down before fighting back to get into a tie-break, saving set point on the way.  Just to keep the symmetry going, we gave Chatteris the obligatory 3 start before getting into gear.  Saving yet more set points, it was a relief when we eventually won the tie-break 9-7 and the draw secured.     

With the light fading, and the matches on the other floodlit courts finished, the Needingworth 2’s changed to the faster courts whilst the 2 J’s were content to stay.  As it turned out, it was wise decisions all round as the formidable 2J’s finished off the Chatteris pair quickly, winning 6-2, giving Needingworth a valuable 2 points to keep them in contention for promotion.

With Nikki much preferring the pace of the faster floodlit court, she rallied freely with Andrew and won majority of the points. That, and a combination of good old-fashioned solid play by the Needingworth pair completed the match with a last set 6-2 win.