The Mixed Vets 1st team crossed racquets with league topping Exning on probably one of the most pleasant evenings of the year so far. This match saw Nikki step in (at very short notice) for an unwell Jane to partner Sue in the first of the closely contested rubbers. Taking the first set 6-2, our dynamic duo found themselves facing the reinvigorated and totally determined pair of Jo and Dawn in a nip and tuck affair that saw the Needingworth pair go down 3-6 to the visitors.
Surprisingly, it was the men that kept the ladies waiting this week as Colin and Jim were heavily involved in their own rather intense rubber against Andrew and Rob. With both teams very evenly matched and giving the ball a bit of laldy it was the visitors who eventually emerged the victors winning both sets 7-5.
No worry, with the ladies taking a crucial set, there had to be a chance in the mixed. With the pairings and courts decided by the 2 Needingworth “stand in” spokespeople, the task was on. Sue and Jim fought hard in the 1st set only to somehow come out the other end as 2-6 losers. With their “tails up” the Exning pairing of Dawn and Andrew just got better and better and despite some ferocious and long rallies, always managed to get the final point and ran away as winners and give Needingworth the dreaded bagel.
On the other court, the battle was on to save a bit of face for the Needingworth team. With Colin and Nikki facing Jo and Rob, it was always going to be entertaining to watch – after all, how many times does a left hander face another corrie-hander. Not only was it entertaining, it was yet another closely contested rubber that seemed to go the visitor’s way. With Exning taking the last rubber 6-4, 7-5, all that was left to do was go and eat our cold chips and reminisce on what could have been.
The scoreboard might say a 7-1 loss and measure everything by sets but believe me when I say that this was a match that was lost by inches. An inch long on the baseline, an inch wide on the tram or an inch too low on an unforgiving net was the only difference in the teams in this hard fought, long and exhausting match that saw everybody play well in what was a thoroughly enjoyable encounter.