With a looming dark sky and a dismal forecast, the Redhill 4s arrived for this top of the division clash.
Richmond's Men's 4th team (TE4M) were full of confidence from their recent first-ever win and were ready for more success. The team was represented this time by first pair Elie Couttet and Gonzalo Romero Vagni, and second pair Andrew Northern and Team Captain Phil Norris.
For once, the weather forecast was right and the rain started to fall as the matches started and persisted throughout, gradually getting heavier.
Elie and Gonzalo fought hard against their opponents and grabbed the first set 6-4, while Andrew and Phil had an easier time with a more straightforward 6-1 set score.
Redhill were not going to give in that easily and upped their level in the second sets of both matches. Undeterred, after a high-quality set, Elie finished off the first pair with a phenomenal down-the-line forehand winner in the tiebreaker; while Andrew and Phil trailing 3-5, reeled off four games in a row to win the second set and match 7-5.
By this time, the rain was relentless and both Team Captains agreed it was safer to draw a halt to proceedings, halving the remaining rubbers, giving the win to TE4M by 3 rubbers to 1.
Watch the teams' thoughts on the match here. Thank you to Elie for stepping in at the last minute and to Toby for cheering us on and supporting us from the rather wet sidelines!
Phil, Team Captain reflected "Overall, it was great to see such confidence, consistency and calmness from the team on court. Having beaten the top side in our division we can approach the rest with even more confidence - bring it on!"