Wheldrake welcomed the visit of David Lloyd, and we gave them the red carpet treatment with the courts having been swept, wooden borders newly installed and the westerly hedge trimmed!

         Wheldrake were represented by Stephen and Don at #1, Andrew and Colin at #2, and Phil and Ben at #3. In all cases our strategy was to form partnerships where youth was alongside experience ; would this prevail over the D-L strategy of youth alongside youth?!

Stephen and Don were holding their own at 3-4, but lost momentum and the match quickly faded to defeat to unfortunately spoil Stephen’s 100% record. Wheldrake fared better on courts 2 and 3, with good wins, especially father and son Singleton beating their opposite numbers on court #3. D-L serving was strong on all three courts, and this is definitely something Wheldrake could improve on.

Second set of rubbers saw the wind pick up slightly, but the Wheldrake pairs are well used to a westerly breeze and they judged their shots accordingly. Highlight of the second round was Don & Stephen’s hard thought draw, featuring some very sprightly scampers by Don belying his age!

Final set saw Colin and Andrew draw 6-6, a pity as they were 6-4 up. At one stage a call of out was meekly voiced by D-L as Colin glided over to position himself for the next point – the serve was out they cried – “Once you pass 50 you start becoming deaf”! They got the message! Wheldrake secured a famous victory!                               57 – 51              

League Points    8.5 v 3.5