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Awaiting scorecard : 04/08
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v Cassiobury C (Watford
& District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 28th July 2008
, played at Croxley
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Colin
Midson & Richard Boyce
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6-3
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6-1
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6-2
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3
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0
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Jerry
Rudge & Colin Hewett
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2-6
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6-3
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6-2
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2
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1
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Warren
Perks & Chris Hewett
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W/o
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7-6
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6-3
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3
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0
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Match
Result: Croxley won 8 – 1
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8
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1
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Captain’s
Log: We weren’t sure which Cassiobury team would turn up, as
although they are bottom of the division, they beat the top team 6-3
last week. In the event it was not a strong side so missing the two big
W’s was never likely to be a problem. It was 3-0 after the first round
in spite of some appalling play by myself in a set won with a single
service break, and
Warren
& Chris taking a long time to overcome a pair of gallant 70+s on
court 3. The second round was slightly more problematic. I though their
top pair played really well against Colin & I, returning Colin’s
serve better than almost anybody this season (Colin M said that these
hard hit returns were all going out against them), and winning 6-2.
Warren & Chris were behind for much of their set but hung on in
there to come out on top in a tie-break for a 5-1 lead.
In
the final round Colin & I and Richard/Colin M won routinely with
Colin H having time during the game to give passing consideration to a
number of development issues that were on his mind. Warren & Chris
meanwhile had clearly decided that they didn’t stand much chance
against the no. 1 pair, so on the first point Warren cunningly placed a
drive into the side fence with Virham following it at speed. The
resulting hand injury was sufficiently serious to warrant an immediate
withdrawal and walkover to us.
Well
played to Richard & Colin for 3 good wins.
Tea
was the annual curry provided by (Richard) and Sharon. This went down
very well accompanied by pints of lager from the guild. Thanks very much
to Sharon for all her work during the evening which was very much
appreciated.
Jerry
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v Harpenden A (Watford
& District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 14th July 2008
, played at Harpenden
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Peter
Worby & Jerry Rudge
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0-6
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0-6
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2-6
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0
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3
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Richard
Boyce & Ian Wilkie
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4-6
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1-6
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1-6
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0
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3
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Colin
Hewett & Chris Hewett
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4-6
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7-5
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6-3
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2
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1
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Match
Result: Croxley lost 7 – 2
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2
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7
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Captain’s
Log: Two weeks ago Colin
& Chris played great so they were kept together for last week’s
match. Then their form dipped whilst Pete & I won all 3 sets to
scrape a result. So this week what happened? Pete & I hardly won a
point all evening whilst Colin & Chris excelled with 2 sets –
it’s a funny old game. Their team was barely recognisable from the
side we beat 7-2 at home and on their astro surface it seemed to most of
us that they were in a different class. Pete & I didn’t get a game
in the first 2 sets whilst Ian & Richard managed just one in each of
theirs. I believe that we might well have set a new Croxley record for
the least number of points won in a set when Pete & I managed just 2
in our second set. Even those 2 were our (good) serves that they
couldn’t return, so a fairly faultless display. This beats the
previous record set by James & Pete who got just 4 points (but
including 2 double faults) in a match at Radlett some years ago. Pete
did point out that on that occasion the opposition were nationally
ranked. Anyway, enough about the rubbish, let’s hear the applause for
Colin & Chris who showed us how to play properly, winning 2 from 3
and only narrowly going down in the third.
Tea
was instantly forgettable and since it’s a while since the match was
actually played, I’ve already forgotten it.
Jerry
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v Bovingdon A (Watford
& District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 7th July
2008
, played at Croxley
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Colin
Hewett & Chris Hewett
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6-7
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6-3
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2-6
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1
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2
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Richard
Boyce & Colin Midson
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4-6
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4-6
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6-4
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1
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2
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Peter
Worby & Jerry Rudge
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6-4
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7-5
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6-2
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3
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0
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Match
Result: Croxley won 5-4
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5
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4
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Captain’s
Log: With Ian unavailable for this match the big decision was
whether to continue with the Hewett family pairing from the previous
game, together with an untried Pete & Jerry pair, or to revert to
the usual pairing of Colin H with Jerry and play Pete with Chris H, as
they had played together in the club tournament. Given the Hewett’s
superb results last time out I went for keeping them together as our
banker – what a difference a week makes in Croxley tennis…..
Pete
& I won against their thirds but Colin & Chris lost narrowly on
the tie break after being 4-0 up in it. This left us 2-1 down and then
after a delay for rain this became 4-1 down with only Pete & I still
on court and we were 4-1 in the set. After some fairly decent tennis we
got this back to 3-5 and then won four in a row to take the set and keep
a victory possible, if not very likely at that time.
In
the last round things changed quickly with both the Hewetts and Richard
& Colin M regaining form to make the match all square at 4-4. Pete
& I were about 3-2 up against their first pair at the time and this
then became 4-4. Pete served really well to make it 5-4 and we managed
to break serve to take the set and match. Another great comeback which
almost certainly secures our place in this division for next season. The
Bovingdon team took the result in great spirit given how close they were
to victory.
Thanks
to Colin H for an excellent tea including olives for the first time, as
far as I can remember, together a good assortment of cheeses, pate and
meats. Surprisingly there were even plenty of strawberries left over at
the end; and a very late end it was due to the rain delay. At least the
new floodlights were tested and they gave a fairly good first impression
although it was not completely dark at the time.
Jerry
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v Greenwood Park B
(Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 30th June, played at
Greenwood
Park
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Peter
Worby & Ian Wilkie
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7-6
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6-2
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6-7
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2
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1
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Colin
Midson & Richard Boyce
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7-6
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6-2
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6-1
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3
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0
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Colin
Hewett & Chris Hewett
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6-2
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6-1
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6-2
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3
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0
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Match
Result: Croxley won 8 – 1
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8
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1
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Captain’s
Log: As I wasn’t there for this one, and no one else is likely
to write anything, there isn’t much to say. Clearly the Hewett’s
played very well to notch up three convincing sets and Richard &
Colin M weren’t far behind. That just leaves our number one, top
performing pair……….who managed to drop a set their third pair?!
I’m told that this was Mr Spinny and Mr Lobby and that Ian really
enjoyed the set. Anyway a second 8-1 win against
Greenwood
Park
further boosted our good set difference, so well played everybody.
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v West Herts D (Watford
& District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 16th June
2008
, played at Croxley
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Peter
Worby & Ian Wilkie
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7-6
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4-6
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7-5
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2
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1
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Richard
Boyce & Jon Taffel
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4-6
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6-7
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3-6
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0
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3
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Jerry
Rudge & Colin Midson
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5-7
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6-3
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2-6
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1
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2
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Match
Result: Croxley lost 3-6
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3
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6
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Captain’s
Log: After last week’s debacle at Bovingdon it was time to get
back to business against a
West Herts
team who we had lost narrowly 4-5 to on the first day of the season. The
first round almost went to plan but as we all know, almost is not good
enough. Pete & Ian scrapped to a tie-break victory whilst Colin M
and I were closer than the 2-6 scoreline suggests. The real drama came
in Jon & Richard game when they were leading 5-4 with 0-40 on the
opponents serve. Crucially a total of 4 or 5 set points slipped away
before they lost in another tie-break – most unlucky.
In
the 2nd round Pete & Ian won again and Colin & I
played our best tennis of the evening to beat their seconds. Rich and
Jon had a good fight against the 1’s before succumbing 6-4. So three
all going into the last round and high hopes. Unfortunately none of us
could pick up a win after 3 more close sets so 3-6 it was. A really
close match with all sets well contested. However in the end we became
only the 2nd team in our division to lose a home match.
Largely due to the vagaries of the fixtures list, we are still just top
of the table, but in reality we need to win one or two of our next few
matches to be safe from relegation.
It
was then time for the annual lasagne
a la Carol which seemed to be as well received as ever with
several people having seconds to finish it off.
Jerry
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v Bovingdon A (Watford
& District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 9th June 2008
, played at Bovingdon
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Peter
Worby & Ian Wilkie
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5-7
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3-6
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1-6
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0
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3
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Jerry
Rudge & Colin Hewett
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7-5
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2-6
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6-4
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2
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1
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Richard
Boyce & Chris Montague
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3-6
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6-3
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1-6
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1
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2
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Match
Result: Croxley lost 6 – 3
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3
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6
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Captain’s
Log: After four successive
wins this was a match we had cause to be optimistic about. A good result
seemed even more likely when we learnt that Bovingdon had just lost 8-1
to bottom of the table Cassiobury. 20 minutes or so later we were 3-0
down and it was all so different. Only Ian & Pete put up any
resistance eventually losing out 7-5 to the no 1 pair. Never mind,
plenty of time yet……..but the problem was we were playing so badly.
In round 2 Colin & I just turned round a deficit into a narrow 6-4
victory but while Chris & Richard were losing to their first pair,
the body blow was when Ian & Pete surprisingly lost to the two’s.
So that was that 1-5 down and playing for pride and sets only.
Pete
& Ian finished quickly against the 3rd’s so I mentally
chalked up a second win and when Chris & Boycie pulled out a good
6-3 victory things were looking marginally better. Around that time
Colin & I were 5-2 down but at last the sun went behind the trees
and we could see the ball properly for the first time. After saving a
match point or two we won 5 games in a row to record a 2nd
win on the night. So at least it was only 4-5 I thought. Well, my
flabber was well and truly gasted when we found that our esteemed first
pair (13/15 in sets before this match) had actually lost 6-1 to their 3rd
pair.
Excuses
were plentiful of course. ‘I’ve not played for 3 weeks’ (Boycie);
‘The sweat was getting in my eyes and I couldn’t see’ (Pete); ‘I
couldn’t see the ball’ (Colin and I). Ian was more frank, no
excuses, just ‘I was s***e’. Actually we did find it very difficult
to pick up the flight. On courts 1 & 2 at least the low sun was
right in your eyes from one end, and from the other the ball came out of
a background which had a yellow wall, green grass and plenty of shadows
from the trees. Of course it was the same for both sides but you get
used to the surroundings on your own courts. It was suggested that Pete
should wear a head band like Jimmy Connors but as he said
himself..’that would make me look an even bigger tosser than I already
am’. Many a true word…..
Sandwiches
(somewhat improved by some veggie wraps) comprised the mainstay of tea,
although these did run out. Plenty of cakes for afters (approved by
Boycie) with many left untouched. Perhaps fortunate to get a 6/10.
Jerry
Rudge
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Croxley Tennis Club Mens A v Harpenden A (Watford
& District Tennis League - Mens Division 4)
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Monday 2nd June 2008
, played at Croxley
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Croxley
Mens A
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vs opp’n
Pair A
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vs opp’n
Pair B
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vs opp’n
Pair C
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Sets Won
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Sets Lost
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Peter
Worby & Ian Wilkie
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4-6
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7-5
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7-5
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2
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1
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Colin
Midson & Chris Montague
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6-4
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7-5
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6-3
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3
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0
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Jerry
Rudge & Colin Hewett
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6-3
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4-6
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6-4
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