Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v Croxley Mens C (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Tuesday 8th July 2008, played at Croxley TC

Croxley Mens B

vs Matt Colman 
& Andy Veale

vs Laurence Burch 
& Maurice Crawley

Sets Won

Sets Lost

Chris Hewett & Warren Perks

5 - 7

6 - 2

6 - 4

2

1

David Beak & Gary Broadbridge

7 - 5

6 - 3

6 - 0

3

0

Jon Taffel & Colin Williams

7 - 5

6 - 3

3 - 6

2

1

Match Result: Croxley won

7

2

Captain’s Log:  An unchanged team was fielded against what was felt to be a significantly stronger C team than the previous encounter, with only Laurence having previously played and then for the Bs ! In the sportsmanlike spirit which hopefully all Croxley teams approach their WDTL matches the respective captains in this top v bottom Division 6 clash agreed to a revised format allowing all players to play one match on each of the three courts.

The opening round of matches suggested that a giant killing was on the cards as the C team sped into a 2 – 1 lead, Matt and Andy narrowly beating Chris and Warren and Jon and Colin “getting it all wrong” on the Redman court.

Matt and Andy continued playing consistent tennis in rounds 2 and 3 albeit in somewhat contrasting sets. Against Jon and Colin they almost managed another set win coming back from 1 – 5 down whereas against Gary and I match point was lost at 5 – 3 as the introduction of a more aggressive serve and volley tactic proved decisive by their opposition proved effective.

Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v Next Generation B (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Tuesday July 1st 2008 , played at Croxley TC

Croxley Mens B

vs opp’n
Pair A

vs opp’n
Pair B

vs opp’n
Pair C

Sets Won

Sets Lost

Warren Perks & Chris Hewett

Colin Williams & Jon Taffel

Match Result: Croxley won

Captain’s Log:  

The reverse fixture early in the season had been felt to have been an excellent win against competent opposition and we were expecting quite a battle. However fielding a changed side Next Generation were no match for the team seeking to dispel all memories of the previous week’s “Ravenscroft experience”.

All but two of the sets were won with relative ease the result not being in doubt after the initial two or three games. However Chris and Warren allowed the third pair to creep back into their set and Gary and I went one better after serving at 5 – 3 before losing four straight games and with it the set.

Thanks to Jim for providing an excellent spread for the B and C teams and their opposition.

David Beak 

Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v Ravenscroft (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Friday 27th June 2008 , played at Ravenscroft TC

Croxley Mens B

vs opp’n
Pair A

vs opp’n
Pair B

vs opp’n
Pair C

Sets Won

Sets Lost

Chris Hewett & David Redman

4 - 6

6 - 2

6 - 2

2

1

David Beak & Gary Broadbridge

1 - 6

5 - 7

6 - 3

1

2

Jon Taffel & Doug Pullinger

1 - 6

6 - 3

6 - 3

2

1

Match Result: Croxley won

 5

4

Captain’s Log:  I have never known such a contrast between two matches played in the same week. Perhaps it was the added pressure of knowing that after two consecutive defeats this was a match that Croxley really had to win if they were to maintain their push for promotion, who can tell, but the quality of the tennis played by one pair, or should I say player, was as bad as it had been good earlier in the week.

With Jim Avey stricken down the a touch of the “Dehli belly” overnight we were grateful for Doug stepping into the breach with little notice.

The evenings tennis was interspersed with cries of anguish from several players and indeed an element of racket abuse by the opposition captain as he made his feeling known when his partner overruled his line call on match point. In the end we were relieved to have scrapped a 5 – 4 win, no-one more so that the captain who had earlier been questioned mid-match by his partner as to whether he had played the game before !  

With several of the team looking to head back to Croxley for an extended evening at the Standard Tandoori no-one was seeking to over eat when tea beckoned – which was probably just as well, unless of course you didn’t want to eat anything with your jacket potato
David Beak

Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v St Albans Mens B (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Monday June 23rd 2008 , played at St Albans TC

Croxley Mens B

vs opp’n
Pair A

vs opp’n
Pair B

vs opp’n
Pair C

Sets Won

Sets Lost

Chris Hewett & Colin Williams

Chris Montague & Jon Taffel

Match Result: Croxley lost 

Captain’s Log: 

The eagerly awaited clash of Division 6 top two teams took place after each had suffered their first defeat of the season, Croxley to Radlett with a full team, St Albans with half a team losing 4-5 to Next Generation having had to concede four sets – no comparison really.

It proved to be a tough encounter but nevertheless an evening of high quality tennis was enjoyed by most, if not all. With the oppositions first and second pairs clearly of a higher more consistent standard that those of Croxley it was the games against their third pair that presented our best chance of winning a set or two. In the event we only managed one but it could have been all three had Jon and Chris not narrowly missed out in an excellent tie break and Colin not aggravated and ankle injury.

Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v Radlett Mens D (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Tuesday June 17th 2008 , played at Croxley TC

Croxley Mens B

vs opp’n
Pair A

vs opp’n
Pair B

vs opp’n
Pair C

Sets Won

Sets Lost

David Beak & Gary Broadbridge

Laurence Burch & Jon Taffel

Match Result: Croxley lost 

Captain’s Log:  A tense evenings tennis where the result was in the balance right to the end with two 4 – 6 defeats against the oppositions number one pair which could easily on another night been reversed. Thus the team suffered their first defeat of the season and the sombre post match mood was only lightened by the excellent spread for 24 prepared by Liz Burch for which we were all very grateful.
David Beak

Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v Croxley C  (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Saturday June 7th 2008, played at Croxley

Croxley Mens B

vs Doug Pullinger & Maurice Crawley

vs Chris Montague & James Burch

vs  Tom Beak & Paul Helbrough

Sets Won

Sets Lost

Match Result: Croxley B won

Captain’s Log:   

A near capacity crowd bathed in the late Saturday afternoon sunshine gathered to watch the eagerly awaited first clash of the B and C teams. Whilst the score line might suggest that it was an easy win for the B team the set scores show otherwise with the B team just edging four of the five tight sets. With three new pairings the B team had a new look about it. The Perks/Redman partnership cruised to victory in their opening match but were pegged back in the second having been 5 – 4 up against the youthful Montague/Burch. Stunned into action the final set was quickly over with some fine winners being played.

The crowd were finding it hard to focus on three matches at once, distracted by beers and burgers from the Guild and the venting of spleens at missed opportunities most notably by Messrs Williams and Montague. 

That said the Broadbridge/Williams pairing efficiently and good humouredly proved too strong for their opposition whilst on a distant court 5 the hastily assembled Burch/Taffel combination opted for the value for money approach playing 36 games out of a maximum 39, 10 more than the other two pairs.

The return on the 8^th of July should be diarised now by players and spectators alike

Croxley Tennis Club Mens B v Northwood Mens B (Watford & District Tennis League - Mens Division 6)

Wednesday May 28th 2008 , played at Northwood TC

Croxley Mens B

vs opp’n
Pair A

vs opp’n
Pair B

vs opp’n
Pair C

Sets Won

Sets Lost

Colin Midson & David Redman

6 - 4

6 - 4

6 - 2

3

0

David Beak & Gary Broadbridge

1 - 6

6 - 7

6 - 3

1

2

Chris Montague & Jon Taffel

6 - 7

6 - 3

6 - 2

2

1

Match Result: Croxley won  

6

3

Captain’s Log:  Fortunately the rain held off for the match to be completed