An inauspicious but tense start to our campaign for the 2008 crown. After a bye last week, the first match was against the Old Edwardians and one Old Edwina on their home turf.
No. 4 – Paul was up first against Carryn - a woman on the comeback trail from some debilitating accident. Paul didn’t sympathize with that though and took the first game tidily and was ready to mop up in three. Carryn faked a bit of a limp to get Paul to drop his guard and took two quick(ish) games before Paul rallied to take the fourth. Here’s where the worry set in. Paul hasn’t been known to come out tops in the fitness stakes and now we were landed with a 5 setter. Would our boy disappoint, or would there be some hidden reserves there to pull it off. No, he disappointed and crumbled 9 – 1. Down 3 sets to 2. Hot dang, the first match of the season didn’t go our way. Lost 2-3.
No. 1 – Thomas was up against a nemesis from his schoolboy days, Arne. Didn’t see this game but it seems that Tom went to sleep for 2 games and then woke up with a jolt in the third to try and wrestle the match back. Too late though ‘cos Arne had his number (no, not phone number) and took the last game 9 – 7. Ooh, this was hurting, first two matches of the new season down. Lost 0-3.
No. 2 – Phil Norton was up against the team captain, Stephan. After the first couple of points it was apparent that this was going to be a marathon match. The Old Eds courts were at about 40 deg C and the ball was staying up like inflation. Neither player was giving up on anything and some of the points were so long that the marker went out for a cigarette while they were being played. Phil won the first two games and, in true Norton style, decided that he wasn’t ready to let the match finish just yet so he foolishly gave his opponent the next two. From there he decided he’d at least give the team a chance at the title shot and used a dubious let call to take the game away from Stephan winning 9-5 in the last. Won 3-2.
No. 3 – Nigel vs Asaf(??), a late arrival fill-in. It was left to the captain to bring glory to the team. Unfortunately, he would have to win 3 – 0 and only lose four points in the process if Chambers was to take the evening. It started with a 9 – 2 win in the first game. Hmm, it was going to be a bit tough winning the next two games with only two points to give away. Too tough, as it turned out. Next two games were won 9 – 7 and 9 – 3. Match won 3-0, but a loss for the team by 7 points.
Some of the pain was washed away by a few beers in the pub after the game. A little early for COTY nominations, but Thomas does deserve a worthy mention for thinking that the pub menu entry: “Single Burger – 35” meant that it was a 35 gram patty and not a R35 burger…
Final result 9-11
