Louis arrived at the courts bright and early on request from his opponent who had to be finished by 7. However, said opponent was nowhere to be found – apparently having issues with traffic. There was an upside in that one of the front courts was secured – allowing the first leaguers on the court next door to pick up some tips from our mellifluous play. When Louis’ opponent, Olivier, did finally arrive, it was all in a whirl of nerves and brash French attitude. This initially put Louis off his game, and he lost the first. Composure returned thereafter though and Louis brushed aside the odd imploring outburst from his continental challenger to sweep the next three. Won 3-1.
Then Nigel on against youngster Yakov. I was never really put under pressure and, although Yakov had some useful shots, he didn’t really come close at any stage. Won 3-0.
Back from injury and sporting a knee-guard in pastel blue, Bruce then took on Volker. The first game was nightmare with Bruce only managing to scrape 5 points. There were visions of the prodigal returnee imploding in spectacular fashion. Bruce saved these visions from being realised though as he edged back in with characteristic killer boasts and maximum court coverage. He steadily gained more confidence as the match was played out and was pretty effective. Welcome back Bruce. Won 3-1.
With the evening won, Danie took on old man Dennis. Now that Jack Frost is nipping at our heels, the green dot ball can be the harshest variable on the court. And so it was with Dennis’ game. Not a runner, but a shot player. Danie couldn’t get the ball warm enough to play his natural game and was repeatedly frustrated by uber-tight drops from Dennis. After this, I suspect it will be a relief to move over to the yellow dot. Lost 1-3.
Game time was followed by another trip to the Dop for some Jack Black draught and grub. Next game is in two week’s time in the form of our derby against the other Chambers team.
Overall result: Won 13 - 5
