Neston3 vs Upton2

Match Report by fiona robinson

Last night’s doubles match saw some last-minute reshuffling thanks to ranking rules, with Dave and Fiona stepping in at short notice against a very strong away side pairing of Paul Davies and Andy Goodwin.

The opening match for Dave and Fiona was over almost before it had begun, going down 6-0, 6-0 in around 40 minutes. To be fair, it took nearly that long to loosen up properly, and at one stage it looked like the highlight of the evening might be getting to the bar early.

Pete and George then took on the away side’s 3rd and 4th pair, Tomas Testo and Mike Johnson. Despite the 6-1, 6-2 scoreline, the match was far more competitive than it suggests, with plenty of long rallies and countless deuces. Pete and George battled hard throughout and certainly made the visitors work for it, managing to stay out there considerably longer than the opening fixture.

The second round brought a much-improved performance from Dave and Fiona, who finally found their rhythm and produced some excellent tennis. After losing the first set 6-1, they bounced back strongly to take the second set 6-3 and force a championship tie-break. Unfortunately, the comeback fell just short, with the visitors edging it 10-6.

Pete and George also improved in their second outing against Paul Davies and Andy Goodwin. They competed well throughout and, despite the 6-2, 6-1 defeat, put together some strong games and arguably fared slightly better against the top pair than Dave and Fiona managed earlier in the evening.

Overall, while the scorecards may not fully reflect the effort and competitiveness on court, there was plenty of battling spirit, improving performances as the night went on, and at least the bar remained a reliable fallback option.

Final Score 2 - 22