Colston Mens A v Virgin Active B

Alors! Our tea may not have been up to its usual very high standard but fortunately our tennis was back on song With the help of one of the Bears stars, Hamish C, we ran out 4-0 winners against a solid Virgin Active team.

Despite a sluggish start by the acting captain, Olly and I only dropped a game against their second pair in the first set and bageled them in the second. We were nicely warm and ready for the 1st pair but as it turned out had quite some time to wait…Gav and H served for the 1st set twice against their number 1s but failed to convert. This, however, was clearly part of a longer term strategy to inflict maximum psychological damage as our boys went on to take the tiebreak and the second set more easily against a demoralised Virgin unit.

It was not all plain sailing for me and Olly against their 1st pair which consisted of a steady eddie and a talented youth – not steady enough however and despite a range of impressive topspins from the back of the court, the youth’s net game was not up to it and we took it 6-3 6-2. Again any ideas of a quick finish on the next door court did not materialise. The oppo’s 2nds took the first set but our boys redoubled concentration (or began to concentrate) and stormed through to take the next 2 sets 7-5 6-3

Frustrating that a team we have beaten is likely to go up instead of us, but if Wantage beat Ox City and Kingston B or Banbury manage a draw with Thame then we still have a chance……