We began our push for a top four finish rather badly I’m afraid. Miles and Chris as always dispatched inferior opposition with aplomb and without dropping a game. Dick manfully dismissed his tonsillitis so as not to let the A team down, but as he had been struggling to eat and felt very ropey we did well against a competent first pair and made it to a tiebreak but this was to be our highpoint of the afternoon- we lost it and the second set slipped away 6-4. Still a 6-2 win was clearly on and would be respectable as I was sure that Miles and Chris would have the measure of them. We took the 1st set 7-5 before slipping to 0-3 in the second. Regrouping, Chris and Miles took the next 6 games on the trot to seal their clean sweep and 4 points for us.
Meanwhile Dick and I were struggling against the 2nd pair- They did pull off some remarkable returns and defended incredibly well, raising their game from the previous two sets but the truth was that Dick and I just didn’t play well enough. If I had thought about it, given Dick’s state of health, we should have played as the 1st pair and then we would have Dick at his best against the weaker pair- Our form against the capable 1st pair gave us 10 games in the two sets and against the inferior pair we only got 6 as we faded away. Hope you recovered for the B team game today Dick and thanks again for playing even though you felt so rough- my only excuse was too many bottles of wine and too much food over the last two weeks!!
And the winning ways duly returned.
It was difficult winning games from the end facing into the strong low winter sun- a typical Colston winter match- But at least we didn’t have to content against any wind!
Olly and I made short work of the 2nd pair, only dropping one game across the two sets.
Meanwhile John and Gavin were struggling against the 1st pair and lost the first set before going up a gear to take the second impressively 6-2. John hitting the ball with his customary ferocity and Gavin finding some great angles.
3-1 at the half way point and all was looking good but Olly and I struggles against the 1st pair- they liked to charge the net and volleyed well and we didn’t find a way to defeat this and worryingly Gavin and John were struggling to kill off the 2nd pair and arrived at a tiebreak- the match might depend on this and thankfully Gavin woke up in time to support his partner.
In the second set, like John and Gavin before us, Olly and I went up a gear and served and volleyed well to halve the rubber and take the match followed seconds later by Gav and John finishing off the second pair in a comfortable 2nd set.
Left feeling we should have had 7-1 but can settle for 6-2 as it keeps us in the hunt despite the two previous losses
Just need another win next Sunday to set us up for a final push after X-mas- Uphill task and we’ll need some good wins but it is still a possibility.
Our match on Sunday was played in beautiful low winter sunshine with the gentle to blustery cross court wind that Colston hosts to perfection.
We gathered, Helen , Ann (super sub) Anna and myself and gave ourselves a quick team talk. David Lloyd were second in our division and had only lost two sets this season but after the week Emma had been through we were going to try hard for her…. And a slice of the Victoria sandwich cake Anna had baked!
The men’s B team were playing also so we hid our homemade tea and started our match. Anna and I started against the second pair and enjoyed two great sets. We settled into our game and after some excellent tennis from both sides the scores were 7:5,6:4 to us.
Helen and Ann were also settling well and with their matching shades and shared cap they also took the first two sets 6:3,6:2. Good stuff into the brief break.
We resumed play and from the outset the first pair from David Lloyd were very focused and vocally supportive of each other’s shots. Anna and I tried a variety of shots but luck eluded us as the ball seemed to fail to clip the back of the line by a whisker on numerous occasions it seemed. So frustrating! The sun dropped and blinded us at times so it was a relief when it finally dropped! We couldn’t close out our games and lost the sets 2:6,4:6.
Ann and Helen meanwhile battled on with great volleys and ground strokes and clinched their two sets 6:4,6:3.
We retired to negotiate table room from the men’s team and rescue our food from the changing rooms to eat smoked salmon bagels, homemade Parmesan crackers, cakes galore and homemade choc cookies! Delicious!
Final score 6:2 to Colston and some excellent tennis played by everyone .
Good team effort.
After the long drive we arrived in a busy car park and dodged the puddles and the various rugby players to get the tennis courts. We started pretty quickly so we didn’t have to stand around in the cold for long. Karen and I had a shaky start against their first pair, having never played with each other before and lost the first set 1-6. We started to find our feet in the second and managed to get a few more games ending the set 4-6. Carol and Anna fared much better against the second pair and managed to beat them 7-5, 6-2 with some driving forehands and great volleys.
Karen and I were much better matched with their second pair and although we lost the first set 1-6 again, we came back with some great angled volleys and fantastic lobs to win the second set 7-5. This time Carol and Anna didn’t get on so well and lost to their first pair 2-6, 2-6. The floodlights had to be turned on mid way through the second match as the misty damp air meant that it started to get dark and difficult to see the ball.
We really enjoyed the afternoon of tennis even though we didn’t do as well as we would have liked, all of the opposition were great players and gave us a good game although we were happy when the time came to have a cup of tea and an amazing piece of Mary Berry’s Victoria sponge!
Alas it is not good news- we went down 7-1.
It was great to have Hamish and Foreshew reunited and Mr Foreshew in particular got through a lot of running against a good 2nd pair- they fought back from 5-2 down in the first set to only lose it 6-4. But the recovery didn’t continue and they lost the second set.
Meanwhile Gavin and I were up against the best 1st pair we’ve faced so far and lost 6-1, 6-0. We had some tight games but they were far too good. One player normally plays for the A team but had only played one game for them so far and so is still eligible- We can’t complain as we have done/do the same thing.
We did discuss the up and down nature of their results this year and they said they struggle for a consistent team- Just our luck that we got a good one!
Hamish and Chris managed a couple more games than us but were never in with a chance of taking a set.
Gavin and I lost the first 4 games to the 2nd pair and a white wash was on the cards. But then we regrouped, changed tactics (Concentrate on depth and getting to the net), Gavin found his fast serve and we created pressure. We took 9 of the next 11 games (Lost first set 6-3, and took the next 0-6). Would have won a third also if it was the summer rules but alas had to settle for the 7-1 result. Just a shame it took us 4 games to work them out!!
Saturday dawned bright and sunny for our match at home with Faringdon C team. As we stepped out onto court the relevance of the sun and wind became apparent… It was going to be a game of two ends. One end of the court bathed in sheltered sun and the other end a howling gale of shadows and black holes to lose sight of the ball! Lobs into the sun then!
Ann and I started well against the second pair consisting of a wily seasoned player and an agile 18 yr old. After a couple of games we settled into “our bubble” and with good communication secured the first set 6:3. The second set was enjoyable and with my ground shots working and Ann’s fantastic volleys the second set was ours at 6:0. Time for a quick cuppa while we watched the end of Teresa and Heildili’s game against the first pair. There were some great rallies and fine tennis but it became apparent that the net play of one of the pair was of a pretty high standard. A good match fought but Faringdon took the sets 6:4, 6:3. So a draw at half time…..
The conditions if possible became even more tricky as we resumed play. The sun had dropped into the line of vision (even for the short ones like me!) and there were many calls of “can’t see it” from the net. The wind had picked up and we watched an amazing down the tramline shot of Ann’s blow sideways and off court…. So frustrating! We battled on but that ” irritating net player” got to many balls and kept volleying with impossible angles that we could only admire. Our first set we lost closely at 5:7 with many deuces. The elusive second set for Ann and I was rather déjà vu as we found ourselves serving for the set at 6:5 to eventually lose in a tie break. Great tennis though and good teamwork all round. Thank you Ann for covering my posterior!
Luckily Heidili and Teresa had battled on brilliantly and after some excellent ground strokes from Heidili and unlikely gets from Teresa they took their sets 6:3,7:6. A great result for a pairing who introduced themselves in the knock up! Off to tea and a well earned slice of lemon and poppy seed cake!
So a draw overall on a testing afternoon which showed that we can all play a mean game of tennis even with the elements against us! Well played all.
Carol
Just a quick report from today’s match at Goring.
We set off in the sunshine on a beautiful scenic drive to Goring, the first of many distant away matches this season….. Although 1 or 2 of the players were following the men’s example and were a little delicate from the previous nights activities, no names!
We arrived at a lovely club similar to Colston and as we were early we got going straight away and soon realised there was a strong gusty crosswind, which was proving to test our patience.
Helen & I started well against their second pair and took the first set 6-1. We continued to take control of the second set and were 3-0 up when we seemed to go into a little day dream and dropped to their level and found ourselves at 3-3! Disappointed to have let the lead slip we had a good talk to each other and finally got back on track to take the second set 6-4.(phew!!)
Anna & Carol meanwhile were confidently despatching there first pair 6-1 in the first set. Some great volleys and ball placement securing the 2nd set 6-2. I probably should have been concentrating on my own game at this stage not admiring Anna & Carol’s play, this was when we were having our little day dream…..
So first round of matches 4 sets to Colston.
After a quick sandwich and team talk to discuss the oppositions strengths & weaknesses we started the second round of matches.
The sandwich did the trick and Helen & I started the 1st set confidently and it was quickly taken 6-1. We were determined not to day dream this time in the second set and kept our focus and attacked at the net and the set was dispatched quickly to love.
Anna & Carol also started well and swiftly took the 1st set 6-0.
This time I was concentrating on my own game so didn’t watch their game, but a second set taken to love says it all….
So job done , perfect start to our season with a 8-0 win.
Well played everyone and hope the rest of the season continues in the same way !