MIXED 1sts 10 CAMVALE 0

THORNBURY 4 MIXED 2nds 6

MEN’S SENIORS 4 DOWNEND 6

Despite being very local, Camvale sent just two players, and the strong Writhlington team of Patrick Lodge/Mandy Baldwin and Jon Doel/Francesca Beg had no trouble in

disposing of them in double-quick time!

The Writhlington ‘awesome foursome’ spun to decide who played and who watched first. Patrick and Mandy B won the spin and elected to play so they could drink cider earlier, leaving Ces and Jon D to watch and warm up.

When Ces and Jon did eventually come to play Ryan Harris and Alison, they set themselves the tough task of winning by a bigger margin than Patrick and Mandy (6-3, 7-5, I think!?).

Watching the match beforehand and discussing tactics proved an advantage for Ces and Jon, as they chose to go with aggressive, hard-hitting tactics from the start, particularly targeting the weaker player as much as possible. Ryan tried his best to coach Alison through most of the match. Credit where credit is due, he did this well and kept things close.

Ces and Jon’s power and consistency won through, winning the first set 6-3. However, at 0-2 in the second set, we weren’t getting everything all our own way. Continuing to back ourselves and play at top speed, the tempo seemed to work as we got ourselves back into the match, held the momentum and finished it off quickly to win the second set, 6-2.

Another fine overall 10-0 win to stay top of the League, and this continues our push for promotion to play in Division One next year. We were all finished by 8.30 p.m. and in the Fromeway soon after for well-deserved post-match refreshments and match analysis!

New member, Tom Ellis, and experienced campaigner, Pauline Medhurst, won both their rubbers in straight sets, which provided the platform for an excellent away win against Thornbury. Whilst Richard Chapman and Louise Derrick lost both of theirs, they did win a set, which made the difference between a 6-4 win and a 6-4 loss.

Whilst the website League table shows us in second place, Backwell have two matches in-hand, which should take them above us.

With Downend having won the earlier season encounter by just six games, Writhlington were keen to get revenge, and fielded the same team with the addition of Pete Goldsmith in place of Alan Gammon. Downend’s team also had one different player.

Chris Cox and Andy Jeffery started well against Phil and Simon, but had a meltdown in the second set, losing three on-the-trot and being 40-0 down. Somehow we recovered, won that one and the next two to score a 6-2, 6-3 win.

Dean Taylor and Pete Goldsmith took Adrian and Nik to loads of deuces, and the match was much closer than the 6-1, 6-2 loss would suggest.

So, we were just two games behind at the interval, and the objectives for each Writhlington pair were clearly spelled out. However, with both rubbers having identical 6-0, 6-1 scorelines, the extra two points went to Downend by just the whisker of two games – if only Chris and Andy had not had their meltdown!

Yet again, the away team were very sociable and good company, and stayed at the pub longer than most of the Writhlington gang!

Andy Jeffery