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Home | Return to Division Fixtures
| Nom | Home Player | Nom | Away Player | Result | Games |
| 1 | J.Robbins | 1 | T.Garner | 1 | 3 | 9/6 1/9 8/10 5/9 | | 6 | C.London | 2 | C.DuToit | 1 | 3 | 4/9 10/8 6/9 7/9 | | 12 | S.Grey | 4 | A.Moore | 0 | 3 | 0/9 7/9 5/9 | | 17 | M.Currie | 5 | W.Brownsdon | 2 | 3 | 9/4 9/10 9/4 4/9 3/9 | | 20 | M.Sheldon | 7 | D.Marlow | 3 | 2 | 9/6 10/8 2/9 4/9 9/3 | | | | | | | | | | | Games: | 7 | 14 | |
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| | | Bonus: | 0 | 5 | |
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| | | Result: | 7 | 19 | |
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| Report: | Well, before I launch into this one it just has to be said that the Priory is obviously a beacon of excellence judging by the lengths Div1 clubs are willing to go to, to attract the stars. The Bromley CC new no.1 lives in Belgium!! Where is it all going to end one wonders. Maybe PL should fly David Palmer over from Oz?
Anyway onto more mundane matters, the PL1 v Dulwich match. PL entertained the champions elect with a damage limitation exercise being uppermost in the cap's mind after the hammering taken at Burbage Towers earlier in the season. Last week's 1st team killer became this week's 1st team saviour. Mark Sheldon was dragged in deep into the night after an evening tennis coaching session to show the rest of us how it should be done.
With the whole Dulwich team in attendance before the first PL player (nothing new there then), first up was London snr v DuToit.
The author took a real hammering in the first half against Clive mark two, and was understandably keen to try and put on a better show this time round. After half the sole of one of the author's shoes started flapping in the knock-up and both players started to skate around on a very slippery court 1, things weren't looking very auspicious.
Clive D got off to his usual start and reeled off the 1st game and into an 8-0 lead in the 2nd. The author finally managed to work out what day of the week it was at this point and came back to win it 10-8. The 3rd and 4th followed similar patterns to each other. Hard fought games but with Clive D taking the points where they mattered most - the end. So 3-1 to Clive D.
Next door Robbins v Garner.
Only saw a bit of this one. Looked to be an entertaining match. Tim was obviously struggling a little bit with a leg injury (at least towards the end), but just did enough to ease through against JEJ who had to resort to a borrowed racket part way through. I think if JEJ's mobility of yesteryear had been in evidence we may have seen an upset, but sadly for PL not to be. The match seemed to hinge on a very tight 3rd with Tim emerging a 10-8 winner in that one and extending it from there to win 3-1.
Luckily by this time Simon had pitched up (it now being 8:45ish) and went on against Andy Moore.
Dulwich's undefeated no.3 seemed from the tiny bit I could see to be in no mood to put a blemish on his record. He raced off to 9-0 in the 1st. Simon got back into it though and made a battling attempt to haul back the 2nd, failing narrowly to do so. Andy had enough in reserve to take the 3rd too, giving him a 3-0 win and Dulwich the match.
So, here we are. It's 9pm and the author is on the blower asking for a no.4 from the Currie house. Just a polite enquiry as to when he might be going to grace us with his presence, followed by a quick look to see if Mr Sheldon had finished his coaching yet. Thankfully, Mark pitched up at this point and got swiftly underway against Duncan Marlow.
Another good performance to roll back the years from Mark here. Two tight games, peppered with touch shots from all around the court from Mark, with Duncan battling to assert himself. The effort was costly though, and Duncan reeled off the 3rd and 4th convincingly to take it to the wire.
At this point Mark obviously felt he had enough in hand (no pun intended) to seem more concerned about the performance that would be expected on his return chez Sheldon. Despite his relaxed mental attitude though he made a convincing job of overcoming his lack of match fitness to take PL's only reward of the evening.
Next door finally, Currie v Brownsden.
"Something of the night" had at last pitched up from corporate lawyer-land and proceeded to engage in battle with Dulwich's action man. This was a good match. Will hurled himself all around the court in his customary fashion, but Mike is finally getting the message (most of the time - until he get's knackered anyway) that power and control suit him a lot better than attempted finesse. So it proved. Mike took the 1st at a canter, and was unlucky having held several games balls not to take the 2nd. The 3rd was duly pouched, but these herculean efforts had taken their toll, and Will kept up the pace to overwhelm Mike's fading powers and snatch a 3-2 win.
As a damage limitation exercise this was a pretty successful evening. It could have been a 3-2 quite easily (but just think what PL's team could do if messrs Ford, Jeal and Harris were playing where they should be rather than at Plaistow Lane). Still, enough pie in the sky - we'll have to wait for the cup for that scenario. |
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| Author: | Clive London |
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