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 | Fixture Details | |  | | |
Home | Return to Division Fixtures
| Nom | Home Player | Nom | Away Player | Result | Games |
| 6 | S. SUMNER | 1 | C.SAYER | 2 | 3 | 4/9 10/8 9/2 1/9 3/9 | | 10 | D.THOMPSON | 2 | J. STAFFURTH | 3 | 0 | 9/2 9/3 9/6 | | 19 | C.SELLERY | 3 | T.CANDY | 3 | 2 | 9/3 7/9 0/9 9/5 9/7 | | 21 | P. LEWIS | 4 | C.SHEPHERD- BARRON | 3 | 2 | 10/8 9/7 3/9 5/9 9/7 | | 22 | J. PROWSE | 6 | C.MORGAN | 3 | 0 | 9/6 9/0 9/7 | | | | | | | | | | | Games: | 14 | 7 | |
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| | | Bonus: | 5 | 0 | |
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| | | Result: | 19 | 7 | |
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| Report: | Knole – reasonably strong – against a ‘weak’ Bexley. Should have been closer than the result. No charity expected by bottom of the table Knole from top of the table hard man Peter Lewis – none given.
For Knole, some lessons learned; some gripes; some positive signs.
Chris Sayer was so keen to overcome his nemesis Scott, that he took advantage of Bexley’s shower and sauna as soon as he arrived. Having stopped off for a banana on the way, this completed his pre-match loosening up preparation. It seemed to have worked as he powered his way through the first. Scott, however, was pacing himself and edged a very close second. Chris then tinned a few tantrum-inducing easy ones to donate the third to Scott and the comeback was looking shaky. For once, though, the smashed-back lobby-lobs did not take too much out of Chris and he was able to force the pace again to take the last two comfortably.
Was an upset on the cards? Not if veteran spoiler John Prowse was involved. A class act, he showed youthful 50-something Chris Morgan the art of winning agedly and a brief resurgence in the third by Chris proved illusory.
Tom has hardly played this season with a nagging injury. So, it was pleasing to see some signs of his former form, as he reeled the Bexley YTS newcomer Chris back from a shaky start to lead 2-1. In fact, the third was over so quickly it looked as though Tom would cruise it. Chris’s coaches must have said something clever, because he regained his composure and natural game to look much better than a tiring Tom for the next two. This was probably the pivotal match, bearing in mind the Lewis-Barron high jinks to follow.
Meanwhile, Jerry was expecting to find Dave too hot to handle at 2nd string. And he was not disappointed as Dave revelled in his elevated status. With Steve Falla gone back to the islands and Michael Breen away, Dave had only minor hiccoughs to contend with (including a floorboard fastened at only one end) on his way to a 3-0 win and the match for Bexley. [Watch out Kent Closed entrants on Court 1 next week – unless your shoes are wider than a standard plank!]
So only Peter Lewis’s pride left to play for. As if to show ‘PJ’ (hip op yesterday) how to play with only one good leg, Peter played his full bag of tricks against bash-and-run Chris. Difficult to play against, difficult to mark and difficult to beat. And that’s both of them! How do you run straight through someone who won’t or can’t move? And how do you move if you can’t run? Easy, you just ignore you opponent and get to the ball any way you can. Then leave it up to the marker to decide what should have happened. At times, it seemed as though the players were on two different planets, stopping only to collide with each other as one orbited rapidly around the other in an erratic and elliptical path. They can’t teach that! Result – immaterial – but a win by a TKO and two points to Peter.
Editor's note: For Knole's cunning plan to avoid relegation - a great result! 7 points was 4 more than they gained in the first half. If they continue at that rate, they will have 176 points by the end of the season - more than enough to see them comfortably back next Winter:-)
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| Author: | JJ |
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