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 | Fixture Details | |  | | |
Home | Return to Division Fixtures
| Nom | Home Player | Nom | Away Player | Result | Games |
| 1 | James Tapsfield | 4 | Gordon McManus | 3 | 0 | 9/7 9/2 9/0 | | 2 | Cliff Herridge | 6 | Mark Lennox | 0 | 3 | 2/9 3/9 0/9 | | 3 | Paul Buckner | 8 | Ray Bushell | 3 | 0 | 9/5 9/5 9/4 | | 7 | Street Marburg | 7 | John Lane | 2 | 3 | 9/6 9/4 5/9 0/9 1/9 | | 6 | Ross Sutton | 12 | Simon Wanford | 3 | 0 | 9/3 9/2 9/7 | | | | | | | | | | | Games: | 11 | 6 | |
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| | | Bonus: | 5 | 0 | |
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| | | Result: | 16 | 6 | |
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| Report: | Oh how the mighty have fallen..
With a comfortable win over DulwichSki last week, Biggin Hill had managed to hold on to their 19 point lead from the chasing pack of Bexley, Cannons, and Park Langley. We knew that Tunbridge Wells’ full strength side were a handful and only just lost to Biggin Hill in the first half despite actually winning more points. However, their recent run of form had been appalling and had left them languishing in the bottom three. A cruise along to ‘basement boys’ Tunbridge Wells was looking likely to reward the ‘Mighty Hill’ with another late teen point haul.
Not to be..
First up (No.5’s) were T Wells’ returning faithful Ross Sutton v Hill’s Simon ‘The Tin Man’ Wanford, who to be fair had just returned from a weeks lagering it up on the slippery slopes of Chamonix – was he to slip up tonight though? Well the first two games seemed to be over in a flash with Sutton playing accurate lengths and low hard shots in comparison to the ‘Tin Man’s’ tins. Not a good start although the third game was an almost total change around seeing a transformation from ‘Tin Man’ to ‘Tight Man’ (and I’m not talking about his thrifty sense of buying a round). Wanford played some really good stuff but was overcome by a very strong number 5 that will surely earn T Wells a number of victories. 3-0 to T Wells.
On the opposing court (No.3’s) was the battle of the dynamo’s, T Wells’ Paul (The ringer) Buckner v Hill’s resident Debt collector (Ray Bushell). On the T Wells’ previous outing to Biggin Hill, Buckner had taken on present No.4 John Lane, but eventually lost 3-2 in a thrilling finish. Old Bushell knew his hands would be full here but this battle was short lived as he never really got into his stride and lost 3-0.
Next up, (No.2’s) Biggin Hill’s all round hero and captain saviour Mark Lennox v Tunbridge Wells’ Cliff (The Coach) Herridge. Fortunately, Lennox was in good form after the previous night’s warm up match against Cannon’s No.2 Richard Kimpton – no match for Lennox. It was hoped the match against Herridge would go the same way – and it did. The first game looked like it was to be an even match until Lennox pulled away and was just too strong for The Coach eventually winning 3-0 and only dropping 5 points.
The No. 1’s were also on court and already into their first game. Tall James Tapsfield for Tunbridge Wells seemed to be frustrating Biggin Hill’s Gordon (I love Valentine’s) McManus. Tapsfield’s reach to virtually every ball began to force ‘Romeo’ McManus to go for more and more difficult winners; and although some came off, too many hit the tin at crucial points. The match ended up 3-0 to T Wells’ Tapsfield.
Match won for the not so basement boys, Tunbridge Wells.
Last up the No.4’s. Big charging bull like creature John Lane for Biggin Hill v The sly shot playing skills of Street Marburg for T Well’s. A bit like the ‘Tin Man’ from earlier on in the night, Big Lane also hit an unprecedented number of unforced errors thus gifting the first two games and the first 5 points in the third. Things were looking bleak for a very rusty looking Lane, but he somehow managed to motivate himself to dramatically win the next three games in record time. 3-2 for Biggin Hill’s comeback hero Lane.
So with the match wrapped up 3-2 by a rejuvenated Tunbridge Wells, it was all about Bexley, Cannons and Park langley’s results. We knew we couldn’t be overtaken, but how much of our lead had we wasted? We’ll see..
On a lighter note, it seemed cupid wasn’t far away as Biggin Hill’s Ray Bushell lined up a date with Gordon McManus on February 14th – we wish them all the best.
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