Sussex O40 v Essex 30 Jan 2010
8/2/2010
Penultimate match for the over 40’s and still lots at stake – perhaps not winners or even runners up in the league but surely 3rd slot must be up for grabs still. Ladies took to the courts first in tandem with the 2nd men’s pair – would have been lst pair but no sign of Richard! We weren’t surprised and have all learnt to adapt accordingly. Ladies, namely, Sara, Andrea, Jo and Julie whipped into action and very quickly saw off any opposition. With newly formed men’s doubles pair of Andrew and David unable to contain their opposition score was quickly settled at 2-1 Sussex. David already looked as though he may pass out at any time still recovering from flu (Richard kindly pointed out that it was probably of the swine variety ). Paul and Richard went on for the men’s against the second pair and quickly dispensed of them in 2 making way for turnaround ladies and Dave and Andrew’s reverse men’s doubles. A clean sweep for that round taking the score to 6-1 to Sussex. 1st men’s completed the doubles section with an easy win over the 2nd pair which meant Sussex went into mixed already having won the match. Names in a hat again and by chance we pulled out 4 excellent mixed pairs (some of who had already played together not just once but twice or three times now!). So mixed specialists of Dave, Andrea, Richard, Sara and Paul, Julie went on as l, 2 and 3. Just a couple of heart stopping moments for the number 1 and 2 pairs going to 3 ends – Rich couldn’t smash, Sara couldn’t serve, David was close to collapse. Not so for the number 3 pair - Julie as happy and smiley as always regardless of the score and situation and not even batting an eye lid as Paul cracked his unrelenting whip. 10 – 1 and a lovely position for Andrew and Jo to be in as they went on for the final mixed. Their steady partnership continued with an effortless 2 – 0 win against their respective opposition. Well done everyone – a fabulous victory at our last home match of this season. Bring on the ICC in Swindon.