|
The season opened with an away match against Macclesfield with our coach Paul Mannion (making his debut for Mersey) teaming up with David Sadler as first couple. David is a promising player & with Paul M’s experience & ability, they made a very solid start to the season by winning the four sets that they played rather easily.
The second couple comprised captain Paul Clarke & Mark Bailey, who had a dream start winning their first event 6-0 6-0 & from what I observed, they appeared to hardly have missed a shot. They followed this up with another comfortable & confident win over the 3rd couple, so they also finished the night unbeaten. The Mersey third couple was a mixture of age & age! Lionel Burns & I were wheeled out to make up the numbers and presumably, to annoy the opposition – roles that both he & I excel in! That said, the evening passed without incident despite some distinctly iffy line calls from the opposition. We battled (shovelled) manfully to sneak a win in the first set in a tie-break but were edged out in the second set 4-6. We lost a closely contested rubber against their first couple 5-6 4-6. The final score was a 9-3 win for Mersey. When your first two couples win & win well, it bodes well for the rest of the season. The next match is this Monday against Lymm, which will be a tough game. The team is Paul Mannion, David Sadler, Paul Clarke, Mark Bailey, the evergreen Tony Burgess & a welcome return back to the club after many years absence, Andy Proctor. Peter Davies
Hon Tennis Sec |
