None moreso than this match with former  Mersey players Pete De Cunha and Dave Wickes starting as 1st couple for West Heaton.

The Mersey team was same as last week and again Paul Mannion and Dave Sadler started well with a 6-4 6-4 win over Pete and Dave.

On the 2nd court Paul Clarke and Mark Bailey got into gear very quickly and wrapped up a 6-0 6-1 win.

Tony Burgess and Andy Proctor were caught a little cold in the first set vs the 3rd pair losing 6-1 and after leading 3 -1 in the second set caught the opposition on a hot run and went down 6-3.

Second round saw Mersey extend the match lead with another 4 sets to 2 win so after 2 rounds complete and 8-4 scoreline saw us nearly home and dry. Only 3 sets were played in the last round which went 2-1 in our favour to give us another win 10-5 overall.

A perfect start to the season with 3-0 at present and it was good to get some compliments from the West Heaton players about how well we played. We enjoyed a few pints in the bar before a short trip home for some of us!!

Now have a 3 week break before our next match which will be a real tester at Bramhall Lane who finished 3rd in the division last year.

Paul Clarke