Match report

Mens 1st team vs Albert Monday 2 June 2009

Mersey in 4th vs Albert in 2nd- we knew this would be a close match and that Albert had some very good players after they defeated us in the Acton Plate final last year. However we were also at full strength and had done pretty well so far this season.

It was however a fantastic match that could have gone either way and after chatting with the mersey team afterwards we all agreed it was one of the best matches we have played in in recent years.

Opening round saw Teddy and Paul M have a monster of a match with both sets going to tiebreaks, we lost the first and won the second but the match must have been one of the longest in recent times, to put it into context Mark and Paul C playing on the 2nd court also had a close match winning a first set tiebreak 6-5 but losing the second 6-3 to give a 1 set each half. Mark and Paul then played their next match, winning 6-2 6-2 and finishing that just as Teddy and Paul M completed their first one!!

Simon and Neil also having a close opening match which also was halved with a 6-3 win in the first set and then 6-3 to the Albert in the second. It was clear every set would be crucial and this was a key one.

To sum that where we were, the first round of matches was 3-3, but with Mark and Paul completing their second match quickly we had a 5-3 lead. Teddy and Paul M were in the groove for their second match and although another close one on the courts they cam away with a 6-3 6-3 win, the flip side was that Simon and Neil got Alberts 1st couple also still in the groove and despite some good play, Albert had the edge for that one.

Into the last round with a 7-5 lead but the format of the matches meant that as an away team only 1 of our pairs would be playing a lower ranked pair, in this case Teddy and Paul M as our 1st pair playing Alberts 3rd. This meant that in order to secure a win we would need Teddy and Paul to win and for us to get at least another set from the other 2 matches……..could Paul C win his serve? He had hardly done all night, would Simon continue to hit the ball as hard as anyone has ever done and if anyone gets in the way of it we might just win by injury default!!!

As we had hoped Teddy and Paul M won both sets and with Paul C finding a bit of form to support Mark's consistent play they managed to take the first set in their match. This was evened up by Albert taking the 2nd set . On court 3……with Simon hitting some great stuff and Neil playing consistently well they were on court last as everyone else had finished, a close one but we  just came up short.

Nevertheless, it was a really close match with us taking it 10-8 but it really could have gone either way in a contest from what I think are two very evenly matched teams. Thanks to the Albert team for their hospitality and their suggestion of an inter club social event between us which I will be talking to their captain about in the next couple of days.

We have now won 4 from 5 matches, this win probably puts us in 2nd, maybe even top spot with Woodside having played a game less. We will welcome Macclesfield to the Green Lane Megadome next Tuesday 30th as we move into the 2nd half of the season