Match Report  (courtesy of Dave Wackrill)  

   Adeyfield 1st   4 - 6   St. George's 1st  

WILKINS WONDER SHOW SINKS ADEYFIELD  

The unforgettable Michael Wilkins made a rare appearance for the visitors in his first season with St.Georges. Slightly greyer in the temple than when he last played in Hemel in the 1990s for Northchurch, Michael remains a formidable opponent (as Michael Boardman found in the away fixture) with his form as good as ever. His presence in the St. Georges team made the difference between the sides, as we crashed to our first defeat after 16 straight wins. 

Following on from straightforward victories over Nigel Finn and myself, Michael faced Mark York with the match score 4-all. In the ensuing battle of the big hitters, Mark seemed to be in complete control with a 9-3 and then a 10-6 lead in the decider. But Michael is never beaten until the last point and fought back strongly to snatch his hat-trick. 

Previously Mark and I had beaten Bob Sapuan and Daniel Broner, with Nigel, a reluctant starter in the match anyway, winless. The club supremo had opened badly against Bob with a cascade of unforced errors, and it never got any better for him with injury added to insult as he damaged the little finger of his playing hand when trapping the digit between bat and table. 

We still had the doubles to play to save the draw and Mark & I were cruising at 9-7 up in the first when we lost control of proceedings and the flow of the play started favouring St. Georges. Michael was excellent again, and some of his bustling confidence must have oozed through his pores and rubbed off on Daniel, as the youngster was suddenly striking dangerous forehands past us like never before, to inflict our first doubles defeat of the season and, hopefully, our quota for the year. Mark & I first played doubles together in 1982 and have never lost more than one doubles per calendar year since then. Long may it continue.