Match Report  (courtesy of Dave Wackrill)   

   Adeyfield A   1 - 9   Adeyfield 1st  

ADEYFIELD ACHIEVE QUARTER CENTURY TITLE SUCCESS

Our 2nd team did the club proud in the last round of matches, by extinguishing the slim hopes of Flamstead, with a magnificent win over our rivals, to ensure the Champions Cup stays in our trophy cabinet for another season. That’s our 25th win (1 shared) in the 35 years since formation, the first one taking over top dog status from Mike Atkinson’s Chesham School side, all those years ago. 

So tonight was more a celebration of the club’s continued success than just the playing out of a 'bog standard' League match, albeit won 9-1 by the reigning champions. The second team’s moment of glory came when Abdul Rahim beat Mike Boardman in straight games. Abdul’s a different proposition these days, now that he has that sensational victory over Glen Wilkes under his belt. A real tough nut to crack, he handled Mike’s topspin game well while producing some fine winners of his own. The set ended in controversy though with the umpire missing a blatant net cord on Abdul’s serve at match point and Mike waiting in vain open mouthed in astonishment for the call the never came. Just like the football, VAR can’t come soon enough to our sport too. 

Our talisman would probably have lost anyway as he was way off his best form tonight, also being taken to a 4th game by Mike Branscombe, and featuring as the instigator in ‘most hilarious point’ of the match. Mike top edged his service to lob the ball 10 feet in the air and offer opponent Les Leech an easy kill. Licking his lips in gleeful anticipation, Les somehow messed up his return, top edging his own shot, to sent the ball flying on to the stage 40 feet away. 

With John Bullard and myself winning our singles in straight games, we were an easy pick for the doubles, which was one way traffic for two and a half games, before Mike and Les made a spirited comeback which ate into valuable drinking time, all the way to 7-7 in the decider before they finally capitulated. 

The celebration victory was neatly rounded off by a tasty treat, as John had brought along a batch of Mrs Bullard’s delicious home made white chocolate and cranberry shortcake biscuits, much enjoyed by all. More of them please.