Richard   

Considering we did not actually win any matches last season this has to go down as one of the early shocks of the season. Ronnie finished work even later than expected so was much later for the match.   

Actual order of play is shown in brackets. I started proceedings with straight sets win over Andy followed by a 5-setter loss for Jai against Gareth; the first 3 sets were close and the last two easy wins either way.   

As far as I know Les hasn’t played in this league for over a season so it was good to see him back. I quickly raced into a 2-0 lead and held 4 match points at 10-6. With the finish line in sight, I suddenly was struggling and Les came back to 10-9. A fortunate net ended the contest and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. Jai lost in 4, with 3 very close sets, to Andrew.   

With the match poised at 2-2 Ronnie began his first match with an opening set lost to Gareth. From here on in it was all downhill for Gareth and NatWest; PRO winning all of the last 5 matches.   

The result could have been even more damaging for Natwest had we not had to concede the doubles due to time restriction. Having started on time we were the last match to finish at 21:44. We have to be out of the building by 22:00 so barely enough time to pack up let alone play a doubles match.   

In a season of firsts and you’ll probably need to look up your records.   

The first time PRO had won a match since ...  ~
The first time PRO had beaten NatWest since ...  
The first time I had won a maximum since ...  
The first time Les has played in this league since ...
The first time Les had lost all 3 since ...

Reality check as we face Comets A next week.

John