With no Laikram or Cain the opportunity was there for Castaways to seize the initiative in the title race towards the end of the second half and so it seemed to be with Castaways racing into a 4-1 league. 

The first match was probably a decider for the evening and realistically could have gone either way, with legs going each way to 2-2 quite decisively but the fifth weas inevitably nick and tuck with Winston getting to 5-4 but Terry right on his heels and of course it went to deuce with, if memory serves me correctly Winston had a nightmare of a deuce serving off then missing his return of service altogether.

The second game was the snap and crunch of Steve Fagan against the subtlety of Neil Le M and in a game that swung both ways Steve won the first and third easily whilst Neil somehow managed to win the second on deuce. The fourth was another deuce, the third of the night already and Steve hit two unstoppable shots to take the set 3-1. 

Ian then faced Johnny and won the first leg, was this boding well for an upset? Nope, Johnney came back and picked ian off to run out a fairly easy winner in four. 

Steve and Terry then came to the table for a monumental tussle with some amazing rallies. Steve took the first to 9, Terry the second on deuce and then raced away to win the third quite easily. Steve rallied and went into a 9-5 lead, but Terry was not to be denied and fought back to be 10-9 up only to lose that crucial next point. However, Terry was not to be denied and managed to take it 13- 11. 

Talking of comebacks, the next match produced the grandaddy of one! Winston against Johnny and Winston was totally in charge racing to a 10-4 lead in the first leg, but Johnny dug in and somehow got back to deuce! More game points to Winston followed until at 14-14 Johnny finally took the initiative but it went back to deuce, 15-15 and then Johnny managed to take the next two points. The second leg also went to Johnny and despite a reversal in the third leg Johnny secured the win to take the match score to 4-1 and surely a win was in sight for Castaways and a historic loss for Comets, or so you’d have thought. 

Ian against Neil followed, and this is always an interesting clash of styles. Neil took the first rather easily to 3 but was this a “real” score or was ian biding his time. The latter seemed to be the case when Ian took the second and third to 6 and 7 respectively. Neil then dominated the fourth and looked to have it sown up at 10-7 but Ian not only hung in but then produced two excellent serves to take it to deuce. On the first point Ian’s return of serve was a cracker of a winner and he followed it with a good serve to take the fourth and the set. Match score now 4-2. 

Steve and Johnny to the table with Steve blasting verything and Johnny picking up scraps, lots of times from the back of the court. After a good start from Steve, Johnny hit back to take it 11-8. Another deuce game followed but this was Steve hitting back. Johnny took the third but Steve took the fourth setting up only the second five legger of the night. They both started strong but Steve got  his nose in front and blasted his way to a win, 4-3. 

Ian then faced Terry and the money was on Terry to seal the draw with a match win possible, but Ian wasn’t reading script and tool the first 11-6. Terry hit back also to 6. Terry was then in control of the fourth and at 10-7 was surely going to take it. Nope, Ian not only hung in but repeated his overhauling of Neil earlier by coming back to win it 12-10. Would Terry respond in kind? Unfortunately for Castaways the answer was no with Ian never being behind and winning to 7 and Comets were back from the brink to tie the match score at 4-4. 

We then had lefties at both ends of the table with Winston and his pen-hold and Neil with his …. Winston had the wind behind him with the Comets comeback gathering strength and dictated the first two legs to win 7 and 8. Was it all over? Perhaps not as Neil kept pace with Winston and managed to get into a slight lead. However Winston was not to be denied and with a little bit of luck, okay four nets out of the last five points won, he managed to win 13-11 in the only three straight set of the night. 5-4 Comets, what a comeback! 

Could they finish the job and get the win? Castaways are unbeaten in doubles this season and boy did they need this one to rescue the draw. Against expectations Comets took the first leg on deuce, upset on the cards? Nope, Castaways rallied and took the next three legs without too much trouble to salvage the draw,

I’m pretty sure both sides would have taken a draw from the respective perspectives before the match, but the eventual result felt like a win for Comets rather than a draw and a loss for Castaways. 

The league table will show Castaways on top at the end of the year, but Comets will have a game in hand and will almost certainly be on top once that is played in the New Year.

An interesting second half of the season in prospect!