Henley A raced to a 3-0 lead against visitors Shottery B and looked to have victory in their sights. Peter Quince got them under way by getting the better of Tim Fell after overcoming loss of their opener. Don McAdam was made to work even harder by Gareth Hepworth but claimed the match in the decider, despite accumulating two points less than his opponent over the course of their encounter. Not to be outdone Geoff Shepherd, although staring defeat in the face after loss of the first two games to Tony Remes, turned fortunes around to win over the distance.
However that was as good as it got for Henley A as their opponents launched a comeback to claim all seven of the remaining matches. Remes got full value for money, with both his other matches also going to the wire, but came through on each occasion. Fell and Hepworth were not as severely tested as each won their remaining two matches, as well as combining to claim the doubles, without further loss. The fixture therefore produced the rare situation of the three victorious Shottery players all finishing with braces but each slipping up against a different opponent.
The result went true to form in Henley A's next fixture when they took on their own second string. The seniors recalled Mike Evetts to their line-up and he dropped just a single game in registering a treble. Shepherd was also unbeaten and the pair also tasted success in the doubles. Peter Quince added a brace but lost out in the decider to Robert McCluskey, who thereby prevented the whitewash.
Shottery C ran out 7-3 winners against Ashorne thanks to trebles from Rob Poole and Ken Southwell. However the latter had to overturn an early deficit against John Hunt, and was then made to work even harder by Steve Bolton as two of their four games were settled at deuce. The ever improving David Lincoln - Lewis probably anticipated success after narrowly securing the first two games against George Mudie, only for his opponent to kick into gear to see out their match. However, in an even closer contest, Lincoln-Lewis extended his excellent recent doubles record in tandem with Poole after they clinched the decider 13-11.
The opening match between the two captains proved decisive when West Warwicks entertained Royal Mail. Alison Stewart defeated Nello Mauri over four games before going on to complete a treble for the hosts. Jim Ferguson added a brace, with Peter Rodwell claiming the crucial sixth win against Malcolm Heritage. For the Postmen Mauri secured his other two encounters as well as sharing the doubles with Heritage, while Wilf Chan also got on the card but it was not enough to prevent their team being on the receiving end of a 6-4 defeat.
