A record half a dozen yellow cards were handed out in this match for bad language and even Ian Barker was heard to silently curse under his breath! Always a pleasure to welcome the 'Jack Russell' (Ian Wilson) and his team to the club and as usual the games were closely fought but the Con Club's acquisition of Nick Bakewell has made a big difference to their team. I made the mistake of taking the first game off him as he was still suffering the effects of being driven to Hyde by Ian. He then proceeded to blitz me with some outrageous forehand smashes and I succumbed in four sets. Brian had got us underway against Tony and when he got involved in a chopping game with the Con Club man he was on a loser but he managed to get his backhand drives going and allied with some good serving he overcame Tony in five sets. Ian's radar badly needed tuning as he was missing his chops and drives against Ian W and he lost the first two sets. He came back in the third but lost the fourth as his opponent dropped lucky with a couple of nets. I gave Tony a decent game but I couldn't find any consistency and Tony was his usual steady self and I went down in four. Brian saw off Ian W in four refusing to get drawn into the Con Club man's chopping game and once he found his length with his backhand drives the game was his. Ian gave Nick a good game the first two sets going to 10-12 but Nick then launched a ferocious attack in the third with some blistering forehand and backhand drives that Ian had no answer to and he lost in three. Me against Ian W and the same problem, consistency. We all know Ian's game, he bores you to death with his chopping so you have to be patient and wait for the opportunity to put the ball away. I did half the time but then I'd go for one that wasn't on and pay the price. This was the game where the umpire handed out the majority of yellow cards. Ian B had a Titanic duel with Tony coming back well from two sets down as he finally got his game together but a few unforced errors in the fifth meant Tony took the game. Brian had been looking forward to playing Nick for the first time but I'm afraid he was no match for the Con Club man who by now was on top form and he blitzed Brian in three sets. Ian and Brian took the doubles to give the scorecard a better look. We are now second from bottom and next week's match v bottom club St Sq 'D' takes on great importance, so we'd best buck our ideas up. A great evening's tennis and good company, even of you did need earplugs whenever the 'Jack Russell' was playing.  

Written by: Lee Brown