If Dave Clarke ever leaves his bat out of his sight it will disappear I guarantee it, because I will nick it and burn it. It's a bugger when you can't return a serve, makes a bit of a farce of the game doesn't it. On the odd occasion I got one of his serves back and when I served we were fairly equal but once he served that was it. The ball went anywhere but where I wanted it to go and I went down like a lead balloon. It's also hard work when there's only two of you as Brian was convinced we were playing on Thursday and didn't turn up. Which was a pity because with the form Ian was on I'm fairly sure we would have won. None of the Knights came close to challenging him as everything he tried came off and even Dave's magic bat didn't cause him any problems. I played really well for a change against Roger and with some steady chopping and good drives saw him off in three sets but Alan was his usual tigerish self and we had our usual five setter. I had the better of him on The Low but it was his turn tonight. The crucial moment was in the fifth set when I battered him with three good forehand smashes but he returned each one and the third one he returned I couldn't get to. I also went for too many smashes which weren't on and Alan was as steady as ever and just about deserved to win. I won't dwell on the doubles as Ian and I were about as awful as you can possibly be! So we just lost and the jubilant Knights mounted their chargers and nudged us out of Strines with their lances. Good tennis, excellent  company, awful bat! 

Written by: Lee Brown