Match Report
Match Report (Courtesy of Dave Wackrill)
Adeyfield 1st 6 - 4 Crown & Sceptre A
"Finn-tastic Nigel in another shock win"
A welcome opportunity for us to pitch our wits against the town no.1, Ken Stonebridge, who Mark York and I somehow beat in this fixture last season. Ken had already lost twice this year, though, with Flamstead’s Nick Denney his latest conqueror last week. As always I was eagerly looking forward to another of Nick’s excellent match reports covering the occasion but, sadly, am still waiting. Hope he’s not too bashful to write about it.
The big guns hit the table running in the opening set tonight with Mark York’s 100% singles record on the line against the incomparable Ken. It was a classic, too, before Ken emerged triumphant 11-9 in the decider, to set the visitors on a path that swept them into a 4-2 lead, with the Adeyfield wins coming from Mark over Richard Hardy and me over Bill Higgins.
Nigel Finn had gone down tamely to both Richard and Bill, with his straight games defeats culminating in a 11-1 thrashing from Bill, when he faced Ken in set 8 - after I had reduced the deficit. What were his chances? Nil, I’d have said. Oddly, Nigel turned to Mark and said “If I win 3 games to 1, you’ll still be man of the match”. That’s precisely what happened in a miraculous transformation. Suddenly those glorious forehand passing shots from yesteryear were working in abundance for him, once again, as Ken was battered into submission.
Mark beat Bill at set 9 and joined me for a doubles win, saving 2 match points along the way, to seal an unlikely victory.
Anyone following the results in our sister League, SHaW, will know that Nigel pulled off a sensational win 4 weeks ago, against another leading Hemel player, Gary Keers, both wins earning Nigel maximum ranking points. Unfortunately for Ken, the respective deficit to his own total has cost him the top spot. Meanwhile Mark can glory in maintaining his own 100% ‘player of the match’ record this season.