John Clark reports - Chatham Gannet's long unbeaten run came to a crashing end at the hands of Division 2 leaders Upnor B, although the 8 - 2 scoreline doesn't reflect how closely fought this match was. Five of the games stretched to five sets and only one game was resolved in three, leading to a very late finish at the Howard. Upnor's Dave Gracey kicked off proceedings by taking revenge on Gannet skipper John Clark, who scored a surprise victory in the match before Christmas - this time, Dave won in four sets. The first epic ensued straight after as Danyal Asghar played very well to beat the wily and experienced Marylyn Dudgeon in five, the former concentrating hard to spot when his opponent was using her backhand pips and expertly rolling the ball back with spin to nullify the problem. Rob Hudd then lost to Shahab Raza in another gruelling five-set thriller; Rob was two sets up and seemingly cruising but a few loose attacking shots allowed the Upnor player to get back in and ultimately take the point. Danyal then lost in four to the excellent Dave Gracey, who worked very hard to win all three of his games, the third of which was his hardest encounter against Rob Hudd. Gannet's other point was also scored by Danyal, who beat Shahab in - yes, you guessed it - a five-set thriller! Rob came closest to securing what would have been a third point for the home side, losing 10 - 12 in the fifth against Shahab. 10.00pm had come and gone when Gannet skipper John stepped up against Marylyn, by which time everyone was perhaps hoping it wouldn't turn into another epic. Although this one was only four sets, the 12-10 8-11 7-11 10-12 scoreline will tell you what actually happened. John let a 10 - 6 lead slip in the fourth, denying this hard-fought match yet another five-setter. When Danyal and Rob succumbed to David and Shahab in four more keenly fought sets for the double point, finally everyone packed up and got to turn the lights off at the Howard, as everyone else had already left for their beds. This was a fine win for Upnor against tough opposition and for them, another big step towards promotion was achieved.

Written by: Michael Sheppard