With all teams doing well in their divisions after three matches, they had a reality check this week – things will not be that easy!

Bristol Lawn were the nemesis for both Mixed teams, with the Firsts suffering the absence of a Patrick or a Hamish and facing first class opposition and are now in the lower half of Division One. The Ladies’ Seniors lost narrowly and the Men’s Seniors squeaked a win, courtesy of Simon Brand and Richard Chapman winning double double donuts against Downend! The Men’s and probably Ladies’ Seniors stay top, but the Mixed Seconds are knocked off their perch.

Writhlington 6 – 4 Downend

With three wins out of three so far, Writhlington were looking to continue their good form on Friday evening against second place Downend. Writhlington had the A pairing of Simon Brand and Richard Chapman and the B pairing of Dean Taylor and Chris Palmer.

The Writhlington A pairing of Simon and Richard took on the A pair of Adrian and Dave. Although they had never paired before, Simon and Richard played exceptionally well together and comfortably beat Adrian and Dave 6–0, 6–0. In particular, Richard’s net play was great and Simon’s serving and cross-court strokes superb. Against the B pairing of Phil and Simon, Writhlington were far too strong again and came out winners 6–0, 6–0.

The B pairing of Dean and Chris played Downend’s Phil and Simon. The first four games were evenly matched, but some clever lobbing by the opposition saw Writhlington lose the next four games, with the score finishing 6–2. The final set was a one-sided affair, with Writhlington losing 6–1. Dean and Mike then took on the Downend A pairing. Despite taking many games to deuce, the Writhlington pair did not finish at critical points, going down 6–0, 6–0.

Knowle 6 – 4 Writhlington

The rain had stopped by the time we got to Knowle, but the courts were a little slippery. Janie Bullus and Tina Lindley played their A pair first. It was very windy with balls flying out down one end of the court and hardly getting over the net from the other end. We won the first set in a tiebreak and then lost the second. It was decided that a championship tiebreak should be played instead of a third set which we won. Marie Craig and Paula Cuthbert had lost their first match in straight sets and were keen to get on with their second match.

The second match resulted in a walkover for Janie and Tina, as one of the Knowle ladies injured herself and couldn’t play on. We were winning the first set 5–3 at the time. Marie and Paula found the conditions difficult, the wind making it impossible for Marie to play her amazing lobs, they unfortunately lost their second match.

Bristol 10 – 0 Writhlington Firsts

With both Bristol men having played Division One Summer League and their ladies with 100% and 85% records respectively in Division Two, we knew we would be up against it – we were right!

Mandy Baldwin and Andy Jeffery took on the 27-year-old combo of Matt and Emma. Despite being 30–0 up in several early games, we couldn’t capitalise and were 4–1 down. We then staged a magnificent comeback, only to lose it 7–5. In the second set, virtually every game went to deuce, but we just couldn’t get the important points and went down 6–1. Very frustrating, because whilst Matt and Emma were very competent players, we felt we should have done better.

Alex and Kirsty were a different matter – they annihilated us with bullet cross-courts, ungettable volleys and flukey shots when we thought we had won the point. In addition, Alex’s serves were virtually unplayable and he won most of his service games to love. At no point did Mandy confuse my playing ability with Patrick or Hamish and so I think I was the main problem! A 6–0, 6–2 loss.

James Brocksopp and Beverleigh Roberts started against Alex and Kirsty, James held his first service game which put us 1–0 up … oh well, at least we were in the lead for a bit! While we may not have had the bullets that Andy and Mandy had … the end result was much the same. The same unplayable serves from both opposition players, most hitting the outer line and then swinging further away. Any returns that were made generally resulted in simple chances for the net player to put away … they didn’t miss many! A 6–1, 6–2 loss.

The second rubber against Matt and Emma was a very similar story and we just couldn’t get our return game going… or really get into the rallies. What chances we created were either messed up by us, or well defended by them. The same result as the first match, a 6–1, 6–2 loss.

Writhlington Seconds 0 – 10 Bristol Lawn 2

Victoria Barwell and Dean Taylor paired up to take on the Bristol B team pair of Elfriede and Robert. Although Elfriede was not particularly strong, her partner was quick at the net, had a useful topspin, and protected her well. We got off to a rather slow start with an early drop of serve and although we had some good rallies, this was not reflected in the score and the first set whizzed by before we could win a game. We put up a better fight in the second set, keeping the serve to the ladies’ weaker backhand and trying to attack whenever possible, but Robert was not making many errors and we eventually lost the second set 6-4.

The Bristol A pair of Geoff and Johanna both hit a good ball and were very nice to play against. They were both strong at the net and moved well at the back of the court, so points had to be won rather than hoping for errors, as there weren’t many of those! Again, we had some good exchanges, but were not strong enough to do much damage unfortunately and lost out 6–0, 6–1 in what was an enjoyable and nice spirited match.