Manningtree
-1°
Mens A
Welcome to the Mens A Team page.
2011 Season
| Mens A | ||||
| Friday 6th May | vs. | Kirby B | home | 6.30pm |
| Tues. 17th May | vs. | Kirby B | away | 6.30pm |
| Mon. 23rd May | vs. | Col Lawn A | home | 6.30pm |
| Weds. 15th June | vs. | Frinton B | away | 6.30pm |
| Monday 4th July | vs. | Frinton B | home | 6.30pm |
| Thurs. 14th July | vs. | Col. Garrison | away | 6.30pm |
| Monday 18th July | vs. | Col. Garrison | home | 6.30pm |
| Friday 22nd July | vs. | Col. Lawn | away | 6.30pm |
Friday 22nd July Away- match against Col. Lawn: Won 8-1
Pete C/ James P 8-4 8-1 8-1
The team performed very well in the last match of the season. The 1st and 3rd pair did well to win all 3 sets….but the 2nd pair struggled against the best and most positive pair at Colchester Lawn. Mr Cook and Captain Prior maintained their 100% record of winning every set!! A good time was had by all at Ashinana’s curry house. The match report from Mr Barrott will follow after he has recovered from the sambuca…
Unsurprisingly Martin/Simon signed off their Mens team matches with a tiebreak. Ian/Rob saved their best set of results ‘till last and James/Pete steamrollered through as usual.At the traditional last match curry, Simon told the story behind his only participation at a Tuesday morning session earlier in the week and of the 3 main benefits on display, with much resulting mickey-taking & innuendo.Lively conversation continued on all manner of subjects from Pinky & Perky and Bill/Ben/Little Weed to the benefits of Basildon (didn’t last long) to phone hacking.Several Cobra/Kingfishers later, James challenged Simon to a Sambucca slam, resulting in an honourable draw.Chauffeur Ian wisely declined to participate and we eventually left the establishment the following day with the dwindling number of waiters about to erect their Z-beds.
Monday 18th July Home- match against Col. Garrison: Won 6-3
Pete C/ James P- 8-2 8-4 8-2
Martin P/Simon B – 8-9 9-8 8-3
Rob B/Ian P – 7-9 6-8 8-1
Rob B/Ian P – 7-9 6-8 8-1
The 2nd 6-3 win over the Garrison within a few days finally guarantees promotion.Hopefully we will have learnt from our experiences in the Premier last year and will avoid recent years’ yo-yo between divisions. Martin & Simon again managed to construct an extreme number of games played – it’s just as well that tiebreaks are in the rules as Isner/Mahut’s record could well be in jeopardy.Both Rob/Ian and Martin/Simon had quite a tussle with Garrison’s first pair, both just losing out and in the process the latter pair losing their 100% tiebreak success this year.Ian produced the highlight of the evening with a fine spectacular Big Daddy-style WWF splash dunk onto court 1 and held the pose nicely for any passing paparazzi.
Thursday 14th July Away- match against Col.Garrison: Won 6-3
Pete C/ James P- 8-4 8-4 8-2
Rob B/Ian P - 5-8 5-8 8-6
Martin P/Simon B - 2-8 8-6 9-8
Rob B/Ian P - 5-8 5-8 8-6
Martin P/Simon B - 2-8 8-6 9-8
A good win in awkward conditions agaisnt are our nearest challengers for promotion. Due to the fire at the Garrison, the match was played at Merville Barracks Sports Centre. It was quite difficult at one end, playing uphill with the strong evening sun. The new yellow balls quickly became dirty & for the last set, visibility wasn’t great. James & Pete continued their run of success with a fine win over Garrison’s first pair. Ian & Rob hope to dent this the following night with the 2 pairs drawn to play each other in the C&D doubles event quarter-final.
Monday 4th July Home- match against Frinton B: Won 6-3
Pete C/ James P- 8-3 8-2 8-2
Simon B/Martin P - 3-8 9-7 8-3
Rob B/Robert L – 5-8 8-5 4-8
Simon B/Martin P - 3-8 9-7 8-3
Rob B/Robert L – 5-8 8-5 4-8
From being 2-6 and 3-7 down, Simon & Martin ditched their appendages and managed to turn things around, winning the set 9-7. The problem was diagnosed by Pete who advised that bandanas should be worn on the head, not over the eyes. Great excitement occurred whilst clearing up after supper – Rob demonstrated his prowess at catching coins balanced on his upturned elbow (about time he got a proper job?) and then rookie Martin had a try with coins, balls, teabags, bakewell tarts etc, proving most successful. The next 2 matches against The Garrison will decide which club get promoted to the premier division.
Wednesday 15th June Away- match against Frinton B: Won 7.5-1.5
Pete C/ James P- 8-0 n/a (2-3)w/o
Simon B/Martin P - w/o4-88-4
Ian P/Matt S - w/o8-39-7
Simon B/Martin P - w/o4-88-4
Ian P/Matt S - w/o8-39-7
A good win against a stronger side than the score suggests.One of Frinton’s pair pulled out after the first set through injury.An early close to the evening’s entertainment was decided after Pete’s spectacular Inward-reverse 1½ somersault triple pike & twist axle-jump with camel-spin Salchow.Rumours of a resulting legal battle over who pays for the crater repair on no.1 court proved unfounded.
Monday 23rd May Home- match against Colchester Lawn A: Won 7.5-1.5
Pete C/ James P- 8-1 8-1 n/a
Simon B/Martin P- n/a (3-0) 8-2 8-5
Rob B/Ian P- 8-5 n/a 8-4
Simon B/Martin P- n/a (3-0) 8-2 8-5
Rob B/Ian P- 8-5 n/a 8-4
A very windy evening cut short by light drizzle & slippery courts. Rumours of the latest Icelandic ash cloud settling over Dedham encouraged an early visit to the pub. Rob has unfortunately taken out a super-injunction preventing publication of a revealing photo in the lounge bar & nobody else in the team was able to apply parliamentary privilege to overturn this, so you will have to make do with vicious rumour for your information on this score.
Tuesday 17th May Away- match against Kirby B: Won 9-0
Pete C/ James P- 8-1
Simon B/Martin P- 8-6
Rob B/Ian P- 8-1
Simon B/Martin P- 8-6
Rob B/Ian P- 8-1
Kirby could only muster 1 pair which was disappointing for both teams with the non-playing Dedham pairs waiting around to play. Kirby’s Chris was his usual exuberant & entertaining self. The away team’s recollection of 1960/70s TV programmes during supper was far more entertaining than the match.
Friday 6th May Home- match against Kirby B: Won 6.5-2.5
Pete C/ James P- 8-3 8-4 8-0
Rob B/Ian P- 5-8 8-3 5-5
Simon B/Martin P- 4-6 9-8 8-6
Rob B/Ian P- 5-8 8-3 5-5
Simon B/Martin P- 4-6 9-8 8-6
Martin’s halved miniscule scotch egg crudités were the stars of the show after a weather-perfect evening for tennis. Just a shame it got dark at 8.45. Most tense match of the evening was the tiebreak. Nobody had forged ahead more than 1 game throughout the set but the tiebreak was one-sided with Dedham streaking to a 5-0 lead via some outright winners & eventually winning 7-2. Skipper was so pleased with evening’s work, he bought a round at the pub afterwards after remembering the combination to his wallet!
N.B. Dedham Score First
Friday 22nd July Away- match against Col. Lawn: Won 8-1
Martin P/Simon B – 8-9 8-3 8-3
