Melbourn 2 travelled to Biggleswade in anticipation of a big challenge.

String 1 played fist with Liam Murphy came up against an opponent who was more machine than man away at Biggleswade.

His superfit rival, Nathan Bascom, was in the form of his life and took the match 3-0. Nathan's team mates agreed he was playing the best they'd ever seen, combining supreme conditioning with shot making - with a sprinkling of good luck on top.

Even the player himself declared on court after another winning point: "I have been going to the gym a lot," before chuckling to himself.

Unfortunately Liam hit quite a few into the tin in first game and his trademark pick up drops were not working. Nathan was relentless in his desire to get the match over and done with as quickly as possible, lunging and reaching for everything, smashing volleys into nicks. Liam showed some moments of recovery, placing a few extremely tight lobs to the back corners. He adopted a strategy of trying to push Nathan into the back which briefly turned the tide.

There was an excruciating moment towards the end of the third game where it looked like Liam might be able to bring it back to 2-1 down. Unfortunately, at a crucial 11-13 up there was a stroke awarded against Liam. Despite strong objections from Liam, from the balcony it looked like the marker had made a fair decision - and remained cool under cross examination. Liam continued to fight, clawing back to 14-14. The spectators groaned when Liam then hit his next serve out, leaving Nathan to take the final game 16-14, and the match 3-0.

Next up at string 3, Sean took on Archie Broadbent. In the 1^st, after a couple of dodgy serves, Sean found his rhythm and radar, moving Archie around the court at will, killing off many a rally with some lovely cross court drives. Sean took the game comfortably 7-15.

The 2nd saw Sean try to mix things up early on but his opponent pulled off some beautiful lobs and drops. Sean reverted back to type with a straightforward game of drives and cross courts with his opponent desperate to move up and cut off early but to no avail. Sean however did have a wobble at game point but steadied himself and served to win 11-15.

The third game saw Archie mix it up and try to play into the rallies which threw Sean off a little. Archie's lobs and drops came to the rescue to nudge him into the lead. However, Sean picked up the pace and once again went back to playing a mix of straight and cross court drives to evade Archie's reach. Sean served out to win 12-15.

Last to play at string 2, Colm was up against Jack Wright.

A contrast in styles was evident early in the first, with Jack’s powerful hitting and Colm retrieving and touch play keeping him the game.

Jack forged ahead and with all the energy and pace, seemed to have the advantage, however Colm steadied the ship and gradually began to express himself. This made for an extremely tight game which ebbed and flowed. Colm was serving deep and cutting the returns early to force Jack off the T. Jack was driving well and lengthening the rallies game him the advantage. Jack just about held the lead 11-10 before Colm took a series of points with combination of drives and drops, and took the game 11-15.

The second game continued as the first ended, and Colm continued to apply pressure through serving deep, hitting the corners and cutting early where possible. This game was one-sided with Colm taking it 6-15.

Jack knew he hadn’t played his usual game in the second and was determined to make amends in the 3^rd. Jack cruised through the early stages taking a 7-2 lead and playing in a much more composed manner. With a mix of luck, some unforced errors by Jack and some well taken winners, Colm stormed back into the game to take an 8-10 lead. The next few rallies were hard fought but Colm was able to keep Jack at bay and again serving deep and getting more return from his drops, he took the game 12-15 and the match 0-3, securing the overall result for Melbourn.

Captain Colm noted with some relief afterwards, ‘that was a tough challenge and delighted to get the overall result, especially with Biggleswade having taken the first match with such a quality display’.