Melbourn won 17-5

The 2nds opening half in the Division 3 has been upbeat, and it ended on an in-keeping note as the final game before the Christmas holidays produced a 17-5 win over Hunts County 3rds.
Hunts started positively after Kate Bradshaw (1) was edged out 3-0 by Sean Brodrick, though with only a handful of points between the players in every game. Melbourn struck straight back though, Jamie Ware (5) winning by the same score line with a 19-17 tie-breaker second game key to his success over Nathan Hilton.
Gareth Jones (3) got Melbourn’s noses ahead as he claimed a 3-0 win against Emily Fuller in a hard-hitting contest, though Gareth had to work for it as games two and three ended only 15-13 in his favour. Meanwhile next door Matt Walker (4) was involved in an epic contest with Rick Watson, Matt recovering from losing his first two games on tie-breaks to level things up at 2-2. The decider went all the way, Matt building a lead in the closing stages. The end was tense, Matt snatching at a chance he would usually snaffle in his sleep when match-ball up at 14-12… but then benefiting from an unforced error (Rick served out!) to get over the line 15-13.
With the winning bonus secured Liam Murphy (2) produced the performance of the night against Paul Goodwin, an experienced and tenacious player who arrived at the match with a record of five wins from six appearances this season. Nimble footwork and elastic stretching from Liam took Paul’s attacking game away from him though as the Melbourn player won 3-0.
The 2nds are locked in a three-way battle at the top of Division 3 at the mid-season break – they sit second, three points behind leaders Cambridge 3rds and ahead of Saffron Walden 1sts only on head-to-head record. Comberton and the Uni are a further 10 or so points back.