Melbourn won 14-6

The 1sts have had a frustrating season with a load of three string to two matches go against them (they were 1-5 in these prior to this one), so there was a feeling of ‘finally’ as a close one at last broke their way as they edged out St. Ivo 1sts by that margin.

Melbourn’s successes came in the middle of the order as Chris Shaw (2), Vinod Duraikan (3) and Mike Herd (4) picked up straight games wins against James Powley, Nick Giles and Harry Aldrige respectively. Each of the wins saw the Melbourn player grind their opponent down after a close start, Chris coming through 12-10, 11-4, 11-5, Vinod winning 12-10, 11-7, 11-7 whilst Mike had to work the hardest before breaking his opponents spirit, but then did that the most completely as he triumphed 14-12, 12-10, 11-3.

The visiting side claimed the top and bottom strings as Matt Sampson (1) fell to aspiring pro Diego Pita (Portugal) 7-11, 5-11, 7-11, whilst skipper Mark Oppen (5) was also beaten 3-0 by Matt Dixon (game scores 9-11, 10-12, 8-11), but those middle victories were enough to claim a 14-6 win for the home side.