Melbourn won 9-3

The 1sts reached the midway point of the 2025 Herts Summer League with this game, which pitted the sides in first (Melbourn) and second (Nuffield) in the table against each other.

It took place on a stinkingly warm evening, when killing the ball was hard for everyone. This exacerbated gaps between players, leading to three pretty rapid games, each finishing 3-0 but not all to the same team.

Melbourn struck first as Mark Oppen (3) cruised past Helen Walsh, confusing his teammates by not letting up after winning the first two as he recorded a 15-8, 15-7, 15-11 success.

Nuffield responded when Miles Jeanneret (2) saw Andrew Green win the key points, three close games ending 0-3 on the back of 15-17, 12-15, 12-15 scores. Well, fighting back after losing the first on a breaker would have been dangerous on such a warm evening – a noble sacrifice from Miles.

That sent it to Matt Sampson (1) against Tim Bloomer. However Matt was in ruthless form, particular in the third game as he made up for a close second by running away with things 15-9, 15-13, 15-4. That gave the 1sts a win that stands a good chance of seeing them remain top after all the games-in-hand are played out.