The first leg of the annual Winter Friendly against Caerleon RFC PC was played today at a rather chilly Monkstone under leaden skies.
The usual format for this fixture was to be used – 12 x Singles, 6 x Doubles, 4 x Triples.
The opening Singles were won by Monkstone by 7-5 [14pts to 10pts] during which Ash Seath won his first ever competitive game of singles and Phil Roberts beat Gemma Foster for the second season running.
The Doubles didn’t go quite so well for Monkstone who lost by 2-4 [6pts to 12pts] leaving them equal on games at 9-9 with an aggregate deficit of 2pts [20pts to 22pts]. Monkstone’s two wins were in the mixed doubles where Beryl McCarthy, admirably partnered by Mike Jones, won her first competitive game of doubles against another club.
So onto the Triples where Monkstone needed to win at 3 out of 4 games to take a lead into the second or at least win 2 to go to Caerleon early next year with only a 2pt deficit. Mike Jones had “retired” after the doubles and was replaced in the squad by Sean Smith. Unfortunately Monkstone were unable to reach even their minimum target going down 1-3 [5pts to 15 pts] with the established trio of Roger Griffin and Vickie & Bernard Adshead being the only winners. This left Monkstone with an overall deficit of 12pts [25-37] and a lot to do in the 2nd leg.
As usual the match was played in a friendly, but competitive, spirit. A big thank-you to all those who took part especially the less experienced players who were playing their first competitive match against another club – they all played their part.
FULL RESULTS
