Our friendly match with Wilton Bridge took place under sunny spring skies in Ross-on-Wye. Both teams were fielding 14 players apiece, with three rounds of play ahead.
The first round comprised four triples and one double. The results of the five games were pretty close, with MPC edging Wilton Bridge 3 wins to 2 (60-48). It was good to see some of our less-experienced players, such as Keith Miller and Linda Lippett, playing well.
In round 2 there were seven straight doubles to play and the best result came from the two Lindas, Lippett and Thomas, who won their game 13- 2. There were also wins for Bernard & Mike, John Maroney & Keith Thomas and Keith Miller & Peter Lippett. Overall we won the round by 4 games to 3, but the points difference of 72-68 shows how close the games had been.
So, with a lead of 7 games to 5, it was all to play for in the final round of two triples and four doubles. Wilton Bridge still had a chance to come good. But it wasn’t to be. We took four of the six games, giving us a final result in the match of 11 games to 7 (202-164). Congratulations to all our players and especially to three players who completed a hat trick of winning games: Bernard, Linda Lippett and Keith Miller. Well done to them and to all our players for giving up a day to play for our club.
Wilton Bridge are a developing club and they want to improve. Their performance in this first match shows that they are on the right track and we look forward to hosting them in the next leg.
Roger Griffin
