County o55 Matches – 23 Nov 2008
Three counties contested the Division 1 North C section namely Yorkshire 2, Cumbria and Northumbria.
In the 1st match Yorkshire beat Cumbria 3-2 (14-10 points) so for our first match against Yorkshire we knew it was going to be tough. Ken Johnson at 3 had a very close encounter and although he led 2-0 his opponent came back strongly to take the last 3 games and the match. Jim Douglas at 5 also went 5 games and after saving several match balls in the 4th finally took the 5th and recorded a win.
Next on were Derek Collins (1) and Mike Cherryman (4) and both won convincingly 3-0 to ensure a match victory for the county. Finally John Smith (2) raced to a 1-0 and 8-3 lead in the 2nd game when the strings snapped in his racquet. This appeared to upset his timing and he ended up using a close match 3-2. (18-8)
For the last match versus Cumbria, the team order was changed with 3 new players at 3,4 & 5.
Stan Brown (5) and Simon Johnston (3) had 2 contrasting matches with Simon encountering a player who played winners from all over the court and lost 3-0 whilst Stan got involved in a marathon match and just managed to take the 5th 9-7. Derek Collins (1) played Ronnie Bell, the Cumbria captain and both players showed some great touches combined with a strong defensive game when necessary. At 2-2 all, Derek maintained his composure and won a tight 5th game. Colin McNestrie (4) struggled to find his attacking game after his injury lay-off and lost 3-0. John Smith (2) was clearly a little tired from his earlier match and went down fighting 3-0. So overall a 3-2 defeat (18-6) but our total points of 24 ensured 2nd place and a place in the promotion play-offs next year.
Team
Derek Collins – Northern
John Smith – Newbiggin
Ken Johnson – Newbiggin
Mike Cherryman – Hexham
Jim Douglas – Northumberland Club
Simon Johnston – Northumberland Club
Colin McNestrie – Tynemouth
Stan Brown – Newbiggin
Cumbria – 28
Northumbria -24
Yorkshire 2 – 22
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