|
|
|
|
The Oval, Grenfell Road,
Beaconsfield HP9 2BY |
2007-2008 Senior Winter Match Reports
for Summer Match Reports,
click here
Bucks Shield Summary
Mens 1st team: promoted to division 2.
Mens 2nd team: third in their division by just 1 set, which means
they just missed promotion.
Mixed 1st and Ladies 2nd teams: also stay in their current
division.
Ladies 1st team and Mixed 2nd team: drop down a division.
For match reports, see below
Farnham Common League Summary
1st team:
will remain in division 1, final position 4th place
2nd team: will remain in division 4, final position 4th
place
3rd team: promoted to division 6, final position 2nd place
For match reports, please
click here
|
Bucks Shield Men’s
Vets 1st Team – Mark Atkins |
| This year was a
landmark year for the team as we once again managed to go through the
season unbeaten – the best record of any team in all the Bucks Shield
winter leagues. We have now managed to go 13 matches without defeat
over the last two seasons, gaining promotion as league winners each
year, which I believe is a first for the club. Not only did we manage
to gain promotion for the second year running – now to Division 2 -
but we only dropped 5 sets in total in winning Division 3.
My thanks are extended once again to my fellow musketeers (Robert
McGowan, Steven Cox and Mike Ballard) for their outstanding tennis and
support, and a special thanks to Ian Johnson for a victorious guest
appearance mid-season - and not forgetting our eternal thanks to
Melton Mowbray for producing the best pork pies on the planet! |
|
Bucks Shield Men’s Vets 2nd Team - Bill Maloney –
who captures the spirit of winter tennis! |
|
Well I have never been a captain of a tennis team.
In fact, I have not played too many team matches in my life - and all
since moving to Beaconsfield. Learning tennis in a New York school
yard, having only two real one-on-one tennis lessons (both after age
50) did not prepare me for this but, I must admit I had a lot of fun.
Here is what happened this season.
Our first match was at Penn and Tylers Green. Bill
Wright, Patrick Dunster, Andy De Padey, and I played against a good
team. I got the pairings wrong as well as the order of play. We did
not play badly but the captain messed up on his debut match. Needless
to say we lost this match but there was one saving grace - lunch! Some
nice fish was served along with some very good red wine. After the
first bottle we forgot about the tennis and just had a great time on a
Sunday afternoon.
Our next match was at Chesham Bois. I only just
found out that this team was disqualified for this season. I remember
the Penn and Tylers Green guys telling us that Chesham did not turn up
for their match which is why I presume they were disqualified. This
time Bill Wright, Ian Johnson, Chris Hales and I played and we did OK.
We were even in sets but won more games. They have these courts with
all this red stuff that gets in all your clothes. That was not too
comfortable after the match. Anyway, lunch was once again a very
pleasant affair. This time nice warm soup was served and on a cold
November day that really hit the spot. Unfortunately no wine was
served at this venue.
The next match was played at home. This was against
a very good team from Haddenham. They will win our group. Bill,
Patrick, Ian and I played OK but lost in the end. For lunch we put out
a reasonable spread of salmon, cheese I picked up in a nice shop in
Soho, some cake, a few sandwiches and two nice bottles of red wine.
After the second bottle I was glad I was walking home.
We travelled to Horsenden for our next match. I
felt I was driving down some dead end streets but we finally arrived.
Andy, Ian, Sekhar Pillai and I played. Our trusty Scot (Bill) could
not make it as he had a match with Teresa's team. This match was dead
even in both sets and games. Lunch here was not a memorable event but
the company was good.
The last three matches against David Lloyd, Next
Generation and Burnham were all played at home. The same team of Bill,
Ian, Andy and I played each match and we won all three. Lunches were
all very nice if I must say so myself and for the last match, which we
won 7-1, Bill brought along some very good red wine for all to enjoy.
Well, we may have not have raised the standard of
tennis to new heights but we certainly raised the bar on the quality
of food and wine consumed. We actually, as I write this, are in second
place in our group. There are still some matches to be played so that
may not stay the same. If it does remain the same we will go up to the
next group.
I would like to thank Patrick, Chris and Sekhar for
joining in and playing with the team. Andy and Ian, I think your son's
will be proud of their dads. You both played well. Thanks for being
part of the team. Then there is the mighty Scot. Bill's friendship,
competitive play, good humour and excellent wine selection were all
very much appreciated by me and all his team mates. Thanks. Well not
much more for me to say. Perhaps I have said way too much already. We
had a fun time, played some good tennis and enjoyed some nice lunches
with good company. |
|
Bucks Shield Mixed Vets team – Robert McGowan |
| For
the vets mixed 1st team, the objective of the season was to retain its
position in the top division in the county and to this extent it was
mission accomplished. As you might expect, the opposition in Division
1 is challenging - in our final match of the season, one of our
opponents was a current member of the England men's over-55 tennis
team. Many thanks to the various members of the team, and in
particular, Sian Baynes who played in all the matches. |
|
Bucks Shield Ladies Vets 1st team – Sue Sheahan |
|
It was a disappointing winter for the Ladies 1st
team - we put out pretty good teams mostly but the opposition was very
strong this year. We have been in the 2nd Division for several years,
so it's a pity we couldn't maintain our position there. We need to
ensure we get more first team ladies playing, and hope that we can
come back up again next winter! |
|
Bucks Shield Ladies Vets 2nd team – Roselle Beard
|
|
We had a great winter season winning four of our
seven matches. We got off to a great start with a win against Widmer
End 6-2. However the next match stopped us in our tracks, as we were
decisively beaten by High Wycombe 1-7. This loss was followed by a
real tousle against Gerrards Cross Bull Lane, with Beaconsfield
eventually being able to close out the match with a 5-3 win. This
match deserved a special thanks to Wendy Mason for playing when she
wasn’t feeling very well. The next two matches were both losses - 2-6
against Stoke Poges, and a sound 0-8 thrashing by the Halton 2nd team.
At this point, it was important to get at least one win from the last
two matches to ensure that we weren’t relegated. And the team came up
trumps. We were able to win the last two matches, 5-3 against Halton
3rd team, and 5-3 against Stony Stratford. With such varied results,
coming near the middle of division 4 is probably just about the
perfect. Although we tried to keep regular pairings this wasn’t always
possible due to injury and availability, so thanks to all players -
Sue Ebbutt, Marj Kai, Sheila McKenna, Jackie Martin, Wendy Mason,
Teresa Pender, Heather Thomas, Anna Taylor, and Jill Walters - for
playing during the season. |
|
