It was a great pre-Christmas season for the Thorndon tennis teams. I play on the Premier 2 team, where we surpassed our expectations and made the final. The match reports for those games are below.
The Premier 1 men's team also made their final, where they were narrowly beaten by Wellington in an outstanding final that showcased the best of Auckland's tennis stars! Their achievement was all the more impressive as they had to cope without their captain Nick White and call up one of our Premier 2 players on occasion. Fortunately they proved to have sufficient cover.
Our men's Interclub 1 team stormed through their league to collect their third league win in three campaigns. After starting in Interclub 2 a year ago they will now be playing in the Premier 3 promotion league after Christmas, and are all very excited to be playing at 1pm instead of 8:30am. Congratulations in particular to Chris Schilling, Steve Goodman, Darren Keall and John O'Donnell who've been the regulars in this team's meteoric ascent.
The men's teams in the 4th, 5th and 6th interclub grades all achieved good mid-table finishes. It's terrific that the club can support six teams that are doing so well.
On the women's side, our Premier 1 team finished top of the league but lost a tight semi-final to Khandallah. Hannah Seemann, daughter of Thorndon Premier 1 mainstay Phil Seemann, led Khandallah to victory with a fine win in the top singles against Makere Bradnam.
Our women's Interclub 1 team achieved an excellent third place finish, thanks to some high quality new imports. Sadly they will be losing at least one player back to the UK at Christmas but are already working hard on finding new faces. The women's teams in Interclub 2 and 3 also had good campaigns.
Well done to everyone involved. There has been some great tennis this year and a lot of support shown between the teams. The only thing that could have been better was the weather, so hopefully that'll improve in time for February.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - The Final
As you can see from the posts below, it had been a long road to the final and we really hadn't expected to make it. Whatever happened we had Premier 1 Promotion league tennis to look forward to after Xmas and a princely sum of $125 prize money (between us)!
Unfortunately we'd still be in the red as we needed to order new team shirts, as Richard didn't have one. Controversy reigned as Kris pushed for bright red muscle tops while others favoured a "less aggressive" design. In the end Thump Sports came up with some discount Nike tops for us at short notice, which were white with a black collar. So we all looked smart though a bit on the traditional side for the red muscle top fans.
This time we were indoors on the excellent Rebound Ace courts at the Renouf, with an 8:30am start. Richard kicked off the day in traditional fashion by jogging up to the car 10 mins late swearing he'd received a different email to the rest of us, and we were on our way!
I was a bit concerned that the French guys would be a little better on hard courts in perfect conditions, than astro in the wind and drizzle. This turned out to be the case, with Kris and I playing some decent stuff but failing to win the big points and hold enough of our own service games as we lost 6-4 6-3 to Herve and Julien.
Richard and Chris 'Epic' Patete put in a heroic effort against Patterson and Garnham, taking the first set but eventually going down 4-6 6-4 7-5. So things were starting to look a bit bleak for taking the title.
Matters weren't improved by an unrecognisable tennis player, wearing Julien Bourdry's face, showing up for the top singles. I played a reasonable first set but lost it 6-0. There were lots of good rallies and close games, but on every big point Julien was finding great shots and sneaking forwards to end the point with angled volleys. The match was briefly competitive around the start of the second set but then Julien went up a gear again and won it 6-2. I had no complaints after losing to such an impressive display. Well, my only complaint was that Julien told me he was quitting after our last match!
Herve put in an equally impressive display against Kris. There were lots of great rallies and close games but Kris wasn't in quite the same form as his previous encounter with Wellington and went down 6-0 6-1. He will be back with a vengeance after Xmas!
Richard put in an excellent performance against Patterson, and had him cramping near the end, but was edged out 7-6 6-4. Richard's forehand was dominating proceedings at times but Patterson was as steady as ever.
Brian had another very entertaining game with young Kiranpal Pannu. He looked at his best when storming forwards and bouncing smashes over KP's head. But in the baseline rallies KP just proved too consistent again and came through 6-4 6-3.
So we had to take a whitewash after all our hard work to get there but it was against a quality Wellington side, the top two of whom were both new for this season. Julien would have played Premier 1 if not for all the South Americans drafted into that team! Runner-Up was a great result for us and we are looking forward to what will be some very challenging tennis in the Regional 1 Promotion league.
Well done to everyone involved in this season's effort. We think it's probably the best ever finish for Thorndon's second men's team, which reflects the standard of tennis being played at the club.
Unfortunately we'd still be in the red as we needed to order new team shirts, as Richard didn't have one. Controversy reigned as Kris pushed for bright red muscle tops while others favoured a "less aggressive" design. In the end Thump Sports came up with some discount Nike tops for us at short notice, which were white with a black collar. So we all looked smart though a bit on the traditional side for the red muscle top fans.
This time we were indoors on the excellent Rebound Ace courts at the Renouf, with an 8:30am start. Richard kicked off the day in traditional fashion by jogging up to the car 10 mins late swearing he'd received a different email to the rest of us, and we were on our way!
I was a bit concerned that the French guys would be a little better on hard courts in perfect conditions, than astro in the wind and drizzle. This turned out to be the case, with Kris and I playing some decent stuff but failing to win the big points and hold enough of our own service games as we lost 6-4 6-3 to Herve and Julien.
Richard and Chris 'Epic' Patete put in a heroic effort against Patterson and Garnham, taking the first set but eventually going down 4-6 6-4 7-5. So things were starting to look a bit bleak for taking the title.
Matters weren't improved by an unrecognisable tennis player, wearing Julien Bourdry's face, showing up for the top singles. I played a reasonable first set but lost it 6-0. There were lots of good rallies and close games, but on every big point Julien was finding great shots and sneaking forwards to end the point with angled volleys. The match was briefly competitive around the start of the second set but then Julien went up a gear again and won it 6-2. I had no complaints after losing to such an impressive display. Well, my only complaint was that Julien told me he was quitting after our last match!
Herve put in an equally impressive display against Kris. There were lots of great rallies and close games but Kris wasn't in quite the same form as his previous encounter with Wellington and went down 6-0 6-1. He will be back with a vengeance after Xmas!
Richard put in an excellent performance against Patterson, and had him cramping near the end, but was edged out 7-6 6-4. Richard's forehand was dominating proceedings at times but Patterson was as steady as ever.
Brian had another very entertaining game with young Kiranpal Pannu. He looked at his best when storming forwards and bouncing smashes over KP's head. But in the baseline rallies KP just proved too consistent again and came through 6-4 6-3.
So we had to take a whitewash after all our hard work to get there but it was against a quality Wellington side, the top two of whom were both new for this season. Julien would have played Premier 1 if not for all the South Americans drafted into that team! Runner-Up was a great result for us and we are looking forward to what will be some very challenging tennis in the Regional 1 Promotion league.
Well done to everyone involved in this season's effort. We think it's probably the best ever finish for Thorndon's second men's team, which reflects the standard of tennis being played at the club.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Miramar
Our last game of the season and we needed a win to be sure of our place in the final. The game was rained off on Saturday but we got a sunny, through breezy, day on the Sunday to finish the season. We were just a few yards away from Andy's house and he came down with Alex to offer some welcome support. Our glamorous Interclub 1 women't team also showed up so we had a rare little crowd behind us.
Kris and I got the ball rolling with a 6-4 6-1 win against Olly Sadler and Matt Nichols, meaning we'd gone unbeaten as a pair through the league. Richard and Chris extended our lead with a good 6-3 6-4 win against Cameron Steel and Jonathan Wilson.
I played young Olly Sadler in my singles and, similarly to my game with Mitchell, spent the first half of the match getting a tennis education from someone less than half my age. I was 6-3 5-2 down but put in one last big effort to keep defeat at bay and got back to 5-4. We'd had one particularly long rally where Olly took a tumble at the end, and from that point on he didn't seem quite right. I managed to get the second set 7-5 and then Olly seemed to have very little left to give in the third, going down 6-1. So I'm made it through the league unbeaten in my singles, mostly thanks to my modest gym routine as I struggled to compete shot for shot with some of my younger opponents.
Kris put in another quality performance to take out the improving Cameron Steel 6-2 7-6. Richard took an early lead against Matt Nichols but Matt came back to take it 7-5 6-2. Richard swore that he would be using new balls for all his matches in future, even if he had to supply them himself, as he was fed up with getting sucked into long rallies with old balls! Brian played Jonathan Wilson, who was almost a mirror image of Brian with a big spinny serve and forehand. Brian played some great stuff but got edged out 7-5 6-4.
It's been very noticeable that Premier 2 teams have more depth than Premier 3 and generally field quality players right down the order. Richard, Brian and Chris 'Epic' Patete have faced tough opposition at 3 and 4 throughout the season but scored a lot of crucial points for us.
So we took this match 4-2, which guaranteed us the second spot in the league and a rematch with Wellington in the final.
Kris and I got the ball rolling with a 6-4 6-1 win against Olly Sadler and Matt Nichols, meaning we'd gone unbeaten as a pair through the league. Richard and Chris extended our lead with a good 6-3 6-4 win against Cameron Steel and Jonathan Wilson.
I played young Olly Sadler in my singles and, similarly to my game with Mitchell, spent the first half of the match getting a tennis education from someone less than half my age. I was 6-3 5-2 down but put in one last big effort to keep defeat at bay and got back to 5-4. We'd had one particularly long rally where Olly took a tumble at the end, and from that point on he didn't seem quite right. I managed to get the second set 7-5 and then Olly seemed to have very little left to give in the third, going down 6-1. So I'm made it through the league unbeaten in my singles, mostly thanks to my modest gym routine as I struggled to compete shot for shot with some of my younger opponents.
Kris put in another quality performance to take out the improving Cameron Steel 6-2 7-6. Richard took an early lead against Matt Nichols but Matt came back to take it 7-5 6-2. Richard swore that he would be using new balls for all his matches in future, even if he had to supply them himself, as he was fed up with getting sucked into long rallies with old balls! Brian played Jonathan Wilson, who was almost a mirror image of Brian with a big spinny serve and forehand. Brian played some great stuff but got edged out 7-5 6-4.
It's been very noticeable that Premier 2 teams have more depth than Premier 3 and generally field quality players right down the order. Richard, Brian and Chris 'Epic' Patete have faced tough opposition at 3 and 4 throughout the season but scored a lot of crucial points for us.
So we took this match 4-2, which guaranteed us the second spot in the league and a rematch with Wellington in the final.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Wellington
This was a tough assignment, away at table-topping Wellington on their ultra sandy astro courts. This was a Wellington team with a distinctly French flavour, with a number 1 (Julien Bourdry) who had played some Premier 1 games and had once been a top ranked French junior. He'd even had his own article in the local paper! I drew some encouragement from the fact that if anyone dislikes sandy astro courts more than me, it's the French with their long cultured swings.
Kris and I took on the French connection of Julien and Herve Michaud in the doubles. In case we were still sleepy Herve woke us up by nailing Kris with a smash in the first game, and then tagging me about 3 times over the next half an hour. Julien meanwhile was showing a preference for neat little drop-volleys. But Kris was on fire and we powered to a 6-2 5-2 lead. There was some concern as a couple of poor service games saw us lose our lead and the second set 7-5. But we dug back in and took the final set 6-0 with some very solid play in tough conditions.
Richard and Brian were beaten 6-1 6-2 by the quality pairing of David Patterson and Mike Garnham, so we still had a lot to do in the singles.
I don't know if it was the tough doubles defeat, the sandy astro court, the windy and drizzly day, or a combination of all the above but Julien was not in the mood for our singles. He went for a winner on almost every ball and, while landing some spectacular winners, made too many errors. I got as many balls in as I could and that was enough for a 6-1 6-1 win and some welcome Topdog points against an S3. Julien indicated afterwards he was planning to give up playing matches as he wasn't enjoying them at all, so we finished on a low key note.
Richard had a hard battle with Patterson, who was heard saying "this bloke's better at singles than he looked in the doubles"! But Patterson hit his stride on his home turf and came through 6-4 6-2.
Brian faced top tot Kiranpal Pannu, who is small but steady! Brian went 5-1 down, came back to 5-4, but then Pannu finished the first set 6-4 and got the second 6-3. Brian had the greater weight of shot but couldn't consistently hit through his talented young opponent.
Match of the day was Kris vs Herve. Kris lost the first 6-3, won the second 6-2, then the third stayed on serve through to a tie-break. There had been some great shots and pulsating rallies in deteriorating conditions. Kris played well to get to 5-4 up in the TB, but Herve landed a couple of mighty blows to win it 7-5. Overall though Kris had a superb day, dominating the doubles and pushing a good S4 opponent to the edge.
So we took our first defeat, 4-2, but still had a useful couple of points in our bid to make the final.
Kris and I took on the French connection of Julien and Herve Michaud in the doubles. In case we were still sleepy Herve woke us up by nailing Kris with a smash in the first game, and then tagging me about 3 times over the next half an hour. Julien meanwhile was showing a preference for neat little drop-volleys. But Kris was on fire and we powered to a 6-2 5-2 lead. There was some concern as a couple of poor service games saw us lose our lead and the second set 7-5. But we dug back in and took the final set 6-0 with some very solid play in tough conditions.
Richard and Brian were beaten 6-1 6-2 by the quality pairing of David Patterson and Mike Garnham, so we still had a lot to do in the singles.
I don't know if it was the tough doubles defeat, the sandy astro court, the windy and drizzly day, or a combination of all the above but Julien was not in the mood for our singles. He went for a winner on almost every ball and, while landing some spectacular winners, made too many errors. I got as many balls in as I could and that was enough for a 6-1 6-1 win and some welcome Topdog points against an S3. Julien indicated afterwards he was planning to give up playing matches as he wasn't enjoying them at all, so we finished on a low key note.
Richard had a hard battle with Patterson, who was heard saying "this bloke's better at singles than he looked in the doubles"! But Patterson hit his stride on his home turf and came through 6-4 6-2.
Brian faced top tot Kiranpal Pannu, who is small but steady! Brian went 5-1 down, came back to 5-4, but then Pannu finished the first set 6-4 and got the second 6-3. Brian had the greater weight of shot but couldn't consistently hit through his talented young opponent.
Match of the day was Kris vs Herve. Kris lost the first 6-3, won the second 6-2, then the third stayed on serve through to a tie-break. There had been some great shots and pulsating rallies in deteriorating conditions. Kris played well to get to 5-4 up in the TB, but Herve landed a couple of mighty blows to win it 7-5. Overall though Kris had a superb day, dominating the doubles and pushing a good S4 opponent to the edge.
So we took our first defeat, 4-2, but still had a useful couple of points in our bid to make the final.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Khandallah
This was the first of our matches against our old friends from last season's Premier 2 Promotion league. If you're going to play a club on the top of a hill in Wellington then make sure you choose a particularly windy day. We made our way up the long and winding road in Brian's roaring team HQ and, after a quick browse round the cool Thump Sports shop, were ready to play.
Kris and I had a good 6-2 6-2 doubles win against the young and big-hitting pair of McDonald/Johnson. Khandallah fielded an absurdly good second pair of Callender/Liddell. Richard and Chris gave it a good effort but lost 6-2 6-2, so all square going into the singles.
I got beaten up on pretty badly for the first set and a half by young Mitchell McDonald. He was hitting very well in high winds and I was soon 6-2 and a break down in the second. But I started to get a foothold in the match, got the break back, and forced the second into a TB. The atmosphere was getting a bit tetchy by now. Mitchell and his dad complained that I wasn't allowed to talk to Brian at the change of ends, which turned out to be incorrect. I went 4-2 down in the TB but managed to scrape it and force a third set. Mitchell seemed to be suffering some cramps now and I got to 5-1 up and eventually took it 6-3. We finished up on good terms, though Brian still marched over to Mitchell at the end to wave the rule book in his face and prove he could talk to me all he wanted to!
Kris faced off against Guy Callender, who beat me last season. Similarly to my match with Callender, Kris got off to a good start but then Callender came back to take it 6-4 6-1.
Brian wrapped up an excellent 6-2 6-4 win against Suri Bartlett. Like a true Wellingtonian Brian was not remotely troubled by the wind and was seen repeatedly bouncing smashes over the back fence.
We needed a win from Richard to see us home and he delivered for us with a 4-6 6-2 6-3 win against Thomas Johnson. Richard enjoyed the wind about as much as me but found a way to cope and battled back from a set down against an opponent with a very good forehand.
I treated myself to a new backpack from the shop and we made our way to the Shepherd's Arms to recover from all our exertions in the wind. That's Kris, Chris, Richard, Brian (nice smile) and me from left to right in the photo.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Upper Hutt
Double trouble for us today as Kris Funston played up for the Premier One team and Chris 'Epic' Patete was away. We faced Upper Hutt feeling seriously depleted, but fortunately with our ace coach Andy Wheeler stepping into the gap once again.
I picked up my old partnership with Andy and we carried on right where we left off, playing some good stuff to win 7-6 6-4 against the very decent pairing of Boyles/Hinton. Richard and Brian produced a fine comeback against Osborne/Quinn, winning 2-6 6-1 6-4.
My singles against Denzil Boyles was very tough. I don't remember when I last saw so many clean winners go past me. I lost the first set on a TB. The second set went to a TB and I was 4-2 down in it before clawing my way back in and nicking it. Denzil and I exchanged a couple of breaks in the third but I got to 5-3 up and managed to serve it out for 6-4. He was not happy, and I wasn't quite sure how I'd won it either. The sage counsel of acting captain Brian at change of ends was a big help.
Andy and Richard both managed to play their singles on the next court before I finished mine! Andy won 6-1 6-3 against Osborne before I'd finished my first set. Richard was similarly authoratitive, winning 6-1 6-4 against Hinton. Last match on was Brian, who won an entertaining game 7-6 7-6 against Quinn.
So another good win for us while giving up a key player to the firsts. Kris did himself proud in Premier 1, with a three set win over Jacob Emery and a first team shirt to keep (unlike me!).
I picked up my old partnership with Andy and we carried on right where we left off, playing some good stuff to win 7-6 6-4 against the very decent pairing of Boyles/Hinton. Richard and Brian produced a fine comeback against Osborne/Quinn, winning 2-6 6-1 6-4.
My singles against Denzil Boyles was very tough. I don't remember when I last saw so many clean winners go past me. I lost the first set on a TB. The second set went to a TB and I was 4-2 down in it before clawing my way back in and nicking it. Denzil and I exchanged a couple of breaks in the third but I got to 5-3 up and managed to serve it out for 6-4. He was not happy, and I wasn't quite sure how I'd won it either. The sage counsel of acting captain Brian at change of ends was a big help.
Andy and Richard both managed to play their singles on the next court before I finished mine! Andy won 6-1 6-3 against Osborne before I'd finished my first set. Richard was similarly authoratitive, winning 6-1 6-4 against Hinton. Last match on was Brian, who won an entertaining game 7-6 7-6 against Quinn.
So another good win for us while giving up a key player to the firsts. Kris did himself proud in Premier 1, with a three set win over Jacob Emery and a first team shirt to keep (unlike me!).
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Wainuiomata
I didn't know how to spell it or where it was, but our next match was against Wainuiomata (or just Wainui). They turned out to be over the hill and far away around the harbour. Quite a nice club but with some seriously sandy astro courts, which are not our favourite.
Kris and I had a serious wobble towards the end of our first set but steadied the ship to win our doubles 7-6 6-1 against Keall/Dowman. Richard and Chris 'Epic' Patete lost 7-6 1-6 7-5 to McIntrye/Samuels.
I had the first of what would prove to be a series of three set singles matches. My topspin game was seriously off kilter on the sandy astro and I lost the first set 6-4 against Lance Keall. I started to play a lot more slice and took the second set by the same score. Lance seemed to tired in the third set, with his patience fraying in the face of all this slice, and I got it 6-0.
Richard bounced back from his doubles with a dominant 6-4 6-0 win against Earl Dowman. Brian had a hard time against Richard Samuels, who was smashing his forehands, and went down 6-2 6-3.
The last match on court by some distance was Kris against Alister McIntyre. Kris got the first set 6-3 but lost the second by the same margin. There were some huge rallies in the third set with both guys playing very steady games. Every time Kris surged forward he seemed to get lobbed, but then would run them down and the rally would start again. Alister was clearly cramping toward the end but continued to play well and forced a final set TB. Alister then played an excellent TB to take the match and end Kris' fine run of 13 consecutive singles wins.
It made sense that if anyone beat Kris it would be 7-6 in the third. Kris wasn't quite at his best and we knew he'd bounce back, more determined than ever. Fortunately the set he picked up meant we won the match overall on sets countback, so his efforts certainly weren't in vain.
A third win for us, and we were playing all the teams from last year's Premier 1 Promotion league first. We were starting to talk cautiously about trying to make the final.
Kris and I had a serious wobble towards the end of our first set but steadied the ship to win our doubles 7-6 6-1 against Keall/Dowman. Richard and Chris 'Epic' Patete lost 7-6 1-6 7-5 to McIntrye/Samuels.
I had the first of what would prove to be a series of three set singles matches. My topspin game was seriously off kilter on the sandy astro and I lost the first set 6-4 against Lance Keall. I started to play a lot more slice and took the second set by the same score. Lance seemed to tired in the third set, with his patience fraying in the face of all this slice, and I got it 6-0.
Richard bounced back from his doubles with a dominant 6-4 6-0 win against Earl Dowman. Brian had a hard time against Richard Samuels, who was smashing his forehands, and went down 6-2 6-3.
The last match on court by some distance was Kris against Alister McIntyre. Kris got the first set 6-3 but lost the second by the same margin. There were some huge rallies in the third set with both guys playing very steady games. Every time Kris surged forward he seemed to get lobbed, but then would run them down and the rally would start again. Alister was clearly cramping toward the end but continued to play well and forced a final set TB. Alister then played an excellent TB to take the match and end Kris' fine run of 13 consecutive singles wins.
It made sense that if anyone beat Kris it would be 7-6 in the third. Kris wasn't quite at his best and we knew he'd bounce back, more determined than ever. Fortunately the set he picked up meant we won the match overall on sets countback, so his efforts certainly weren't in vain.
A third win for us, and we were playing all the teams from last year's Premier 1 Promotion league first. We were starting to talk cautiously about trying to make the final.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Tawa-Lyndhurst
The drama before this one was that our all-star first team, due to Nick White suffering a serious ankle injury, were asking us for a player. I agree to step up, which meant the rest of the team shuffling up the order to play Tawa. Fortunately our coach Andy Wheeler was available to step into the gap, despite an ongoing battle with a shoulder injury.
The match was split over two days due to rain. Kris and Chris Patete picked up their old partnership but lost a tight doubles 7-6 6-3 to Shane and Marcel Glover. Richard and Andy kept us in contention with a crushing 6-0 6-0 win at second pair.
Kris scored an excellent three set win over Shane Glover, with Shane saying he hadn't been so outclassed in a first set since he played Finn Tearney. Richard kicked off his singles campain for us with a 6-3 6-2 win against Marcel Glover. Andy shows a bit of rustiness on the singles court as he lost to Bruce Hollebone. Chris 'Epic' Patete came through 5-7 6-3 6-2 against Karl Romjin.
4-2 to Thorndon, and a good win without me! I had mixed feelings to find this fine bunch of players didn't need me anymore.
In the first team I enjoyed a doubles with Phil 'Crusher' Seemann - he was unstoppable and we had a comfortable win against Ngatitoa's second pair. I beat Steve Billing 6-0 6-1 in my singles. I really enjoyed the experience of feeling like one of the big guns for a day, but it wouldn't have been the same if my regular team had gone down.
The match was split over two days due to rain. Kris and Chris Patete picked up their old partnership but lost a tight doubles 7-6 6-3 to Shane and Marcel Glover. Richard and Andy kept us in contention with a crushing 6-0 6-0 win at second pair.
Kris scored an excellent three set win over Shane Glover, with Shane saying he hadn't been so outclassed in a first set since he played Finn Tearney. Richard kicked off his singles campain for us with a 6-3 6-2 win against Marcel Glover. Andy shows a bit of rustiness on the singles court as he lost to Bruce Hollebone. Chris 'Epic' Patete came through 5-7 6-3 6-2 against Karl Romjin.
4-2 to Thorndon, and a good win without me! I had mixed feelings to find this fine bunch of players didn't need me anymore.
In the first team I enjoyed a doubles with Phil 'Crusher' Seemann - he was unstoppable and we had a comfortable win against Ngatitoa's second pair. I beat Steve Billing 6-0 6-1 in my singles. I really enjoyed the experience of feeling like one of the big guns for a day, but it wouldn't have been the same if my regular team had gone down.
Thorndon Men's Premier 2 season review - Titahi Bay
Nobody could remember whether Thorndon's second team had ever made it into Premier 2, so it was a big campaign for us. We were bolstered in pre-season by the arrival of Richard Wallace, who had been touting his services around the Premier 2 teams but took a liking to the scrappers at Thorndon and signed up.
In true Wellington fashion our first match of the season, at home to Titahi Bay, was rained off. TB were keen to play despite the courts being underwater, which led to Brian being forced into a futile attempt at clearing 3 inches of surface water from the astro courts. Eventually he explained to TB that we had British players on the team (myself and Richard) who just couldn't be persuaded to play in a swamp. Then the rain started again and everyone was finally able to agree it wasn't going to happen.
The rematch happened on a perfect Friday night, still at Thorndon. Kris and I were paired together for the first time and had a solid 6-2 6-2 doubles win against Pierre/Molnar. It gradually became clear that TB's fourth player wasn't going to show up so we got the second doubles by walkover.
I had a tough singles against big-hitting Jason Pierre, who also turned out to have a tricky moonball sliced backhand game to fall back on, but got through it 6-3 7-5. Kris had a hard fought 7-6 7-5 win against Molnar to keep his long unbeaten streak going. And Chris 'Epic' Patete came through 6-4 4-6 7-5 against Dale Keith.
Poor Richard, on his debut for us, didn't get a game as his opposite number hadn't shown up. But he showed great team spirit by hanging around to support us in the dark and cold, instead of racing away for drinks in town.
So we kicked off with a 6-0 win, which was a big confidence booster for the season to come. Our target was to finish top four (out of eight) and make it to the Premier One promotion league after Xmas.
In true Wellington fashion our first match of the season, at home to Titahi Bay, was rained off. TB were keen to play despite the courts being underwater, which led to Brian being forced into a futile attempt at clearing 3 inches of surface water from the astro courts. Eventually he explained to TB that we had British players on the team (myself and Richard) who just couldn't be persuaded to play in a swamp. Then the rain started again and everyone was finally able to agree it wasn't going to happen.
The rematch happened on a perfect Friday night, still at Thorndon. Kris and I were paired together for the first time and had a solid 6-2 6-2 doubles win against Pierre/Molnar. It gradually became clear that TB's fourth player wasn't going to show up so we got the second doubles by walkover.
I had a tough singles against big-hitting Jason Pierre, who also turned out to have a tricky moonball sliced backhand game to fall back on, but got through it 6-3 7-5. Kris had a hard fought 7-6 7-5 win against Molnar to keep his long unbeaten streak going. And Chris 'Epic' Patete came through 6-4 4-6 7-5 against Dale Keith.
Poor Richard, on his debut for us, didn't get a game as his opposite number hadn't shown up. But he showed great team spirit by hanging around to support us in the dark and cold, instead of racing away for drinks in town.
So we kicked off with a 6-0 win, which was a big confidence booster for the season to come. Our target was to finish top four (out of eight) and make it to the Premier One promotion league after Xmas.
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