Daventry let us know in advance that they were unable to field a full team so we started one game up.

Ian Shirley went on first at number 4 with Anthony Nesbitt. Ian took the first game but as Anthony got used to the speed of the court, youth and enthusiasm eventually prevailed and he took the next 3 sets.

There was then a pause while the remainder of the Daventry team diligently drove around Market Harborough in search of the club.

Next up was Nick Crossley at number 1 who took the first game but Keith Morgan's superior accuracy and fitness showed to take the next 3 sets.

Tim Arthur and Ben Smallwood then went on at number 3 to show how fast and accurately these two youngsters can play the game. There was some superb length shots and retrieving and although Tim took appropriate advantage as Ben had new shoe problems in the first game and then Tim also narrowly won the second, Ben came back to take the third. Ben led by a point in the fourth almost all they way through the game as the hand constantly changed, but a couple of poor shots left him trailing by a point and Tim took the game to win 3-1. Had it not been for American scoring I suspected we would have been there all night.

So after thoughts of an early finish had been completely banished, Peter Rhodes went on court at number 2 with John Maynard (…..yes the same John Maynard who also plays for Daventry!). Pete swept through to win the first two games easily, but then lost the third when he decided that the tin was the most appropriate place for a sequence of shots. To the entertainment of the crowd, the fourth game was neck and neck to 16-16 then in response to a very tight backhand length from John, Pete managed to find a superbly mistimed shot off the wood to drop the ball just above the tin to win 3-1.

Eventually, another superb victory for the 2^nd team - intermingled with periods of elation and cold sweat!