Mary Rose (26/9/06) – Colchester beat Pendle 5-2 by Jonathan Hills

Jonathan Hills (1) & Steve Woolnough (1) beat Roger Scofield (2.5) & Norman Hicks (3) +7;
Colin Hemming (3½) beat Peter Wilson (3) +6;
George Woolhouse (3½) lost to Liz Wilson (4) -9;
Steve Woolnough (1) beat Roger Scofield (2.5) +18;
Jonathan Hills (1) beat Norman Hicks (3) +4;
Colin Hemming (3½) lost to Liz Wilson (4) -13;
George Woolhouse (3½) beat Peter Wilson (4) +7.

A neutral venue was preferred due to the distances required to travel. Nottingham helpfully provided personnel to open up. Play commenced on lawns 2 and 3 but had to be delayed when it was noticed that William Gee was playing on lawn 1. Under the revised Nottingham protocol, a risk assessment was undertaken and play was transferred to lawns 4 and 5 to avoid injury.

The only other notable event in the morning’s play was that the doubles finished before the singles. The afternoon was a tense affair with only Woolnough showing some solid play to leave Colchester 3-1 up. However, the other 3 matches could have gone either way and it was with some relief that Woolhouse held his nerve to seal the match.

Liz Wilson was pleased to achieve her lowest handicap yet, being reduced from 4 to 3½, although she seemed uncertain on whether she could reduce it further and anyway, “B level is the far most interesting form of the game as you get more chances.”

Thanks again to the Nottingham contingent for hosting us.