Phyllis Court 2 beat Cheltenham 5-1

[<<] [>>] by James Death at Phyllis Court
28th April (GC - Federations Shield)

Phyllis Court welcomed Cheltenham to a sunny day by the river to play their quarter final of the Federations Shield under Advantage GC rules.

Cheltenham brought an inexperienced team, 2 of the players had yet to play a match or tournament away from home. They also brought the hard hitting James Death along to lead the team. Phyllis Court having been warned who was coming had the nets up ready. On paper the experienced Phyllis Court team had the edge by handicap in general so the starting scores were generally close.

In the doubles, Helen Essa and Rob Eagle had a 2-0 lead on starting scores over James and Baz Cuthbert. In the first game James quickly wiped out the headstart and the game went to the final hoop, eventually winning 7-6. The second had a reversal of fortune, 2-0 quickly became 4-0 and Helen and Rob never looked back winning comfortably. The third started like the first game but Helen pulled out a number of key shots and Phyllis Court prevailed 7-5 in the third.

On the other lawn Raghu Iyer beat Iris Brooksbank 2-0, both games being very close and competitive while Jeff Smith came back from game down against Graham Brooksbank to equalise in a long 2 games to put Phyllis Court 2-0 up at lunch

Lunch was enjoyed on the terrace before battle resumed with the afternoon singles. All matches again were close but Phyllis Court prevailed in 3 of the 4 afternoon singles to close out the match 5-1. Everyone enjoyed the day and I'm sure all players are looking forward to the next chance to represent their clubs.

A big thank you to Phyllis Court for hosting and making the visitors feel welcome. Also to Ruth Raunkiaer giving up her day to referee for the duration. Good luck to Phyllis Court 2 in the next round.

Results are on Croquetscores.