Wrest Park beat Newport 4-3
[<<] [>>] by Richard Keighley
at Wrest Park
19th June 2023
(GC - Murphy Shield)
Evidence of recent heavy rain was apparent on the lawns but bright sunshine and a warm breeze combined to provide excellent playing conditions for this closely contested match.
The morning session left Newport in a handy 2-1 lead. Their doubles pairing of Alex Lake and Fran Lambert were taken to 3 games by George Collin and Marilyn Robinson but ultimately prevailed.
Michael Tideswell defeated Rod George in 3 games to score a point for Wrest Park but Richard Keighley was unable to emulate him and lost the deciding Singles game to John Glyn-Davis.
Wrest Park needed to win 3 of the 4 Singles in the afternoon to proceed to the Quarter-Finals of the competition. This seemed unlikely when an on-form Fran Lambert beat Marilyn Robinson in two straight games. However, hopes were raised when George Collin beat Alex Lake in two games and Michael Tideswell prevailed over a tiring John Glyn-Davis in 3 games.
The outcome of the match depended on the result of the clash between Richard Keighley and Rod George. Rod took the first game (7-5)but Richard rallied to win the second game comfortably
(7-2).In the deciding game,Richard built up a lead (6-3) but Rod pegged him back to 6 all and the golden hoop became pivotal. Richard put his ball in the jaws and prevented Rod from dislodging him with a timely snuggle.
A lively tea party followed what had been a very enjoyable match.
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