Colebridge Chiefs 7 Smithereens B 3 (Tuesday 9th October)
Chiefs gained their second win in another hard fought home match. Sam Henderson opened with a splendid 11-2 game against Kevin Flavell, but soon learned that, at this level, your opponent is likely to start varying his game in an unfamiliar way, to which you must adapt. Sam was unable to do that consistently, and lost in 5.
The next two matches proved decisive. Steve Smith is a wily opponent and Mike Credland needed considerable patience over 5 games to beat him. Neil Wheatley then had a similar battle against penholder Dave Whittingslow, recovering from a 0-2 start, with two 12-10 games, and scraping home 11-9 in the fifth.
With their noses in front, Chiefs never looked back. Mike polished of Flavell and then partnered Sam to a straight game doubles win, the 12-10, 11-9, 12-10 score rather flattering the visitors. Sam then overcame Whittingslow, and Neil, Smith, both in four.
Smithereens put themselves on track for a point when Whittingslow’s variety of shots proved a little too much for Mike and, after Neil’s steady defence totally baffled Flavell, they secured it with a final match 3-1 victory by Smith over Sam, noteworthy for a season’s worth of nets and edges in Smith’s favour.