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Tuesday August 26th v SELBY Away
Once again we sallied forth. Except it was third time, unlike 2x v Tollerton. Selby here we come, down the A19 in the gloom. Grey skies, but forecast determinedly dry. Tremendous efforts to meet the 6pm start, all rushing from work, getting babysitters in.
Jane & James at no. 1, shaky start, 3-1 down, pulled themselves together and came through 8-4. From strength to strength, only lost 3 more games that evening.
Greg and Helen W combined well on the middle court, Mr Preston dominating the net and Helen showing off her beautiful ground strokes from the back court.
Richard and Georgina, playing with a vengence, literally. Playing together for the first time in 4 years, erased a memory of being beaten 12-0 (at Selby!) that must have rankled all that time.
With the light fading after 2 rubbers, we played "Sudden death" deuce in the 3rd, (or we did when we remembered) and succeeding in finishing before night (and the unforecast rain) descended.
Sweet revenge indeed, we beat them 63-45.
Selby, like us, put on a lovely spread in their own pavilion. Except, unlike us, they have willing volunteers not only to serve the tea, butter the bread, create the sarnies, put the cream on the scones ...
Where are we going wrong? Answers on a postcard please.
Last match coming up on Thursday, we are 2nd, Rufforth are 3rd. If we win or draw, Bish get promotion. If we lose, Rufforth do. All to play for!
Fingers crossed.
Friday August 15th v SUTTON-on-DERWENT Away
X1 + X3 = A Recipe For Success?
What's a Captain chasing promotion to do when some of the stalwarts of her team are not available for a game against one of their nearest rivals on a surface where they rarely lose? After all a tennis team is like a good cake; multi-layered with carefully chosen ingredients, icing and a cherry on the top. This was the scenario facing Bish X1 master chef Jane "Delia Smith" Parkin as she faced the task of assembling a team to go up against the might of Sutton-on-Derwent on the two grass courts + one artificial grass court of their place. A stronghold many go to, but most leave empty handed. Some would pale faced with those odds! But not "Delia" Parkin! Undaunted by the task facing her, she went to the cupboard & like Old Mother Hubbard, found it be bare. Well, almost. Tucked away in the corner, with the Vesta curries and tins of Fray Bentos Steak & Kidney puddings where three unused ingredients from Bish's X3 team: the power packed goodness that is Millie "Protein Packed" Pratt, the rubbery & tough as old boots, Jase "Le'me-on Grass" Levesley & the most potent member of the X3 team, the fiery heat that is Helen "Better than Branston" Pickles! A choice trio to be sure with the added spice that S-o-D's 4th team were the team at the top of their own Division & the X3 trio fancied a crack at their higher placed counterparts having missed out against them in Div 11. Now, to throw these untried ingredients into the mixing ball with some of the X1 finest; the master chef herself! The basis of all food, the ingredient that binds it together Sam "Watery" Watson (he flows this way and that - give him in a chance & he gets in a crack) & to add some salty overtones to the potent pud Richardo Crabtree. The result? A veritable smorgasbord of tennis tastes:
Jane & Jase (on grass)
Helen & Richardo (on grass)
Millie & Sam
Now the cake's ingredients were almost complete. Could we add the icing and who would be the cherry?
Layer #1:
Time to lay the foundation of the cake. All good bakers know that a good cake needs a good bottom layer. On the grass courts, both very spongy due to heavy rain all week which made the bounce a bit of lottery at times, the foundations would be solidly laid as J&J battled out a 6-6 draw with the big hitting S-o-D #1 pair. Both S-o-D players kept hitting massive serves and big forehands & it was a pretty fast and furious match as both teams tried to stop the ball bouncing by volleying whenever possible. Its a good thing then that both Jane & Jase love net play & a draw was certainly a fair result as no pair ever got more than 1 game ahead of the other. The 6-6 draw was matched on the other grass court by Helen & Richardo (still laughing from seeing some of his shots shoot along the ground in the warm up). 12-12 from 2 of the 3 rubbers, but the news wasn't so good from the artificial turf as Millie&Sam lost 3-9 to put us 6 behind after the first rubber. Not bad, but we had work to do if we wanted to come of this match with something to show for it.
Layer #2:
The filling! With the base formed (just), it was time to make the filling. This would prove to be a tough round for Bish as Helen & Richardo would be edged out by the tightest of margins (5-7) against the big hitting S-o-D #1 pair. Bout worse was to come for Jane & Jase, as the wily talents of the S-o-D pair who had already beaten Millie & Sam on the artificial grass would prove even more hard to handle on the real thing. Using a variety of slices, power and some excellent lobs (one game contained two superb lobs at break point for us that took the game away from us) they ran away with the rubber 2-10. However not all would be lost as Millie & Sam started to hit their straps and overcame the disappointment of their first rubber defeat to sneak a 7-5 victory to at least keep us the hunt. The hunt if you can call 29/43 down after the second round the hunt! We'd need to win ALL but 10 (TEN) games of the last round to secure a victory! But you never know! We were down but we weren't out!
Layer #3:
On the grass the last of their three rubbers started in a similar manner to the previous one for the two J's as they found themselves falling behind 2-5 to S-o-D's father & daughter #3 pair. Some big serving and very canny net play was taking the game quickly away for us. Not looking good. But at 2-5 after a chat about tactics we started a comeback. Deciding to attack the net at every opportunity & avoid at all costs the excellent net work of S-o-D's Captain we went about winning all the remaining games, including a crucial break at 4-5 against the hitherto thunderbolt serve of the S-o-D's Captain, to pull a 7-5 victory out of the bag. Would those 5 games on the trot prove to be crucial? Out on the satellite court, Sam & Millie had by now formed a perfect partnership. As everybody knows Protein & Water are essential ingredients for any balanced diet and Millie "Protein Packed" & Watery Watson were now unstoppable. Beating the until then unbeaten S-o-D #1 pair 9-3. So 16 of the 26 games required where in the bag, but this left us needing a mere 10-2 score line in the remaining game to pull off a comeback not seen since Lazarus! Surely even the combined talents of one of the Men's 1st finest, Richardo & the pride of the X3, Helen could not manage a 10-2 victory over the S-o-D #2 pair who until then had lost only 5 games combined? Forget it, the cake was on the point collapse. No icing. No cherry. As the other two games finished, the other players got together to watch the final rites of the match. M&S were the first to finish, followed by J&J. We joined them at the side lines, added up our scores and after much ado figured out we'd need 10 for the win & 9 to draw. At this point we sneaked a quick update from H as she walked by to change ends: "7-2 to us!". 7-2! No one told them that to win the match they had to remain the remaining 3 games & we watched. Nails were bit, as the other 4 members of the Bish team played every shot for our dynamic duo. Then almost 20 minutes after the other games had finished Helen & Richardo walked off...10-2 victors! Not only had they produced the icing & the cheery. They frosted the cake, put candles on it and added a dash of double cream to the mix! What a result. Made even more remarkable by the fact that Richardo was still suffering from the allergy that had forced him to pull out of the previous Men's 1st game on Sunday. You know Richardo isn't well when he turns down the chance for a swift pint down the pub afterwards! What a trooper! What a partnership! Surely a partnership that will win many more games for the X1 over the years. Bittersweet for the X3 contingent though as we wonder if we will ever see "Better than Branston" in the X3 again. Probably not. But we can rest easy knowing that the X3 have introduced a new phrase into the Bish vernacular "You have been Pickled!".
Done. Out of the most separate of ingredients did Jane conjure up a winning formula that would make even Mr Kipling think again about exceedingly good cakes! Afterwards, minus Richardo, we retired to the nearby tavern to toast our victory with a few ales, chips & sandwiches & as you know followers of Bish tennis, victory, like a cake is always best served sweet with a cherry on top!
Keep it Bish!
Tuesday August 5th v STILLINGTON II Away
Typical august weather - drizzle and cloud. Typical york traffic - nose to tail along the northern ring road. Not an auspicious start to the last (scheduled) match of the season. Still three to play, though, due to rain in May (Selby), June (Sutton on Derwent) and July (Rufforth).
Our team gamely turned out equipped with wellies and waterproofs, headtorches and umbrellas. The drizzle dried up as the first rubber progressed, and spirits lifted, only to sink again as real rain began as it was getting dark, half way through the final rubber.
The last six games were played in gathering gloom and steady rain. Oh joy. Most of us had a change of clothes with us, so were able to enjoy the satisfying glow of Stillington's comfortable bar, so Jane could have a drink, luckily Helen was driving this week.
Stillington fed us very well, they get their sandwiches from a nice shop in Easingwold. Excellent quality and variety, nice tender beef, and tasty tuna.
Oh yes, the result. Well we won. Sam and Fran got 25, Jane and James 24, Greg and Helen 18. Well done everyone.
Wednesday 30th July v CAWOOD Home
Revenge is sweet, they say, but not as sweet as the fresh cream chocolate eclairs.
On a hot and sultry evening, Bish turned out to greet a Cawood team without some of their regular players. We started strongly, and were up by 7 games after the first rubber, slipped a little in the second, but regained our momentum in the last to win comfortably by 63-45.
Fran and Simon were rightly in pole position this week, with 25 games, James and Jane provided strong support in second with 23, while Helen W. and Alistair provided an excellent 15 games, making all the difference.
Richard was working away somewhere, so I have less opportunity to insult him this week, suffice to say he didn't return my message enquiring about availability for a re-arranged fixture. Has he got his email up and runing yet, does anybody know? Incommunicado Crabtree is his new nickname.
Sandwiches were various and excellently fresh and tasty, thanks to Fran and Helen, but the nibbles contribution was a little lacking in imagination. Jane admitted to bringing some pringles left over from saturday. This is very sad as it was our last home match of the season, and a bit more effort could have been made.
However, the chocolate eclairs and cakes made up for it - mmmm, fresh cream and chocolate, definitely the way to a girl's heart. We couldn't work out who to credit for the eclairs as James, Sam and Alistair all claimed to have brought them. It's nice to know they're all keen to be picked again next time.
Tuesday 22 July v CASTLEGARTH Away
We hardly recognised the team that had come to Bishopthorpe back in early June, and I believe only one of the six was the same.
However, Castlegarth found some very able substitutes, and came through a tight match to beat us 58/50. Fran and Simon, re-united once again, were top scorers with 24, comfortably winning all three rubbers. Sadly, our other two couples only managed 26 between them.
Jane and James struggled valiantly through the first two rubbers, only achieving 5 games in all, but at last got into their stride in the final one, but by this time they needed 12 not 7 to win the match.
Richard and Helen W. combined really well, their first time on court together, to share two rubbers 6-all, but in the final rubber found the extreme spin of the Castlegarth no. 2's difficult to handle.
So, the match was close until the final stages - Bish were only 2 games down after the first and second rubbers, but Castlegarth edged the final rubber quite confortably in the end.
And so to the main event ... supper in their upstairs room, with a panoramic view of a gorgeous sunset. Well earned sandwiches and cakes, and a very welcome cup of tea.
Richard whinged quietly in the back of Jane's car all the way home, counting the pubs we were passing en route back to Bish, wanting to sample each and every one. But we could not stop - Sam had to be home in good time as he was getting up at 5 this morning to go on the 6.30 am train to Scotland for his cycling holiday. In the end we had to drop Richard off at Tesco so he could go and buy himself a beer to take home.
We were a little subdued on the journey home, but will bounce back in time for Fran and Helen to make some gorgeous sandwiches for the home match against Cawood next week.
Richard will be dropped due to his lack of Victoria sponge last time round. (Well, he says he's not available, but we're not arguing).
Wednesday 16 July Carrot cake v SELBY Home
Finally a dry evening, thanks to the rain gods for holding back. Of course we're never satisfied, and that blustery wind did make for some interesting shots.
Gusts of wind, flukey spins and endless net cords made knocking up a real trial, but at least we were there playing. Selby turned out a strong team, but Jane and James were unbeaten, scoring 25 games, aiming to oust Richard and Fran from their first couple position. Bish were 3 down after the first rubber, but fought back to level pegging after 72 games. Finally another 36 games were shared equally, and, with a large sigh of exhaustion, a 54 all draw was agreed.
Some great tennis, good rallies and no-one got wet, or locked in the loo.
Jane and Helen brought crudites, crisps and dips to start us off, Alistair and James fed us well on their cheese & pickle and tuna sandwiches.
On to the main event .. Richard and Fran were going to bring cakes, Richard declared for a victoria sponge, so Fran opted for a carrot cake.
Then Richard pulled a fast one by bringing carrot cake too.
The quality of the tea in the pot was praised by Jane, who was just a little surprised to find it was Richard responsible for the brew.
Perhaps the Crabtree has hidden domestic qualities after all!
Wednesday July 2nd vs APPLETON ROEBUCK Home
Last Friday we were rained off at Sutton on Derwent, just because the grass was unplayable. It was a shame, as if we'd been at home we could have played, it turned into a nice evening, but the all day rain obviously wrecked chances of playing on the grass.
Last night we took on Appleton Roebuck, looking for revenge after our first loss of the season back in May.
The evening started with drizzle, which luckily gave time for James to arrive a few minutes late, having had to go back home to rescue his other half who had locked herself out.
Later on we suffered a further minor panic when Helen W locked herself in the loo. "Don't worry Helen..... W, it's only a game" Sam tried to comfort her through the locked door, while the claustrophobic Fran decided she would never lock that toilet door again. Jane, efficient as ever, found the screwdriver in the cutlery drawer, and the WD40 next to the biscuit tin, and the crisis was over in a flash.
Our match was played out at the same time as Rafa was showing what it takes to get to a Wimbledon semi-final. Roebuck showed us what it takes to get up to Division 3.
Currently no. 1 in Div. 4, Appleton had strength in depth, their no. 1 couple, Adrian and Judy, in top form, and beat us 67-41. They even got 1 game more than last time.
Bishopthorpe battled on bravely, Fran & Richard getting 20 games, but no-one could get the better of Roebuck's first pair. Jane and James, competitive as always, fought through 1,397 deuces, but mostly came out the wrong end. Great rallies, good sport.
Food, as always, dominated the thoughts during the last rubber. Sadly Jane's text message to Richard saying "pls. bring scrumptious sandwiches" never arrived, so perhaps we were a little light on savouries. But Richard had generously brought quiche anyway (we did wonder if it was the same quiche as he brought on 18th June against Stillington, but surely not!). Sam's out of date chocolate crispies were the subject of much debate, but his cream cake was definitely fresh. A lot fresher than Murray's legs anyway.
Wednesday June 18th vs STILLINGTON II Home
'Promotion-chasing' Stillington are... I was told.
Just a minute, my lad... (what do you mean, 'Miss'?)
From 10th June's Press: 'Cawood halted Stillington's division four promotion push with a last-gasp win...', clearly implying that Stillington are promotion-chasers no more.
Beautiful teas they do, though.
LOOK - the teas don't enter into it!
They've run down the Division and joined the teams invisibule. If they hadn't been nailed to fourth place, they'd be pushing for relegation !! They are EX-promotion-chasers...
Right. I'd better change that bit, then...
*TSK* If you want a Match Report in this Club, you 'ave to research 'til you're BLUE in the face!
OK, despite dire weather forecasts, the match against Stillington II was played, which was a triumph in itself. We were damp but not despondent, and the light drizzle stopped for most of the evening, just starting again a few games before the end.
It was a game of three halves - Bish were up by 3 games after the first round, but down by 4 after the second. A stubborn stand by Jane & James who beat Stillington's 3rd couple 11-1 in the final rubber, was enough to swing the match back in favour of Bish.
Fran returned to duty to turn in 23 games with Richard; Alistair and Helen (Williams) were a new pairing and showed lots of potential with a 6, a 3 and a 2. Jane & James top-scored (by one) with 24.
Catering continued in a very pleasing style, with even fewer left-overs than last time. Thank you to Alistair and James for the delicious sandwiches. For some mysterious reason, most of Richard's quiche was declined.
Chorus (to the tune of 'Guatanamera'): "Quiche when you're winning.....You only EAT quiche when you're winning...."
Result - we WON!! 58-50
Thursday June 12th vs CAWOOD Away
With Fran out this week, the good news was that Helen Pickles sailed in to play first couple with Richard, and the new pair excelled with 22 games. Well played them!
Our 2nd and 3rd pairs fought hard, but sadly the bad news is that they only came away with 27... between them.
Supper was very good, in the Castle Inn afterwards.
Result - we lost 49-59
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