Neighbourly draw with Poppleford

First up was Newton Poppleford at home which ended in a neighbourly draw. Peter Fung and Debbie Snelgrove won, whilst Mark Heywood and Di Kendall-Torry lost in a hard-fought match. The ladies went on to win their doubles, not so the men, resulting in points shared 4-4.

Next home match, a week later, was on Friday the 13th which proved to be a good omen for the home team against Newton St Cyres with a convincing 7-3 win. Sidmouth won both mixed and the ladies’ doubles whilst the men narrowly lost their doubles on the championship tie-break. Pairings on this occasion were; Mark Heywood and Debbie Snelgrove, Peter Fung and Viv Bess. A week later the same opposition produced a much stronger team for their home tie which earned them a narrow win on points (sets won). The entire match was played in the rain with regular stoppages for the train to pass by, but undaunted by these local adversities, Sidmouth dug in and won two of the four matches both on the championship tie break. The ladies’ doubles also went to tie-break but they couldn’t quite prevail. However, the men had a great match, terrific rallies, coming through as victors in the tie-break.

Players: Mark Heywood and Debbie Snelgrove, Martin Truman and Hilary Caldwell. Result 5-6.

In a derby with Sidford on their home patch, Sidmouth emerged the winners 6-3.

Ladies’ Doubles: There are four outstanding matches to be played in this section, the first of these was a home match against David Lloyd who provided a formidable challenge. Their no 1 couple were dominant in net play and proved too strong for both the Sidmouth pairings although Debbie Snelgrove and Viv Bess did manage to take a set off them which proved vital in claiming a draw. They beat the second pair in straight sets whilst Lesley Cranston and Gill Dolling won that one on the championship tie-break. Result 5-5, which keeps Sidmouth well up the table in this league.