Arriving at Chudleigh for a 1.30pm league match, the Otters found that the home club had just beaten Isca by three games to two, writes Dave West.

The first triple game found John Thatcher, Peter Jones and Dave West up against the strong Chudleigh trio of Frank Depreaux, Thierry Hacq and Henry Pickett, and a keenly fought game saw ends of four points twice and a five.

The Otters came through to finish the game with a three point end to snatch a 13-9 victory.

The second triples was something of a marathon and Ottery’s Rose Thatcher, Barrie Hall and Derek Hansen found themselves playing for an hour and a half to stand at 12-all against Richard Freer, John Baxter and Rob Thomas!

The Otters finally looked to be in a winning position only for Chudleigh to shoot out the jack and require yet another end to be played. In the tightest of finishes the home side edged home 13-12.

That left everything to play for in the three doubles games, but Derek Hansen and Rose Thatcher started with a 13-0 whitewash at the hands of Henry Pickett and Thierry Hacq to nudge Chudleigh into a match lead.

Peter Jones and Dave West were up against Franck Depreaux and John Baxter and were always in the game until the home side scored a five point end and this proved too big a lead for the Otters who eventually lost 13-7.

In the final game John Thatcher and Barrie Hall recorded Ottery’s only doubles success with a fine 13-3 triumph against Richard Freer and Mike Moyse.

So the match result was a 3-2 win for Chudleigh and therefore a first defeat of the new term for Ottery.