The Sidmouth hopefuls set sail to Torquay with an air of expectancy - news was out that Torquay were missing their first and second strings - could this be the moment we had been waiting for all season:. Sidmouth s first win?

The Sidmouth hopefuls set sail to Torquay with an air of expectancy - news was out that Torquay were missing their first and second strings - could this be the moment we had been waiting for all season.... Sidmouth's first win? First up was No 5 string Nigel DeSousa. On good form in recent weeks, Nigel was hopeful against a very youthful Jack Barnes. Jack, playing to a gallery of raucous teen fans, was in showboat mode. The Devon U15 No1 was intolerably quick and did not allow Desousa to settle in the first, which he took with ease. A determined effort in the second saw Desousa take five points before Barnes again stepped up the tempo, following in similar form in the third to defeat Desousa 9-0, 9-5, 9-1. On the opposite court Sidmouth No1 Glen Borrett took on Jason Yeo. The form book suggested a 3-0 victory to Borrett who duly took the first game with relative ease. However, either the night shifts or the strenuous cycling training kicked in as Borret slumped in the second and third in depressing form....the hopes of a Sidmouth win suddenly evaporating. However Yeo, with his hopes falsely raised, was thankfully firmly put in his place in the fourth and fifth as Borret realised his form. Uttering obscenities to the well fed audience, Yeo skulked off court losing 2-9, 9-5, 9-6, 2-9, 5-9.With the scores all square, No 4 string Mike Taylor took on a solid looking Darren Owen. Taylor started well but lost the first with some tight squash and deft drops from Owen. Taylor reversed the scores in the second with some excellent cross courts before the two players locked horns in a tight and testy third. With both players challenging a resolute referee at the slightest infringement, the game went to the wire, with Taylor edging the third with a naive "set one" call from Owen. The next two very closely contested games however favoured Owen as the Torquay man edged the match, winning 9-3, 3-9, 8-9, 9-5, 9-6. On the opposite court No2 string Phil Borret took on the second of the young Torquay bucks, Stuart Perret in what would be the crunch game. Like team-mate Barnes, 17-year-old Perret was playing to the younger elements of the home crowd and took the first two games with a rather frustrated Borrett searching for a good length and width. Borret senior still looked more agile and duly took the third with a persistent and dogged performance; one sensed a possible turnaround in fortunes as Perret began to show signs of tiring. However, in an act that would normally be either penalised or simply not allowed, Perret interrupted the fourth to re-shirt his sweat laden form. The "professional" break was enough to switch the momentum in the game and snuff out a potential Sidmouth win, with Perret taking the last and the match 9-6, 9-3, 4-9, 9-4. Sidmouth No3 Chris Woodruff took on Torquay local Ian Bransdon in the last match, unaware that the chance for a Sidmouth victory had ebbed away. Setting off in determined fashion, Woodruff pressurised Bransdon into mistakes with a high tempo opening game. The same followed in the second with Bransdon frustrated at the speed and stretch of the Sidmouth No3. Woodruff fatally eased off the pressure in the third and fourth, coupled with unnecessary errors from serves, to see Bransdon unexpectedly draw level at 2-2. In the interval lost opportunity of a win was apparent and, with all cares gone and determined to find a way through or around his opponent, Woodruff took the last in fine form as Bransdon buckled and wilted to allow the Sidmouth player his first win of the season 9-5, 9-6, 3-9, 2-9, 9-1. So, the points tally rose but there was still no win for Sidmouth.The next game is home to Exeter University.