Playing at Virgin Active Devonshire in Plymouth, our men's over 70 vets team knew their tie with such a strong tennis county as Yorkshire was going to be a challenge!
Yorkshire, having not played in this age group for some years, were having to start in a division lower than the strength of their team warranted. This was apparent from the start!
Devon's Les Harries and Mel Kirby started well, initially upsetting Ray Ranson and Robin Barlow with thier combination of subtlety and heavy shots but the Yorkshire men adjusted their game for a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 win. Doug Cook and David Evans saw the first set slip away 1-6 to the solid Yorkshire partnership of Michael Glover and Andrew Batcup but a mammoth Evan's service game helped them to take the second set 6-4. They quickly gained the advantage in the Championship tie-break but at 8-5 up saw it all come to nought as their oponents fought back to win 8-10.
The reverse doubles was a similar story. Glover and Batcup were too strong for Harries and Kirby, winning 6-3, 6-0. Cook and Evans again lost the first set though in a tight tie-break 6-7. They won the second set 6-3 but lost the Championship tie-break 5-10, so a win for Ranson and Barlow.
Captain David Evans said, "This was an excellent and enjoyable match in which the final score did not altogether reflect the closeness of much of the tennis."