Devon ladies 50s team travelled to Gloucester on Sunday 30 June and although they did not have to play in a 'shower of rain' as in the nursery rhyme, played indoors in sauna-like conditions on the hottest day of the year so far!
It was always going to be a tough match playing the current division leaders and having our best singles player failing a 'late fitness test' plus a team member playing with a bad strain, meant a helping hand from 'Doctor Foster' would not have gone amiss. All the ladies fought extremely hard against some excellent opposition, showed great team spirit and despite losing 5-0, very much enjoyed the whole experience.
Their next match versus Somerset will be played at Torquay at 11am on Sunday 14 July - cheerleaders welcome especially those medically trained!
The Over 75 men had a welcome home fixture at Exmouth Tennis & Fitness Centre, which may have helped to contribute to their 4-0 win. Derek Shephard and Arthur Ackerly playing together for Devon proved to be a successful strategy as they won both their rubbers in 2 sets.
Colin Holman and Tom Eastop had a poor day by their standards and Tom commented, "We are still puzzled as to how we managed to win both our rubbers, each on a Championship tie-break. The Lancashire team had subbed in a replacement for one of their first pair which gave us a chance and we won the second rubber recovering from a set and 5-2 down to win in 3 sets!"