Our second season in this division. A strengthened team with the addition of several new players gave renewed confidence for our matches. Our first fixture in May gave us a close win against Cambridgeshire. The singles players, Gary Bishop and Mike Eggleston, won their singles and doubles matches, giving us a 3-2 win. Our doubles players, Richard Prisk and Nik Goudie, had a championship tiebreak, but lost narrowly to a good team.
Next match as another closely contested tie. Again, the singles players won all their matches. A change of partner for Richard saw Feisal Jassat make his debut for the 60s team. Our next match although away, was only at Northumberland. They wanted to play on the outside courts, of course we all had the wrong shoes! Nevermind, a 5-0 victory meant that we were a table topping county.
A long break to our crucial weekend away to play Suffolk and Norfolk. A long drive so plenty of time to talk team tactics. We never actually got round to that as each member of the team told us of their pharmaceutical intake for each day, just to keep the body moving. Luckily the same conversations were happening in the Suffolk and Norfolk teams.
A great season with 5 wins out of 5, which secures our promotion. I am very proud of our Durham and Cleveland County team.
Mike Eggleston
Mens 60s County Captain