Margate Lawn Tennis Club’s Veterans managed to beat a very strong Canterbury team that is captained by Steve Woodley, an England over 75 player. Monday December 16 saw the Margate over 70s team defeat Canterbury by three rubbers to one in a match that saw the games played out on two different surfaces due to the changeable weather,
John Hills and Dennis Stock, Margate’s first pairing, lost 6-3, 6-3 to Canterbury’s firsts but then in a well contested battle against Canterbury’s second pairing, the Margate duo came out on top pipping them to a 7-6, 6-3 victory.
Margate’s second pairing of George Buckmaster and Chris Whittingham had an emphatic victory over the Canterbury first pair winning 6-4, 6-4. The in-form Buckmaster and Whittingham then went on to win 6-2, 6-2 against Canterbury’s seconds.
This victory was particularly sweet for the Margate Veterans team as in the reverse fixture six weeks prior to this match, they lost 3-1 to the same Canterbury side.
“This match was a very strange one,” explained John Hills, “as the first rubber was played outside on artificial clay. Then the rain came, resulting in us having to play on Canterbury’s indoor courts for the second rubber!”