Men's 1sts battled well against last year's Premier division relegates. Three of the rubbers went to three with Roy & Seb and Steve H & Matt almost taking a rubber each. I've no doubt Monsoon will win the league comfortably. Many thanks to John for stepping in at the last minute.

A big thanks to Harry and John for standing in last minute to replace Seb who is still ill and team captain Roy who is on holiday but seemed to have forgotten to mention this to anyone.

A very close match, with Harry and John almost taking one in their last rubber after going to

Balsall Common shaded a tactical and nervy match at the Heart of England.

Men's firsts were well beaten by a highly consistent Regent team. Regent 3rds lost the first 3 games of their season, including to relegation runners AT7 1sts and Grange. However, since then their results have been noting short of miraculous, including beating leaders Jubilee St. Augustine's 2nds!

Unfortunately we came up against three pairs more used to the Premier division.

Men's 1sts were beaten by the excellent Monsoon 2nds on Thursday.

Monsoon's first two pairs were too good and won all their rubbers. The only joy came from an under-strength third pair (who still went from 7-14 down to 17-14 in the middle set against Steve D and Seb).

Steve B and Matt managed to score the most points. Steve D and Seb took the longest amount of time to be beaten. Many thanks to Harry for filling in.

Men's 1 triumphed against Grange on Friday night. We went into the match at the bottom of division 1, facing a tricky opposition, plastic shuttles and the prospect of a ninth rubber decider. However, with last year's league winning team back together, we delivered the goods. The first round of rubbers all went our way and the second round saw us collect the all important fifth rubber.

With Phil playing like he'd never been away, Roy offering his usual words of motivation (!?!) and Matt banging his racket on the walls (???), Grange had no answer and fell away in the final round of rubbers (despite taking some rubbers to 3).

Men's 1sts battled bravely against a well-disciplined AT7 team but came up just short. For anyone who has yet to play at the AT7 centre, it has a strange floor. Combined with plastic shuttles, it lead to some odd rallies.

Several of the rubbers went to 3 and at one stage it looked like we would sneak a 5-4 win, but the frustrating playing conditions favoured the home side. However, it was a good effort by everyone, especially Matt & Graham, who narrowly lost on setting in 3 in their 3rd rubber.

Men's 1sts came up short in their crucial match last night.

Everything started so well. We'd mixed the line up to make us harder to play against, Phil & Seb won their opening rubber and Matt & Steve B. were holding their own against a very good first pair. Then Steve B. slipped on a dodgy part of the floor (about 7 people lost their footing throughout the course of the match) and sprained his ankle. 10 anxious minutes passed, but it was too sore to continue.

3-1 to the good, the next 4 rubbers went Monsoon's way. Steve D. and Graham managed a win in 3 for the final rubber.

With only 3 wins this season, our fate is no longer in our own hands. We need results vs. Regent 3 and/or Jubilee 2 and hope Monsoon 3 or AT7 1 trip up. However, I'd like to think we'll go into those matches with the same spirit and determination that we have shown throughout this season.

Men's 1sts gave their division 1 survival hopes a chance with a win over Regent 3rds at the Bridge Sports Centre. Regent were playing 2 matches that night and actually had to put their 3rd team out, so there were only 2 names from the team that beat us 9-0 at our place.

We won the first round of rubbers 2-1 with unforced errors costing Phil & Seb against their best pair. The second round also went our way with only Steve D. & Roy losing out to their first pair. However, they made amends in the third round, claiming the fifth rubber. Matt & Graham lost to their 1st pair and errors at crucial times again cost Phil & Seb, narrowly losing in 3 to their third pair.

Mens 1 went into their final match of the season, knowing that only a win would give them a credible chance of avoiding relegation to division 2. Always a tough ask against Jubilee.

Sadly, Phil came down will flu on the morning and Roy only found out at 6:20 PM, so it was a nervous wait to see who would turn up. Thankfully both Bob and Steve H turned up and agreed to play and Roy went for Steve.

Alas, it was not to be. Steve D. and Seb took 2 rubbers and could have had the 3rd but for a short string of unforced errors. Matt and Graham took their third rubber to three before narrowly losing out and Steve H and Roy were edged out 17-16 in one of their rubbers.

Barring miracles, 4 wins and 40 rubbers for isn't going to be enough to stay in the division. We demonstrated that we could live at this level, but inconsistency and bouts of errors cost us at crucial times over the season.