Hey, it's our old friends from Sidegate Lane, namely Richard, always tough, Jim, who's got a mean backhand swipe, and Martin, who can hit them. We've been scrapping with them for longer than anyone would care to admit. In fact, back in the 1994/95 season, they finished in 5th place in old division 5, while we were 3rd. Ah, the G.O.D.

Back to the present. In brief:

• all three for Ed, beating Jim and Martin in straight games but having to go the distance against Richard
• all three for Andy, despite losing the first two ends against both Richard and Martin
• just the one for Steve, edging past Jim, but he lost out on deuces in four other ends

Off early for Andy so Ed and Steve for the doubles, digging deep and proving victorious to claim a satisfactory 8-2 win. Settle for that.