It was the first match of the second round tonight and I had two team members unable to make it due to ill health. This meant I had to play, but looked at it as good practice to see just how far I had come and how much more there was to go as regards my full recovery.
Sadly another team member didn’t show, though I sent her a text message which she answered well over an hour later when all of the singles matches were finished. We lost those 5 points to 1, including the last game as they automatically got the point.
There is a cloud over this particular girl and she has now asked if she can only play on the away matches, of which we only have two this time round. I put it to the team and they said it was OK with them, so I replied saying if she could make it to the away games, that was OK and left it at that. She has already been asked to play for another team in the summer and the winter league next year, so no-one is surprised, but of course it left us one short and one of my better players took on two in the final pairs game. She held her own, getting down to a double each time, but lost, giving us a final result of 1 point to their 11.
To be honest, the result doesn’t reflect the standard of play as everyone played well, but as always it comes down to who gets that vital finishing double. Both sides had 2 ‘sheets shots’ of scores over 100, one of which was mine at 110. I lost my singles game, but didn’t disgrace myself, and in the pairs my neighbour and I played really well together, but the other side got their doubles first. I feel fine, not over tired or drained, and pleased with everyone’s performance tonight. The opposition are good fun, so we all had a good night which is what it’s all about.
There was some sad news tonight in that our team Captain from the Summer League passed away just before New Year. He had been in hospital for tests the week I told the team about my forthcoming surgery and was waiting for the results. They were not good and he had been in a care home at the end, with friends by his side.
The pub we play for and all of the teams there are collecting for a Challenge Cup in his memory, which I think is lovely. He will be sadly missed by a lot of people.
pensitivity101 