Fylde were drawn against Nottingham in their first year in the Mary Rose, and entertained their visitors most generously. For a start, they laid on dry, sunny (if not particularly warm!) weather, which the Midlanders hadn't seen for some days. They plied us with welcome coffees, fed us with an excellent, slow cooked, Lancashire Hotpot, two local cheeses and a chocolate cake, and sent us home with a stick of multi-coloured Blackpool rock each.
The play was also not without interest. The absense of time limits led to a late lunch, but allowed both the doubles and top two singles to all reach pegged-out endings. In the morning, the score was reported as 3-back and peg v 3-back and kitchen, after Liz's ball had been taken off. At the end of the day, Peter left Ian with the single ball, and Dave did the same to Liz. On the other lawn, Nathan found his form in the afternoon to dispatch our captain, Martin, in quick order after Andy had beaten him more slowly in the morning, but Ian Draper won both his singles to give the visitors the match.
Liz & Peter Wilson lost to Ian Vincent & Dave Gunn -3
Andy Brandwood bt Martin Beacon +11
Nathan Baker lost to Ian Draper -11
Peter Wilson lost to Ian Vincent -7
Liz Wilson lost to Dave Gunn -2
Andy Brandwood lost to Ian Draper -16
Nathan Baker bt Martin Beacon +22