After the glorious Summer weather of a few weeks ago which graced the Club’s championship finals, early Autumn rain meant that the first men’s match of the Winter season took place indoors at Balksbury. This featured the KJM sponsored men’s A team versus the B team, both being in division one of the Basingstoke League.
In club rivalry meant that the atmosphere was friendly but competitive.
A team first pair Gregor Corcoran and Jacob Webb had a lot of tight games against Sam Truscott and Alex Boldis, who both hit strong ground shots and cover the court well. Corcoran and Webb have a lot more match experience, however, and crucially the volleying skills to end points. They won both sets 6-0-6-2.
A team second pair Al Williams and new member Martin Flint took on the more experienced B team first pair, Andy Snellgrove and Dan De Marco. Williams was about to play matches for the Army and was keen to get match practice. That he did in a tight first set, with Snellgrove showing his all court skills and excellent balance, well backed up by purposeful tennis from De Marco. Games were close as Williams and Flint were matched by the B pair with good attacking tennis. The set was decided by Williams’ ability to finish points and the A team pair got through 6-4 and then, with Flint showing increased confidence they took the second 6-1.
Williams and Flint then went on to play a good looking game against Truscott and Boldis. All four players showed their shot making skills, but with the tighter play of Williams and Flint winning more points, it was the A team pair who won through 6-0, 6-2.
Corcoran and Webb then had a tight first set against Snellgrove and De Marco, rather as Williams and Flint had done, but came home 6-4, 6-1.
The final score was 8-0 to the A team , but the B team had played with spirit and will have learnt from the experience and benefit from it in upcoming matches. The A team will be looking to win all of their matches and regain the Winter Title.
The Ladies team also started their season with a division two match against Hampshire court indoors at Balksbury. The Hampshire Court team could only field one pair so that the best they could do was to draw. Andover pair, Sophie Annett and Clare Thain had a close match against them but had more consistency and fought through to a 7-5, 7-5 win. Claire Reid and Christine Pickford have more experience and had a straightforward win 6-1, 6-3.
The team gained an 8-0 win and will aim to get promotion this season.
