Brodie Cup v Oxford

The MMTCC 2nd doubles pairing of Jon Lambdon and David Prophet got off to a real flyer- going down 0/3 in no time but they gradually hauled themselves back into the match and at 3/3 the ‘vital seventh’ game was a hum dinger with no less than 8 deuces but somehow the MM pair scrambled a win. By now Jon was hitting crisper shots and David ‘Snowy’ Prophet was serving to a length and they managed to squeeze the very vital 11th game. At no time did the dedans think they would come up trumps but their lack of confidence was misplaced as the dynamic pair got the tie off to a great start with a 6/5, 6/5 win despite having to give owe half 15.

The Chairman (33.7) struggled in the first set against 28 handicapper Doug Holden who was also receiving owe half 15, such are the vagaries of the rules. In the second set he went 4/1 up but failed to capitalise and at 5/5 Holden played some fine shots and throughout his retrieving was of the highest order. Heh Ho!

Jonny Miller struggled to find consistency of shot and serve against a steady opponent going down 3/6, 3/6. Much depended on Bruce Paxton whose experienced opponent off 50 was 3 handicap points better than Bruce as well as trousering the owe half fifteen handicap! A valiant effort but Bruce succumbed 3/6, 0/6.

It was a shame that the 1st doubles wasn’t the decider because it was an excellent spectacle with fine rests throughout. Andrew Pick was his usual forceful self, playing one of his handful of games per season, and Mark Maclure, complete with Squash shots, was an effective foil. They lost the first set convincingly but Pick went up a gear, the play was fast and furious thereafter and they managed to squeak through 3/6, 6/5, 6/5 in a match of a high standard. So another year goes by and the space on the glass shelf for the Brodie Cup remains vacant.