As we near the end of the National League season, teams are looking to secure their place in the semi final and final. A win for the CURTC Division 4 team against Moreton would guarantee a spot in at least the semis, but every point is crucial if the team is to make it through to the final directly, with home court advantage.

The first match on was the number two string singles with captain Jules Camp taking on Moreton’s Tom Bomford. Tom was the victor when these two met previously fixture at Moreton, so revenge was in the air, and Jules raced away with the first set 6/0! The second started in the same manner, with Jules grabbing a 4/1 lead early on, but then he got cramp in his hand (perhaps due to a change in style – Jules was going for many more main wall dedans than usual because they were working well) and he lost the second set 6/5. But the fight was still on and, despite having to resort to serving bobbles, Jules kept going for the attacking shots and closed out the match 6/4 in the last set.

Andrew Petrie was up, next facing Lloyd Pettiford, who is very familiar with the Cambridge Green court. Initially, games were won in turn by each player, but Andrew brought his ‘A-game’ and punished anything loose, rarely hitting the penthouse, and won the first set 6/4. The second was a set of two halves; Lloyd started stronger, racing into a 4/1 lead. The next couple of games were shared and at 5/2 it looked like a third set was on the cards. However Andrew dug deep and clawed his way back into the set. At 5/5 it really could have gone either way, but a couple of volley dedans and attacking nicks from Andrew saw him finish his great comeback and take the match 6/4 6/5.

The final, first string singles saw a rivalry that has developed over recent times and will no doubt continue, as CURTC’s Alex Evans took on Moreton’s captain Tom Lewis (another Moreton player used to the Cambridge courts, having played here in several Inter-University Tournaments). The head-to-head record was in favour of Tom, but with only one handicap point between them, it was always going to be close. The first set saw a very aggressive game from both players, Alex finding the corners of the dedans with accurate forces and Tom’s volley return limiting Alex’s advantage at the service end, but it was Tom who won more of the big points to take a 5/3 lead. But Alex wasn’t giving in and kept getting the ball back until he had a chance to hit a winner. Inevitably, the first set went to 5/5 and deuce, and it was impossible to call who would win the set. Alex kept the faith and sneaked it 6/5. The second was a completely different story; quality tennis but Tom seemed to win all the big points and raced to 6/0. Alex came back hard in the final set, keeping up the pressure and extracting more and more errors from Tom, finally coming through 6/2.

This 3/0 whitewash of Moreton guarantees Cambridge a spot in at least the semi finals, and with one more match to go there is every chance of topping the group and being rewarded with a straight final spot and home court advantage. Watch this space!