A stunning effort in sweltering heat which saw each of the three rubbers be clinched by Hazard When Wet in the third set last night.

Ian McGonigal took the first set for Hazard When Wet, possibly by taking advantage of the extra Hazard When Wet obstacle: a towel on court designed to catch the torrential rain finding its way through the roof – some on-the-spot rule additions from Peter our scorer meant it was a hazard chase if the ball hit it. Ian and Stuart Laing naturally spent some effort trying to do exactly that. Ian then went downhill in the second as Stuart pulled out a fantastic 6-1 but Ian managed to pull it back from this drubbing to win the third, despite the fact that his face looked like it was about to explode from the effort in the heat.

Ed Fairbrother took the floor against Christie Marrian with a huge uphill handicap difference to climb. Entirely self inflicted – Ed shouldn’t have won so many matches since the start of the league’s season! Calmly and with his typical enviably attractive playing style he plugged away, dragging himself from his owe-30 start to take each game, one by one. Christie pulled back valiantly in the second set but Ed denied him in the third.

So, aware of the pressure to clinch the all-important final game if Hazard When Wet were to challenge for the league, Tom Hartley took to the court against Anthony Dean. By now the court was positively humming; as warm as the oven which was warming up for some fabulous pizzas from Ed our chef. The first set seemed to come comfortably to Tom but, as seemed to be the theme for the night, it all came apart for Hazard When Wet in the second which Anthony took 6-3.
So, it was all down to a clincher third set. Nerves were getting frayed, shirts were dripping with, erm, exhaustion, and tiredness from the heat began to play into the match with double faults and increasing shots into the net. Tom held on to take the third, and
the match

By claiming the maximum 7 points, and denying Nomads, current Division 3 league leaders, any further points, Hazard When Wet are now just four points from the front, giving them a chance to take the Division 3 trophy. Their captain, Tom, looks set to commission a self congratulatory quintuplet of trophies for his team if they go on to win!

Tom Hartley