Mens IV away v Corbridge Tue 7th May 2019

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Vince & Tony David & Tony John & David

Shotley won by 9 sets all and by 79 games to 74

On a rainy night in Corbridge David Graham led his team to a fine win with Tony & David Griffiths making debuts in the team. Both did the team proud with Tony playing alondside “ The Whispering Skip “ and claiming a creditable 3 sets.

The top pair for a change were Vince & Tony who romped through their six sets with the loss of only 8 games to swing the match in Shotley’s favour while displaying all the qualities that saw them dropped from the 3rd team.

A tough season lies ahead

Shotley on Tour - Alicante 15th Oct to 19th Oct 2018

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You have probably all heard what a blast the eight of us had in Alicante and how welcome we were at Club Montemar with 21 tennis courts, paddle tennis, table tennis, french boules, football pitches, huge swimming pool, bar, restaurant and really friendly people and i know that a further trip is planned for May 2019.

Big thanks go out to Tony for his planning and his credit card, Zoe for booking flights and hotel but especially to Keith for his creation and delivery of “Superstars” - a tough test of mind and body over 2 days. As a former professional footballer Keith knows what sorts winners from losers and came up with 5 varied disciplines to test your fellow members. Everyone took part in each event and each person nominated 2 of those events as either their Wildcard where their score would be doubled and a Joker where their score didn’t count. 8pts ( that’s points not pints ) were awarded to first place down to one point for last position.

Results were as follows:-

Hearts - a card game of skill & complexity Dominoes - a test of nerve and maths

1 Joan 8 1 Yvonne (Wildcard ) 16

2 Vince 7 2 Peter 7

3 Tony (Joker ) 0 3 Vince 6

4 Peter 5 4 Keith 5

5 Yvonne 4 5 Joan 4

6 John 3 6 John 3

7 Keith (Wildcard) 4 7 Tony 2

8 Zoe (Joker ) 0 8 Zoe 1

Contract Whist - ideal for the cunning Tennis - the natural home for the group

score Pts

1 John 127 8 1 Vince 16

2 Vince (Joker) 114 0 2 Peter (Wildcard) 14

3 Keith (Joker) 98 0 3 Tony ( Wildcard ) 12

3 Joan (Joker) 98 0 4 Keith 5

5 Yvonne 93 4 5 Joan 4

6 Zoe 81 3 6 Zoe 3

7 Peter 73 2 7 Yvonne 2

8 Tony 65 1 8 John ( Joker ) 0

Table Tennis - a test of skill, stamina and flair

Round 1 Table Tennis final table

Keith 2-0 John 1 Vince ( Wildcard ) 16

Vince 2-0 Tony 2 Peter (Joker) 0

Zoe 2-0 Yvonne 3 Zoe ( Wildcard ) 12

Peter 2-0 Joan 4 Keith 5

Loser’s Playoffs 5 Joan ( Wildcard ) 8

Joan 15-4, 15-5 Yvonne 5 Tony 4

Tony 19-21, 15-5, 15-11 John 7 John ( Wildcard ) 4

Semi Finals 7 Yvonne ( Joker ) 0

Vince 15-10, 15-6 Keith

Peter 15-12, 15-7 Zoe

Final

Vince 17-15, 11-15, 15-6

Final Placings & points

Gold Vince 37

Silver Peter 28

Bronze Yvonne 26

4 Joan 24

5 Zoe 19

5 Keith 19

5 Tony 19

8 John 18

Some things we learnt in Alicante :-

Peter is even more competetive than we thought

Joan will play her Wildcard in the Swimming next year and win it.

7 of us felt even older when Zoe said “ Who is Neil Diamond”

John plays table tennis like he plays tennis - all the shots and style but still doesn’t win.

Keith’s tennis wardrobe is much more expansive than we thought.

Tony is much better on Google than on a tennis court, card table etc.

Yvonne is good at dominoes and even better at it after a few g&t’s

Vince is apparently barred from setting quizes ( they were too hard ) but is looking forward to defending his title next year.

See you all on court soon

Vets Mens III away v Northumberland II 28th Sept. 2018

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Vince & Tony John & Joe

Northumberland won by 7 sets to 1 and 46 games to 18

A poor end to the season for Vince and his motley crew as they were heavily beaten by a competent Northumberland side.

Top pair on the night with one set were John & Joe ( although Vince & Tony won 2 more games ) so full marks to them.

The team finished 3rd in the table with 3 wins from 5 games, just missing out on second spot on % of sets won.

Vets Ladies I away v Tynedale I 13th Sept. 2018

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Lisa & Silvia Jackie & Susie

Shotley won by 5 sets to 3 and by 37 games to 31

With our Ladies Vets II clinching their league 5 days previously our top Ladies team went to Tynedale knowing victory would win them “C” division.

Silvia & Lisa took 2 sets 6-4 against the home second couple while Jackie and Susie lost both sets to the first pair. So 2-2 going into the second round with Tynedale ahead by 5 games and it got worse as Lisa & Silvia lost their first set 4-6 to leave the match on a knife edge going into the last 2 sets. Behind in games Shotley needed the last 2 sets and our ladies came good as Silvia & Lisa powered home 6-2 while Susie & Jackie blitzed their opponents 6-0

Another brilliant performance from the team with new vet / skipper Lisa leading by example.

Mens Over 55 home v Durham Archery 14th Sept 2018

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Tony & Vince Keith & Paul

Durham Archery won by 7 sets to 1 and by 48 games to 23

Another defeat for Shotley making only one win all season and almost certain relegation from “A” division.

Tony & Vince started badly losing the first set 1-6 but put up some resistance in the next before losing 3-6. Keith & Paul fared even worse losing two sets without taking a game.

The second round was much more even with Keith & Paul taking a set 6-4 and losing 5-7 while Vince & Tony lost 2-6 before squandering 6 set points in the second set before losing a tiebreak.

Mens Vets II home v Collingwood I 11th Sept 2018

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Colin & Stephen Peter F & Peter T

Collingwood won by 5 sets to 3 and by 39 games to 31

Without injured skipper Keith Shotley still fielded a strong side on paper against a useful Collingwood outfit. Alas that strength never got off the paper as our boys, after tying the first round 2 sets all, lost three of the second round sets in a sometimes tame effort.

Top pair were Stephen & Colin with two sets in the first round but in the second they looked like they had never met let alone played umpteen matches together as they collapsed 2-6, 0-6

The two Peters fared no better with one looking like he was still on holiday and the other looking like he had started his 24hrs early. They still managed a set on a bad night all round.

Ladies Vets I away v Gosforth II 6th Sept. 2018

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Lisa & Silvia Jackie & Susie

Shotley won by 6 sets to 2 and by 46 games to 33

A second match in 3 days saw Shotley travel to Gosforth to play the match that was abandoned due to torrential rain way back in July.

It was another great night for Lisa and her team as they swept aside a stubborn home team to make it 5 wins in five to leave Tynedale away on 13th Sept. as the only obstacle to a title win.

After being edged into second spot two days before Lisa & Silvia set about restoring their place as top pair comfortably winning all four sets as Tuesday’s heroines took two sets off Gosforth’s top pair before losing two tight sets in another fantastic team performance.

Best wishes for Thurs. 13th away to Tynedale ladies.

Ladies Vets I home v Stocksfield II 4th Sept 2018

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Lisa & Silvia Jackie & Susie

Shotley won by 7 sets to 1 and by 47 games to 20

A fourth win in a row saw Shotley keep up their hopes of promotion as they saw off Stocksfield in a comprehensive victory.

Captain Lisa and partner won 3 sets by 6-1 but slipped up 4-6 in the other allowing our second pair of Jackie & Susie to steal top spot on the night by taking all four sets. In a brilliant performance Jackie showed she can play tennis just as well as she can bake and Susie went a long way to paying off the large transfer fee it took to bring her back to the club from the far east.

With two games left Lisa and her ladies have a real shot at winning the league.

Ladies Vets II away v Blaydon V 9th Sept. 2018

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Jan & Joan Angela & Kath (capt. )

Shotley won by 8 sets to 0 and by 48 games to 14

With two 5-3 wins and two 6-2 wins Shotley went into their last match at Blaydon needing a win to clinch the league and they produced an 8-0 whitewash to take the title in style. The pairs could not be split as they ended the day with 4 sets each, winning 24 games and conceding only 7 games each to round off a great season for a very tight knit squad.

With a travelling support of two offering encouragement from the stands Super Kaptain Kath along with partner Grangela set off at top pace to romp through the first round losing only 4 games. Kath, who has taken to captaincy like the proverbial duck to water led by example with another solid display while her partner showed no ill effects from “The Tynedale Incident” as she peppered the lines with winners.

First pair on the scorecard were Joan, making possibly her final appearance of the season before heading off with the rest of the club’s elite squad for some performance training on the red clay of Alicante, and Jan whose tennis outfit collection makes Imelda Marcos and her shoes look small beer. The pair played some great stuff, especially when Joan served and Jan was all over the net for the winning volley.

A brilliant season for a brilliant squad - well done ladies.

Vets Mens I away v Durham Archery I 9th Sept 2018

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Ian & Stephen Colin & Peter

Durham Archery won by 7 sets to 1 and by 49 games to 34

A strong Archery team containing most of the usual suspects were far too good for a still depleted Shotley side who still put up a real fight.

Ian, just back from the U.S. Open and raring to put what he had seen into practice, was paired with Stephen as our top pair. They played some fine tennis and took Shotley’s only set but were unlucky in the other three losing 7-6, 6-4, 7-5 where the scores could easily have been in their favour. Ian was the driving force with his all action game while Stephen managed to find new ways to mess up his ball toss.

Our second couple were playing up from the second team and Colin & Peter battled bravely but lost all four sets ( three by only a single service break ) Colin was his usual solid self while Peter took the prize for outfit of the day, sporting a top normally seen only on Lollipop Ladies outside junior schools. Pity it didn’t come with brightness control.

With only Blaydon to play away the team need the proverbial miracle to avoid relegation.

Mixed Vets III away v Tynedale 2nd Sept 2018

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Angela & Joe          Kath & John

Tynedale won by 4 sets to 4 and by 40 games to 39

Another tense battle saw our boys and girls lose out by 1 game after tying 4-4 in sets with the result in the balance right to the last point.

Angela & Joe were top pair as they took 3 sets while Kath & John almost pulled off the win as they lost a tense set 7-5 before taking an even tenser tiebreak.

 

Over 55's Men home v Boldon I 2nd Sept. 2018

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Tony (capt.) & Vince              Peter & Keith

Boldon won by 6 sets to 2 and by 41 games to 33

Another defeat for Tony and the boys which could result in relegation yet again from a league that 10yrs ago was considered to be Shotley's property as this same team won it 4yrs out of 5.

Time, a lack of ability and the fact the average age of opponents is often at least 10yrs younger is finally catching up with our boys. Top couple, yet again, were Tony & Vince who were not happy with only winning a set in each round as they felt the other two were winnable but second pair Peter & Keith had a day to forget as the closest they came to a set was going down in a tiebreak.

 

Vets Mens I home v Cullercoats 2nd Sept. 2018

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Phil (capt.) & Colin                Peter & Paul

Cullercoats won by 5 sets to 3 and 42 games to 32

With the squad ravaged by injury and absence Phil, making a rare visit to the U.K., was joined by wily old fox Colin in a first pair partnership against a solid Cullercoats team. The pair produced some sparkling tennis to halve each round in 4 tight sets.

Second pair for Shotley was Peter, fresh from his exhibition tour of Tuscany, and Paul, fresh from being top couple in the previous fixture. Although outclassed in 3 sets they pulled off a remarkable comeback in the last set to take it 7-5 after trailing 1-5.

A brave effort from the team which was just short on the day.