Winchester 1st beat LA Fitness

Winchester 1st team hosted L.A Fitness in a must win match in the Hampshire premier league. Being at the bottom of the league, (although with games in hand), Winchester knew a win was vital to premier league survival.

The match started with No.4 string Damon Chase and No.5 string Ali King taking to court looking for a good start. Damon started well taking the first 11-8 and then the 2nd 11-7. However Gareth Hall pulled one back for the visitors before Damon resumed control to take the 4th and the match with a unusual stunning backhand nick. On the other court Ali lost the first 2 games to an experience opponent Dave Williams but after taking the 3rd in a close score of 11-9 fitness began to tell. Ali then quickly despatched his opponent from then on only dropping 5 points. With Winchester already 2-0 up Phill Bull and Jon Foster took to court to try and wrap up the win. Phill lost the first quickly before racing into a 2-1 lead. Niall then pulled it back to all square setting up a nail biting finish. At 8-8 in the 5th it was anyone's game. However Phill produced the magic to take the game and match. Over on the other court there was a lot of noise and arguing going on. It was the typically heated on court battle between Jason Pike and Jon Foster. Jason took the first two 11-8 then Jon battled his way back into the match and eventually took the match 3-2 after winning all his games 11-7. Meanwhile Simon White and Alex Phillips had gone on the court in a match in stark contrast to the Pike/Foster match next door. After taking the first 11-9 a dip in concentration let Simon take the 2nd 11-5. However Alex closed out the match 11-4 11-8 to conclude a fantastic win for the Winchester 1st team. This win helped them leap up the table and boosted the chances of a successful season.

report from Alex Phillips