Results 2017/18

North Oxford beat Charterhouse 7-0 at Charterhouse 17/06/18:

S.Cooley & H.Asquith beat A.Abrahams & C.Pethick 3-0 (12-9, 12-10, 13-12)

S.Chapman & C.Ballingall beat J.Black & R.Elston 3-1 (7-12, 12-5, 12-7, 14-12)

G.Hoskins & C.Cooley beat M.Platt & H.Platt 3-0 (12-7, 12-6, 12-9)

M.Chinery & S.Thatcher beat J.Nelmes & L.Thomson 2-0 (12-4, 12-3)

R.Morgan & R.Wood beat C.Turner & M.Faull 2-0 (12-6, 12-11)

A.Bishop & F.Kerr beat J.Troy & W.Turner 2-1 (14-15, 12-6, 14-11)

M.Barnes & I.Duporge beat L.Stewart & H.Gardner 12-2

The final official match of the 2017/18 season took place at Charterhouse on Sunday with the second running of the North Oxford vs Charterhouse School summer fixture. This fixture has already established itself as a perfect example of friendly Fives, with seven North Oxford pairs travelling from far and wide to take on a mixture of Charterhouse pupils, staff, old boys and Brigands. A new addition this year was the welcome appearance of a Carthusian girls pair; their arrival was delayed by other commitments so pairs 4-7 played a couple of warm up games in different combinations before settling down to the best of three proper matches, while pairs 1-3 went straight into best of five. Harry took on the task of carrying Seb through at first pair and they duly won 3-0, although only one of the three games went to step-all, an unusually poor return for a Cooley friendly fixture. Gareth and Charlotta were in control for the majority of their match against father & son combo Mark & Hector Platt, which left the closest and most competitive of the top order matches at second pair as Spencer and Chris Ballingall took on Julian Black and Rob Elston. Schoolboy Elston held his own throughout the match in impressive style alongside former school coach Black and the Charterhouse pair took the first game. Chris and Spencer held their nerve, however, coming from behind in each of the next three games (2-5, 3-7 then 8-11) to clinch victory. Matt Chinery & Stephen Thatcher were in imperious form at fourth pair and Ralph Morgan and Rachel Wood came through a tight second to win at fifth. Mandie and NOEFC debutant Isla Duporge - currently at Oxford University and a rare beast on the circuit having learned her Fives at City of Norwich school - were too strong for the Charterhouse girls, who showed promise and gained in confidence once the pairs had been split, which just left the sixth pair game on court, while everyone else was either already tucking into the lavish courtside spread or playing a variety of informal extra games (or indeed both). This matched up veteran M-i-Cs Andy Bishop and John Troy, playing with the noisiest woman in Fives Faye Kerr and a slightly bemused school boy respectively. The Carthusian pair snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in the first game to sneak it 15-14 before Bishop and Kerr hit back in game two. The decider was on a knife edge at 11-11 before the North Oxford pair delivered under pressure to ensure yet another win and maintain Andy's impressive recent winning run. A splendid day out all round.

Action from across the courts at Charterhouse

North Oxford beat Oxbridge Past & Present 2-0 at Summer Fields 06/06/18:

P.Scholey & C.Davies beat N.Caplin & J.Greenhouse 3-0 (12-9, 12-10, 12-1)

A.Bishop & G.Hoskins beat S.Thatcher & R.Thorogood 3-1 (5-12, 12-9, 12-9, 12-1)

Originally billed as Jesters v Oxbridge P&P, the personnel involved (not to mention the result) meant an inevitable clamour from certain quarters to have this match reclassified as an official North Oxford fixture for statistical purposes. It certainly had a stronger claim than another match earlier in the season involving a certain player, but power and influence count for quite a lot. The North Oxford/Jesters team fielded an experienced quartet, with Pete Scholey and the maestro dealing efficiently with Oxbridge present in the top court, winning two tight games against Noah Caplin and Jacob Greenhouse before cruising through the third. At second pair, the North Oxford president was nursing an injured left hand, leaving the captain to do a certain amount of compensatory covering (or shameless poaching as it is sometimes known as). The second court was nip and tuck for two and a half games before Andy & Gareth got on a run at 2-8 down in the third, which only stopped a few hands later as they raced to 12-1 in the fourth in a matter of minutes to defeat the Oxbridge past duo of Stephen Thatcher & Robert Thorogood.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Citizens 1 3-0 at Highgate 21/04/18:

G.Pulsford & C.Austin beat S.Shah & M.Scurr 3-1 (12-9, 8-12, 12-9, 12-7)

G.Hoskins & K.Hird beat N.Gill & A.Lumbard 3-1 (10-12, 12-6, 12-8, 12-5)

M.Chinery & S.Chapman beat S.Kelly & C.Ballingall 3-0 (12-6, 15-10, 13-12)

North Oxford 3 lost to Old Citizens 2 1-2 at Highgate 21/04/18:

H.Asquith & S.Thatcher beat A.Jones & J.Navani 3-0 (12-3, 12-5, 12-3)

E.Scoones & R.Wood lost to J.Gee-Grant & N.Choustikov 0-3 (9-12, 4-12, 7-12)

A.Bishop & J.Da Costa lost to M.Jacobs & S.Shah 1-3 (5-12, 12-5, 8-12, 9-12)

The 2017/18 league season - all 31 matches of it - ended in fine style at Highgate on Saturday with a hugely successful Division 2 and Division 3 double header against the Old Citizens. The Division 2 team came through impressively to win 3-0, not a result many would necessarily have predicted before the start of the match. Grandad and the Wizard found themselves up against two rising stars of the Fives scene in Sahil Shah and Mylo Scurr and it took pretty much all of their considerable experience to come from behind to win the first game and then rebound from the loss of the second to win in four. Second pair saw an act of extreme heroism from Karen Hird, who dragged herself off her deathbed (much to the relief of potential emergency substitute Tom Hoskins) to not only make it on court without vomiting but to make it through a tight four game match in extreme heat and win in four having lost the first game. Karen's movement wasn't the best - when is it ever? - but her hands were working pretty well, her cut returning was working well and her partner managed to use his long reach to cover a bit more ground than usual to see off the challenge of Nick Gill and Ashley Lumbard. Clearly, the opportunity to beat Spencer's all time records of NOEFC wins in a season was more than enough motivation. Third pair saw an NOEFC league debut for Matt Chinery, and a most impressive performance it was too, as he and Spencer Chapman won 3-0 in a long, tight and attritional battle with Stephen Kelly and Chris Ballingall which was the last match to finish, despite only lasting three games. Matt & Spencer won the first fairly comfortably but had to dig deep in the second and third, showing great composure to win the big points when they really mattered and win through 15-10 and 13-12.

Meanwhile, round the other side Bishop's Buccaneers were doing battle in what was effectively a Division 3 title decider (possibly). Harry Asquith and Steve Thatcher were in imperious form at first pair, dominating their match from start to finish. Life was much harder at second pair with the dangerous John Gee-Grant lurking low down the order on the comeback trail from injury. That made for a tough league debut for Rachel Wood but she and Emily Scoones played well against John and his schoolboy partner, pushing them hard in the first and third games and can consider themselves a little unlucky not to have pinched a game. All of which meant that the fate of the match - and possibly the league title - came down to the captain himself as club President Andy and Joe Da Costa took on Mark Jacobs and another CLS schoolboy in Sajaan Shah. After losing the first game to 5, Andy and Joe looked they were getting their act together in the second, turning the tables and levelling at 1-1. Alas, it was not to be, however, as the Citizens pair reestablished their hold on the match and came through to win in four.

The results mean that NOEFC finish the season with high finishes in all three divisions. Not all results are in yet, but there is every chance that we will end up in second place in Division 3, third in Division 2 and fourth in Division 1 - excellent results all round.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Westminsters 1 3-0 at Eton 14/04/18:

Old Westminsters 1 conceded all three pairs

The final match of the season was a bit of a damp squib as the bottom of the table Old Westminsters team failed to materialise, with an initial lack of availability compounded by late withdrawals and parental insistence on homework taking precedence (no, not Laurie's mum in case you were wondering). The disappointment of not getting on court was tempered slightly by the acquisition of three points, meaning that our final total in Division 1 this season is 24 and a half, half a point greater than last year and a magnificent achievement again, although we are unlikely to match last year's third place finish. Tremendous stuff nevertheless, and huge credit must go to all of the players who have represented us in the top flight this year.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Salopians 1 0-3 at Eton 08/04/18:

P.Roper & G.Hoskins lost to G.Thomason & T.Cox 0-3 (3-12, 7-12, 9-12)

N.Turnbull & P.Scholey lost to M.Hughes & C.Hughes 0-3 (3-12, 4-12, 2-12)

C.Davies & S.Chapman lost to S.Welti & H.Lewis 0-3 (7-12, 3-12, 6-12)

After a rare win away in Shrewsbury back in November, matches against the Salopians reverted to type at Eton on Sunday with a resounding defeat at the hands of a strong OS team. The North Oxford team was a little threadbare - apparently a Sunday morning league match wasn't considered a suitable warm up for an afternoon national final by certain members of the squad - and failed to trouble the scorers, although Gareth and Phil gave a pretty good account of themselves in games two and three against Tom Cox and George Thomason and the other two pairs had their moments. At least the team were able to stick around to watch Seb & Karen win their finals in the afternoon and continue their lengthy winning streaks at the top level.

North Oxford 1 beat Team Westway 1 2-1 at Mill Hill 07/04/18:

S.Cooley & G.Pulsford beat D.Patel & G.Chapman 3-0 (12-7, 12-4, 12-3)

C.Austin & P.Scholey lost to T.McCahon & M.Street 1-3 (12-8, 7-12, 8-12, 9-12)

Team Westway 1 conceded third pair

For the second time in just a few weeks, an Aldenham match was forced into a last minute switch of venue. Last time it was the wet underfoot conditions that forced the teams to decamp to Mill Hill; this time it was the rather more bizarre discovery of the area around the courts being covered in tarmac, withe the diggers in, the backs of the steps removed and the arrival of the players averting the disaster that might have occurred had the whole court got covered in the stuff, as seemed to be the workmen's plan. Anyway, Grandad put in a quick phone call to Rennie (A), dragging him out of bed to let the teams in to use the courts at Mill Hill instead. Seb continued to tune up for his Sunday Kinnaird defence, in the process helping Grandad beat Pete's three day old record for the oldest winning player in a Div 1 first pair match, although apparently Darshan couldn't tell whether he was playing against Graham or Gordon Whitehead. An easy mistake to make, I guess. Chris and Pete got off to a good start against Tom McCahon and Martin Street but then slipped to a four game defeat in a match they might have hoped to win. A late Westway withdrawal at third pair meant that Karen and Charlotta were able to warm up for their title defence with three tight games playing with Wycombiensians Nathan Turnbull and Robert Wilson. 

Unusual playing conditions at Aldenham...

North Oxford 1 beat Old Cholmeleians 1 3-0 at Highgate 04/04/18:

S.Cooley & P.Scholey beat J.Marks & N.Gill 3-0 (15-10, 12-5, 12-7)

C.Austin & P.Roper beat A.Bhattacharya & O.Hallam 3-0 (12-6, 12-8, 12-9)

G.Hoskins & K.Hird beat R.Morgan & T.Halstead 3-0 (12-1, 12-7, 12-1)

Eventually, after four postponements and enough freak weather conditions to fill an entire series of Channel 5 documentaries, the away Division 1 match against the Old Cholmeleians finally got played at Highgate last night. And for North Oxford at least it was well worth the wait as a rare 3-0 away win sent us shooting up the table, with a top four finish now a strong possibility and last season's points tally not yet out of reach. There was an early bombshell at the top of the order, as Cholms captain Jonny Ho opted for Kinnaird final practice with Riki Houlden on an adjacent court, rather than heading up the Cholms line-up and taking on one of his final opponents, with Seb making a welcome appearance in a NOEFC shirt and also tuning up for the Sunday showdown. Shorn of their talismanic leader, who was facing some serious questions about not considering Seb & Pete to be suitably high quality warm-up opposition as well as abandoning his team mates to their fate, the Cholms were unable to cope with a strong North Oxford line-up, bolstered not only by Seb's return to the ranks, but also by a first appearance of the season from Phil Roper, back from injury and foreign travel. Playing alongside the Wizard of Wolverhampton at second pair, Phil (the Cranleigh conjurer?) showed exactly what we've been missing all season as the left-handed duo put in a strong performance to take down Abs and Ollie Hallam in three. With the pro doing what the pro does at one - and Pete providing an effective foil - it was left to the old firm of Gareth and Karen at three to complete the win. Playing like a well-oiled machine against an opponent who knows all about playing when well-oiled, Gareth and Karen won comfortably, meaning the closest scoreline of the night was the 5-4 NOEFC win in the Bull afterwards, with the shamefaced Ho conspicuous by his absence. We may have taught Jonny everything he knows about playing Fives in his couple of seasons with us but clearly the team ethic and sticky toffee pudding eating lessons didn't rub off quite as well, although for once Karen went STP free, possibly because she was too busy pasta-loading, wearing a cotton glove and sticking her little finger in a pint glass, a fitting end to an evening that showed there's more than one way to prepare for a national final.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Etonians 2-1 at Eton 25/03/18:

N.Turnbull & C.Lloyd lost to B.Emlyn Jones & A.White 2-3 (3-12, 12-7, 12-9, 5-12, 9-12)

Old Etonians conceded second and third pairs

The Old Etonians have been struggling to put pairs out all season, so it was no great surprise when they were unable to field a second and third pair aaginst us at Eton on Sunday. The players they usually do get out are generally quite good, however, so it less of a surprise that the one pair played produced an absolute cracker of a match. Chris and Nathan got off to a rather slow start against Bill Emlyn Jones and Andrew White and lost the first game rather tamely 12-3. Some improved work at the set piece and fewer unforced errors meant that the second game was a different story; avoiding feeding the Emlyn Jones volley and playing patiently against White - blowing typically hot and cold (red hot at times, completely off colour at others, no grey areas here) - also contributed to a complete momentum swing as Chris and Nathan took control of the match in the second and third games to lead 2-1 and leave White feeling rather blue. Alas they couldn't complete the job as the Etonians stormed back to level at 2-2 and then took a 7-1 lead in the fifth. There was still time for the North Oxford pair to dig in and come back, though, levelling at 8-8 before White hit one of his badly-timed (for North Oxford anyway) purple patches, hitting a couple of screaming winners from the back of the court to clinch the decided 12-9 and finish a splendid contest.

Chris & Nathan just fall short in a five set thriller

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Cholmeleians 1 1-2 at Aldenham 17/03/18:

G.Hoskins & C.Austin lost to J.Ho & M.Kovar 0-3 (9-12, 2-12, 5-12)

G.Pulsford & P.Scholey beat A.Bhattacharya & J.Marks 3-0 (12-10, 12-8, 12-10)

K.Hird & C.Cooley lost to D.Mew & E.Scoones 0-3 (9-12, 2-12, 2-12)

After four postponements of the away fixture already this season, it was no surprise to see snow falling and sub-zero temperatures for the home Division 1 fixture against the Old Cholmeleians at Aldenham. Thankfully, for once it wasn't enough to stop the show going on, although the team captains did agree that a 25th December fixture next year will surely result in everyone cleaning up at the bookies if they get good enough odds on a White Christmas. For the second successive Division 1 fixtures, the prima donna superstars were unavailable for a variety of reasons and it was once again left to the old guard to take on the might of the Cholms, picking up another handy point in the process. Chris and Gareth again took on the mantle of playing first pair and, as with the Millhillians match a couple of weeks ago, gave a good account of themselves without ever convincing anyone that they are the long term answer at the top of the Division 1 order. The 1993 Schools' Championship report talks about "the left-handed Austin providing awesome power in both cut and volley"; 25 years on and while the Wizard of Wolverhampton can still cast quite a spell, the awesome cutting power is long gone and he and Gareth - after a decent first game that they came close to winning - were unable to cut down Jonny Ho & Matt Kovar consistently enough to stay close once the Highgate pair began to hit their stride. Charlotta Cooley came in for a seasonal Division 1 debut, getting in some useful practice with Karen Hird for this weekend's ladies semi-finals; they were never quite able to get going against Emily Scoones and David Mew at third pair (Charlotta deciding she's not really a morning sort of Fives player) and slipped to a fairly comprehensive defeat. Honour was saved by the veterans at second pair; with Pete celebrating his birthday it meant that Joe Marks and Abhishek Bhattacharya found themselves beaten by a pair of 60 year olds as Pete and Grandad extended their record as the oldest pair to win a Division 1 match with a scintillating display, topped off by a 12-10 third game win having taking the brave option of choosing foot at 11 when the score hit 10-10. The watching spectators - frozen solid after about 5 minutes of sitting still out the back of the court - were profoundly grateful for proceedings being wrapped up so quickly and there was a swift exodus in the direction of the Round Bush, which saw an excellent post match turn out and a 6-4 North Oxford win. The main shock came with Karen having to leave early to get to an opticians appointment and missing out on the round of sticky toffee puddings. Some ground to make up there. 

North Oxford 3 lost to Team Westway 4 1-2 at Westway 13/03/18:

E.Scoones & R.Thorogood beat D.Goddard & J.Florey 3-0 (12-6, 12-1, 12-2)

A.Bishop & S.Greasley lost to B.Young & D.McCahon 0-3 (10-12, 9-12, 6-12)

F.Kerr & J.DaCosta lost to J.Cooley & A.Pilkington 0-3 (3-12, 4-12, 5-12)

It was good to see three North Oxford players making their league debut for Bishop's Buccaneers in the Division 3 match against Westway 4. Club captain Gareth had suggested that we might manage without the likes of Karen and Spencer and, had it not been for some "clever" pairs-management by the opposition, we could easily have ended up winning 2-1 instead of losing 1-2. But we didn’t. The first pair of Emily Scoones and new Monday night star player Robert Thorogood scythed through their opponents to finish first, thus allowing Robert plenty of time to get to the House of Commons (that’s got you all wondering …. ) and giving Emily another long wait whilst the other games finished. Luckily it wasn’t nearly as cold as at Aldenham a couple of weeks ago, when she also finished in double-quick time and then (understandably) departed; this time she was able to hang on patiently so that she could give some post-match coaching tips and match analysis to other team members. Next to finish were Faye and Joe, who competed well but were up against an experienced pair. The NOEFC pair got off to a fine start with some powerful cutting and bottom step work from Faye. However, the pedigree of the opposition soon told as John Cooley took control of the buttress leaving Joe repeatedly clutching at thin air and chasing a dying ball. It was generally agreed later that, had Faye made as much noise as she usually does, she would have achieved the triple effect of raising her game, reminding her partner to “try harder” and distracting the Westway players (on all three courts). Although she may have had to live with the consequences of also causing a mass pile-up on the nearby A40. At second pair Sarah and Andy had by far the closest of the three matches. All looked good at 8-3 up in the first game but 8-11 was a different matter, as Westway’s David McCahon began to dominate, especially with his powerful cutting, and the Oxford duo contributed with a few unforced errors. In the second game there were again opportunities for us to take control and level at 1-1 but McCahon’s cutting was even harder and faster. In the end he made all the difference and the Westway captain, Ben Young, conceded that his partner should probably have been at 1st pair. However, had that been the case, we would probably have won at 2nd pair and Emily and Robert would still have prevailed, thus producing a North Oxford victory. So well done, Westway!

As usual, we won the post-match contest (5-2). Westway seemed dubious about joining us at the pub chosen by Emily and Sarah and persuaded us that the Pig and Whistle was preferable to The Garden, with the benefits of wonderful Neaopolitan pizzas and a karaoke machine. With the NOEFC players as the advance guard, we had to run the gauntlet, on entering the pub, of passing between a large screen showing a football match and a large group of young, all male, seated spectators whose view was temporarily obstructed by our team (and then another screen and another group), before we could get to the bar. Our guides (Emily and Sarah) were unconvinced by the choice of venue but perked up a little when two of the Westway players arrived and showed us to the garden (but not The Garden), where there was less football, a smaller crowd watching it, and access to pizzas. In fact the pizzas did it for them. No sticky toffee pudding, though, so it’s a good thing that a certain NOEFC member had not been selected that evening. Andy and Emily discussed saving up deposits for mortgages, Faye made veiled hints about having found a new partner for the Mixed Championships next month (i.e. to replace Joe), Joe didn’t rise to the goading and insisted that win or lose it had still been great fun, and Sarah tucked into the various pizzas that her neighbours had ordered. We all agreed that, next time, we’ll follow Emily’s guidance for post-match refreshment (unless Robert takes us to the bar at the House of Lords).

Report by Andy Bishop (with additional reporting by Joe DaCosta)

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Millhillians 1 0-3 at Mill Hill 04/03/18:

G.Hoskins & C.Austin lost to S.Tailor & V.Bhimjiyani 0-3 (9-12, 7-12, 1-12)

G.Pulsford & C.Davies lost to O.Sander & A.Rennie 0-3 (2-12, 7-12, 6-12)

R.Wilson & K.Hird lost to C.Plummer & I.Kidd 0-3 (6-12, 10-12, 4-12)

Shorn of Seb (school commitments), Phil (work commitments) and the University students (post Varsity hangover commitments), the North Oxford old guard took on Division 1 leaders the Old Millhillians on Sunday in a tough assignment. Having turned them over a few weeks ago in the away game, we were looking forward to making the most of our home advantage at Aldenham this time round. However, the warmer weather following the previous cold snap meant that the Aldenham courts were wet and slippery. Serious consideration was given to the advantage that might be gained by certain members of the North Oxford team (nearly all of them in fact) by playing on a court where standing still was the only available tactic but health and safety won out in the end - it would have been terrible if any of the NOEFC pensioners had suffered a fall - and home court advantage had to be ceded as the teams headed ten minutes down the road to the dry courts at Mill Hill. The unexpected win in the previous fixture had been aided by a couple of late OM withdrawals; there was no such luck this time and none of the North Oxford pairs was able to even claim a game. Having said that, all acquitted themselves pretty well - Gareth & Chris at first pair exorcised a few demons from last year's fixture when they lost rather feebly. This time round they were up against the OM top pair of Sunny Tailor & Vishal Bhimjiyani and gave a very good account of themselves, playing some good Fives, even getting 9-6 ahead in the first game, and always making the Mill Hill pair work hard and play well for their win. There was a rare defeat for the maestro at second pair - providing a ray of hope for everyone with ambitions to rise up the win percentage stat rankings - as he and Graham came up against Andrew Rennie and Oli Sander, who just had too much firepower. Karen and Rob at third pair got closest to winning a game, recovering from 0-6 down in the second to close to 10-12 in the end against school first pair Charlie Plummer and Ian Kidd. The other main talking point of the fixture was Chris Austin's new gloves, a pair of wicketkeeping inners in a Chapmanesque shade of tangerine officially known as "clownfish orange". From wizard to clown in one wrong sartorial move - can the wand recover its full powers next time round? The team's first win of the day came with a 5-2 success in the Three Hammers afterwards, although the Sunday menu meant that the team were unable to observe full post-match STP warm down protocols this week and were forced into a roast dinner/treacle sponge alternative, perhaps suitable for a day of second bests. Five matches remain in the Division 1 campaign, with lots still to play for; a top half finish is still on the cards if we can pull out a couple of good wins, although matching last year's third place finish may prove to be a step too far. Next up are the Cholmeleians as we attempt to finally get on court against them this season at the fifth time of asking in a couple of weeks time.

Grandad and the Maestro taking on the Mill Hill youngsters

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Olavians 1-2 at Aldenham 25/02/18:

T.Kirkby & N.Caplin lost to T.Barker & J.Prior 1-3 (8-12, 12-7, 9-12, 10-12)

G.Hoskins & P.Scholey lost to H.Wiseman & P.Sathiamoorthy 1-3 (12-1, 9-12, 12-14, 6-12)

G.Pulsford & C.Davies beat S.Ranasinghe & J.Lawrence 3-1 (10-12, 12-6, 12-6, 12-5)

While Bishop's Buccaneers were cutting a swathe through their Olavian opponents round the back, the first team were finding life rather more challenging against the Old Olavians in the Division 1 fixture that made up the other half of the double header. It was good to see OUEFC captain Tom Kirkby back in the ranks and he opted to play with University team mate and NOEFC debutant Noah Caplin at first pair (a very wise, and probably pretty simple decision once he'd seen the age of the rest of the team) against Joey Prior and former Cambridge number one Tony Barker. This was a cracking game, the pairs were evenly matched and it was just a shame that after sharing the first two games and narrowly losing the third, the NOEFC pair weren't quite able to convert a possible winning position in the fourth to take it to the decider the match probably merited. Second pair was one of the odder matches of the season, as Pete and Gareth tried to pick up where they had left off at Iffley Road on Wednesday evening against former Kinnaird Cup winner Howard Wiseman and Olavian U16 number one Prajeeth Sathiamoorthy, who is a fine prospect. Howard was unrecognisable in the first game and a half, missing shot after shot and unable to find his game at all. The North Oxford pair capitalised well, running away with the first game to 1 and then getting 5-0 ahead in the second. The assumption was always that Howard would find his feet (and hands and bits of the front wall above rather than below the ledge...) sooner rather than later and this he duly did about halfway through the second game, at which point his partner was also able to grow in confidence and get into the match, which had now taken on a very different feel. The Olavian pair won the second game to 9 to level at 1-1 but Pete and Gareth played some good Fives in the third, taking the initiative and establishing an 11-7 lead. This was the turning point of the match, however, as some sloppy play allowed the Olavians to level at 11-11. They cashed in, going on to win that game 14-12 and were always in control in the fourth, leaving Pete and Gareth feeling as if that had been something of a missed opportunity. The good news for NOEFC was that the maestro was in action at third pair, looking to further his seemingly unassailable North Oxford win percentage record and partnering Grandad, who had his shiny new bus pass in his back pocket from the previous day's birthday. It clearly took Graham most of the first game to get his breath back from the previous day - there were a hell of a lot of candles to blow out after all - but once he got going, even the maestro was able to sit back, relax and admire the volleying masterclass which was all too much for the Olavian pair of Sanjaya Ranasinghe and Jeff Lawrence. Slightly disappointingly, the potential mass team celebratory lunch in the Round Bush was rather scuppered by a full pub, staggered finish times, the freezing weather, taxi duty trips to ferry various Olavians and their dog back to Elstree & Borehamwood station and further birthday weekend celebrations for Grandad, but regular readers will be relieved to hear that two stalwart members of the squad produced the necessary dedication to sit outside in temperatures barely nudging above zero and go through the proper NOEFC post-match recovery STP protocols. That's commitment.

Noah and Gareth fire shots in from the back, but both pairs ultimately came up short

Photo credits: Stephen Thatcher

North Oxford 3 beat St.Olave's School 2 3-0 at Aldenham 25/02/18:

S.Chapman & K.Hird beat D.Redmond & L.Maclean 3-1 (12-4, 8-12, 12-6, 12-6)

H.Asquith & E.Scoones beat M.Li & B.Foster 3-0 (12-7, 12-1, 12-2)

S.Thatcher & A.Bishop beat S.Gupta & S.Spurrell 3-0 (12-8, 12-6, 12-1)

Bishop's Buccaneers roared to the top of the Division 3 standings with a convincing win over the St.Olave's School second string at Aldenham on Sunday morning. While their Division 1 counterparts were working hard to get just one point on the board, the NOEFC third string produced a bravura performance to defeat last year's winners and one of our main title rivals. Spencer and Karen had a tricky assignment at first pair against seven times ladies champion Dominique Redmond and Louis Maclean, a schools' finalist at U16 level last year. A strong first game was followed by a second game stutter and with Spencer's injuries racking up (proving that health food and yoga are of no use to a Fives player) the North Oxford pair had to grind it out in the third and fourth, doing enough to win without ever running away with things. This was definitely not the case at second pair as Harriet Asquith and Emily Scoones produced a masterclass against Benny Foster and Michael Li, demoralising the schoolboy pair by winning the first game to 7 and then metaphorically (I assume, anyway) kicking them while they were down to romp away with the second and third games, making them the first of the six matches to finish. They soon discovered the downside of this, however, being forced to watch everyone else in sub-zero temperatures before giving up and heading for somewhere rather warmer, producing the possibly unique situation of Emily wishing she'd actually been playing with Jon Staley instead in order to have their traditional (and warming) five-setter. Third pair starred two of North Oxford's in form players, featuring Stephen Thatcher, fresh from his high quality display against the Cholms last weekend, and the President himself, following up his sensational win/bit of statistical trickery against the EFA the other week at Summer Fields. As with second pair, they took a little while in the first game to get on top, but once dominance had been established they ran away with the next two to take maximum points and lay down the gauntlet for the rest of Division 3.

Spencer offers up an inviting target while Louis Maclean attempts something rather unorthodox

Photo credits: Stephen Thatcher

North Oxford drew with Oxford University 1-1 at Iffley Road 21/02/18:

O.Sale & S.Mcloughlin lost to S.Oppenheimer & O.Denby 0-3 (6-12, 1-12, 9-12)

G.Hoskins & P.Scholey beat T.Macdonald-Buchanan & N.Caplin 3-0 (12-6, 12-9, 12-8)

After the EFA Trophy semi-final defeat at Eton on Sunday, a small measure of local pride was restored at Iffley Road last night with a hard-earned draw against the University side. In the best traditions of North Oxford friendlies, the "youngsters at one" policy was adopted with Summer Fields coach Sam Mcloughlin teaming up with Summer Fields old boy Ollie Sale to take on Sam Oppenheimer and Oskar Denby. Oppenheimer and Denby are both fine players and both have considerable Division 1 experience under their belts; Sam and Ollie played some good Fives, especially in the first and third games, but Oppenheimer's attacking shots and Denby's all-round consistency won the day. Noah Caplin and Ted Macdonald-Buchanan had been the stars of the Oxford EFA Trophy win on Sunday and had dispatched Graham & Karen mercilessly in the semi-finals with a dominant display. Gareth & Pete may have had a combined age two and a half times that of their opponents but managed to get on top straight away and establish a grip on the match that they never really relinquished, the occasional threat of a student comeback being snuffed out before they managed to ever get their noses in front. The North Oxford pair cut well, putting their opponents immediately under pressure and followed the strong set piece up with some tight rally play and a low unforced error count to gain a small amount of revenge for Sunday's loss. There followed a 3-0 win in the Fir Tree and a request from Sam that the long-threatened NOEFC guide to the Fives court pubs of the UK be published imminently. 

First pair slug it out at Iffley Road. Note Sam's innovative hands behind the back technique...

North Oxford beat Old Ipswichians 2½-½ at Eton 18/02/18:

G.Pulsford & A.Aslam-Baskeyfield beat T.Fletcher & W.Gibbons 3-0 (12-9, 12-5, 12-0)

S.Chapman & D.Cox drew with A.Yusaf & S.Cass 2-2 (13-14, 9-12, 13-11, 13-10)

T.Gregory & K.Hird beat S.Burnell & C.Cooley 3-0 (12-3, 12-7, 12-5)

After the disappointment of semi-final defeat in the morning, North Oxford and the Old Ipswichians dusted themselves down for a friendly 3rd/4th play-off in the afternoon. The OIs had a squad of seven, wll of whom were keen to get back on court; with the arrival of Spencer Chapman, Chris Lloyd took the opportunity to put his feet up and Gareth resumed tournament organiser's duties for the afternoon, allowing the remaining 12 players to get back on court. Adam continued his record of acquiring older and older partners as the competition progressed, but after he and Grandad had won a scrappy first game 12-9 against Will Gibbons & Tom Fletcher, they began to gel as a pair and raced through the next two. OI skipper Tim Gregory switched sides to play with Karen against Tim's usual partner Steve Burnell and Karen's usual partner Charlotta Cooley in an intriguing match-up, which resulted in a surprisingly and impressively one-sided win for Tim & Karen. Not that Charlotta was in the least bit grumpy about the result, though. Second pair was close right from the start, with David and Spencer taking on OIs and erstwhile NOEFC Monday nighters Alex Yusaf & Simon Cass. Spencer was already negotiating an agreed draw about halfway through the first game, which was eventually won 14-13 by Alex & Simon. By the time Spencer & David took the third 13-11 and the fourth 13-10 to level at 2-2, Spencer finally got his way - much to the disappointment of the crowd who were demanding a fifth - and the four players all shook hands before collapsing in an exhausted heap.

The North Oxford team claim third place in style

North Oxford lost to Oxford University 0-3 at Eton 18/02/18:

G.Hoskins & A.Aslam-Baskeyfield lost to T.Kirkby & A.Wellesley 1-3 (8-12, 12-3, 8-12, 11-14)

G.Pulsford & K.Hird lost to T.Macdonald-Buchanan & N.Caplin 0-3 (2-12, 7-12, 4-12)

C.Lloyd & D.Cox lost to F.Imrie & H.Gibson-Leitao 1-3 (7-12, 8-12, 12-10, 11-12)

Back in November, the North Oxford EFA Trophy team qualified for the semi-finals by the skin of their teeth with one of the great sporting comebacks of all time in the final round of the group stages against London University. More students awaited NOEFC in the semi-final at Eton on Sunday in the form of familiar foes Oxford University; having suffered defeat against the same opposition at this stage of the competition last year and in the final the year before, could it be third time lucky? We suffered an early blow as 50% of our youth policy declared himself unavailable a couple of days before upon realising that his Sunday morning flight was actually landing in Manchester rather than at the rather more convenient Heathrow. Good work, Sam, not that we're blaming you for our not winning the competition. Well maybe just a little bit. Anyway, this all meant that club captain Gareth Hoskins had to step in at first pair to partner the other 50% of the youth policy Adam Aslam-Baskeyfield against the formidable pairing of Tom Kirkby and Arthur Wellesley. Gareth hadn't forgotten last year's semi-final match against Kirkby, which lasted nearly four hours and was anxious to avoid a repeat; after a nervy and mistake-ridden first game won 12-8 by the students, Gareth & Adam hit their straps in game two, cutting well, returning better and with Adam dominating on top step, using his wand of a left-hand - worthy of the Wizard of Wolverhampton himself - to great effect. A 7-4 lead was established in the third but Kirkby & Wellesley came back strongly, reducing their error count and finding some cut returns when it really counted. The fourth game produced the best Fives of the match with Kirkby in full flow from the back of the court and A-B firing on all cylinders on top step. The University pair always had their noses in front but Gareth & Adam held on and played some terrific Fives to level at 11-11; sadly Gareth then chose that moment to play his three worst volleys of the match to undo all the hard work and hand the game to the Oxford pair. Second pair was already done and dusted, with Graham & Karen - fresh from their fine showing at Harrow last week - blown away by an inspired performance from the Oxford second string of Noah Caplin and Old Summerfieldian Ted Macdonald-Buchanan. Chris Lloyd & David Cox were well on the way to fighting back from 2-0 down at third pair against Fergus Imrie & Hal Gibson-Leitao; had Gareth & Adam managed to push their game to a fifth, there is every chance that Chris & David would have been able to do the same, but as it was the intensity dropped once the overall result was decided and they lost 12-11 in the fourth. This was a fine effort by the North Oxford side against a very strong Dark Blue line-up, who went on to defeat the Old Salopians in the afternoon to lift the trophy, and a strong end to another excellent campaign, which continued our consistent run in this competition, with countless semi-finals appearances, four runners-up placings and our sole victory in 2009 since we first appeared in it back in 2004. Maybe next year will be our year once again!

Another EFA Trophy campaign ends in defeat at the hands of our local rivals

North Oxford 2 beat Old Cholmeleians 2 3-0 at Highgate 17/02/18:

N.Shaw & C.Austin beat D.Bloor-Young & D.Lioubimov-Antonov 3-0 (12-5, 12-4, 13-10)

G.Hoskins & K.Hird beat Ab.Bhattacharya & C.Coleman 3-0 (12-3, 12-6, 12-6)

C.Davies & S.Thatcher beat C.Griggs & T.Halstead 3-0 (12-9, 12-1, 12-6)

North Oxford started off a big weekend of Fives with a convincing Division 2 victory away at Highgate against the Old Cholmeleians. Advance intelligence was the the Cholms were putting out a strong side so NOEFC looked to match them, calling up big guns Nick Shaw and Chris Austin at first pair, who saw off the challenge of top school player Dan Lioubimov-Antonov and sometime North Oxford player Duncan Bloor-Young to win in straight games, relying each time on one big hand to get themselves in front, leaving it particularly late in the third game in a confident display of brinkmanship. Abs Bhattacharya at second pair was suffering from Samson syndrome, with his Fives power seemingly drained by the brutal chopping recently undergone on top of his head. Karen and Gareth were the philistines charged with the job of finishing him off and they duly obliged, despite some promising moments from his U16 partner CJ Coleman. The maestro was always in control at third pair (when is he not?) against a former pupil of his in Chris Griggs and another Highgate acquaintance of old in Tom Halstead. Steve Thatcher was in fine fettle alongside Chris, showing the benefits of regular Fives on a Tuesday night at Eton and playing a particular blinder in the second game, which the North Oxford pair won to 1. There was a further 6-1 win in the Bull afterwards, where Abs took an almighty risk in daring to sit and eat a sticky toffee pudding next to Karen before she'd ordered her main course. Karen's self-restraint in the circumstances was magnificent, if slightly surprising. She got her just desserts (well just the one actually) shortly afterwards once the burger had been dispatched. A good morning's work.

Chris and Nick set the tone at the top of the order

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Harrovians 1 1-2 at Harrow 08/02/18:

G.Hoskins & P.Scholey lost to T.Dunbar & R.Wijeratne 0-3 (6-12, 0-12, 3-12)

G.Pulsford & K.Hird lost to R.Tyler & R.Bryan 2-3 (12-0, 3-12, 8-12, 12-10, 3-12)

A.Lumbard & C.Ballingall beat M.Tonkins & J.Sheperd 3-1 (12-1, 7-12, 12-8, 12-9)

The 2018 winning streak may have come to an end at Harrow last night, but a makeshift NOEFC Division 1 team, lacking some of the dilettante superstars (clearly not prepared to guts it out on a cold and wet Thursday night in Harrow), nevertheless came away with a valuable point to consolidate our place in the top half of the table. A tally of 3 points out of 6 from two successive midweek London away matches against the top two teams in the league this year is a very pleasing achievement and rather more than could have been predicted 10 days or so ago. Gareth and Pete stepped up to first pair last night and took on the formidable challenge of 13 time Kinnaird winner Tom Dunbar and the classy Rahul Wijeratne. Things peaked scoreboard-wise at 5-3 to the North Oxford pair in the first game while Rahul was shaking off a bit of rust, although ironically the best phase of play from Gareth and Pete was probably in the latter half of the second game, despite the fact that it produced no points. Tom's cut return was sensational as always and the Harrovian pair were just a bit too quick and a bit too good for their North Oxford opponents, although Gareth did produce the play of the evening when accidentally heading out a shot from Pete that would otherwise have landed in, with a flick to the back post that Peter Crouch would have been proud of. The standard late arrival of Mr Tyler at second pair meant that Graham & Karen were 1-0 up on the scoreboard before the match proper started, 12-0 for the official record and 12-6 against Ross Bryan and his temporary schoolboy replacement partner. Richard soon made his mark by physically assaulting Graham's knee, which merely prompted Grandad to roll back the years in the fourth game, as sharp as ever on the left-hand volley in the buttress and reminiscent of the Pulsford pomp, if anyone can remember that far back. With Karen also in fine fettle, moving well downstep and with her trademark reflexes on top step, the North Oxford pair scored a notable 12-10 win to take the match into a fifth game. Graham and Karen continued to rally well, but Bryan and Tyler - a formidable pairing - found some excellent cutting form to starve the NOEFC pair of scoring opportunities, the result of which was a 3-2 win to the Harrovians and a first ever defeat for the Pulsford/Hird partnership. Nevertheless it was a performance of which they could be very proud. The same could be said of Ashley Lumbard & Chris Ballingall at third pair, up against a very useful pair of Harrow schoolboys. The North Oxford pair stormed through the opening game, before some typically astute tactical advice from the watching Ian Hutchinson enabled the Harrow pairs to turn the tables and level things up in the second. Ashley & Chris stayed calm, though, and produced some extremely solid and committed Fives in the third and fourth games to clinch the win, giving Chris a first ever win in the top flight, maintaining Ashley's 100% Division 1 record for North Oxford and demonstrating once again the strength in depth of the NOEFC squad which has resulted in so many wins at third pair already this season. Karen's game finished at 9:50pm, allowing her just enough time to sprint next door for a quick game of rackets before repairing to The Castle (a convincing 4-1 North Oxford victory) and crisps and sticky toffee cake to celebrate her birthday.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Millhillians 1 2-1 at Mill Hill 01/02/18:

S.Mcloughlin & S.Oppenheimer lost to S.Tailor & A.Rennie 0-3 (7-12, 8-12, 10-13)

G.Pulsford & P.Scholey beat O.Sander & I.Kidd 3-1 (12-8, 9-12, 12-6, 15-13)

S.Chapman & G.Hoskins beat V.Bhimjiyani & C.Vincent 3-0 (12-6, 12-6, 12-10)

North Oxford stormed to yet another 2018 victory last night, this time an impressive 2-1 away victory at the home of the current Division 1 leaders the Old Millhillians. Aided for the second time in a week by the late withdrawal of a couple of opposition players - this time Jitesh Patel and Charlie Plummer - this was nevertheless an impressive scalp against a still very useful OM side. The pair selection policy was easy enough - youngsters at one, oldies at two and stat-hunting glory seekers at three. The youngsters at one were slightly disappointed not to have done better but can actually be very proud of their performance, the two Sams playing together for the first time and pushing OM number one Sunil Tailor and experienced Division 1 player Andrew Rennie all the way. Despite losing his 100% Div 1 first pair record, Oppy combined well with Sam M - making an impressive NO league debut straight in at first pair - and hopefully we'll see a bit more of both of them before the season is out. The golden oldies have put in some impressive performances together this season and with the free bus pass rapidly approaching for both of them, show no signs of slowing down. They extended their (presumed) record for the oldest winning Division 1 pairing with another fine display against the hard-hitting Oli Sander and recent U21 semi-finalist Ian Kidd, controlling the first and third games and keeping their noses just in front to take the decisive fourth 15-13. Third pair was an interesting match up with one of the OMs top men, Vishal Bhimjiyani, moving down to partner late call-up Chris Vincent. Gareth and Spencer dealt well with the challenges set by an unbalanced pair and the threat posed by Bhimjiyani in the first two games, winning both games to 6 despite being unable to string any runs of points together. Both Mill Hill players then raised their game in the early stages of the third, with Vincent making fewer errors and improving his set piece and Bhimjiyani starting to take control of proceedings. Just as a fourth game looked likely, though, the momentum shifted as Spencer and Gareth found their most fluent spell of the match, cutting convincingly and moving from 3-8 to 11-8 in the space of four or five hands. The last point took some winning and needed a missed easy volley from Vincent at 10-11 and second hand to usher the North Oxford pair over the line but it was a case of job done and off to the Three Hammers for memories of quiz nights past, another 6-1 win for North Oxford (well done to Andrew Rennie for keeping the OM end up), an opportunity spurned for once by Grandad to tell the website story and an opportunity taken gleefully by Spencer to talk the awestruck youngsters through the set he took off Tom Dunbar in the Barber Cup once. I'm not sure they really believed him, but then does anyone who wasn't actually there? Oppy didn't quite make it back to Oxford for his midnight round of mini-golf and Gareth & Sam were both looking forward to early Friday morning starts after a long evening, but this was one of NOEFC's more memorable Division 1 trips, one which can hopefully be repeated next week as we head to Harrow to take on the defending champions.

The coaches might want to pick apart some of the play here, but Grandad and Pete knew what they were doing...

North Oxford beat EFA 1-0 at Summer Fields 28/01/18:

A.Bishop & S.Greasley beat D.Pemberton & M.Leon 3-1 (10-12, 15-12 ret)

With the Marlborough courts unplayable due to rain, NOEFC president Andy Bishop set up a hastily rearranged friendly at Summer Fields between the EFA four due to play down in Wiltshire. Andy and Sarah Greasley relived former mixed tournament glories as they came from one game down to level the match against David Pemberton and Mike Leon, before a shoulder injury put paid to the EFA pair, allowing Andy to claim victory and to insist on it counting as an official NOEFC fixture for statistical purposes. Well, he is the President, so who are we to argue?

North Oxford 1 beat Team Westway 1 2-1 at Westway 27/01/18:

J.Piggot & S.Oppenheimer beat G.Chapman & D.Patel 3-1 (12-6, 14-11, 5-12, 12-7)

C.Austin & R.Wilson lost to T.Thurnham & T.McCahon 2-3 (12-6, 12-11, 5-12, 3-12, 6-12)

K.Hird & G.Hoskins beat F.Rowe & J.Florey 3-0 (12-1, 12-3, 12-4)

The unbeaten run in 2018 continued at Westway on Saturday with a satisfying 2-1 away win in Division 1, the only disappointment being the loss of second pair from 2-0 up. The conquerors of James Toop at Orpington earlier in the year were back in harness at first pair, James Piggot and Sam Oppenheimer's hapless victims this time being the established Westway first string of Darshan Patel and Guy Chapman. There were a couple of wobbles - having to come back from a 7-1 deficit in the second game and letting the third slip away to five, but the Oxford pair were in control for the majority of the match, Oppenheimer's high energy game and impressive cutting providing a solid backdrop to Piggot's expertise and control of top step. Westway suffered a couple of late withdrawals, which meant late call-ups for Division 3 regulars Freddie Rowe and John Florey, meaning that Gareth and Karen were largely untroubled at third pair, Karen having rather more difficulty lugging around the enormous cuddly toy bought from next door Westfield in a pre-match shopping spree with her mother. Plus the obligatory real tennis rackets of course. All looked good for a maximum points haul as Chris Austin and Rob Wilson got off to a great start, winning the first game easily and withstanding a Westway fightback to win the second 12-11 after a gutsy sudden death call, much to the liking of the watching Karen. Things began to unravel in the third game, as the North Oxford pair's set piece fell away somewhat and Tom McCahon in particular began to find some fine form, cutting strongly and volleying with speed and precision and backed up by solid support from Tim Thurnham There were moments where Chris & Rob looked like they might have the one good spell they needed to win a third game and take the match but with the fifth game evenly poised at 5-5, the Westway pair raised their game once again and completed the comeback. There was a 5-2 win in the pub afterwards for North Oxford to go with the on court victory and the two points won take us up to fourth in the currently very crowded Division 1 table. Next up is a tough away assignment against the current league leaders at Mill Hill on Thursday.

NOEFC winning at Westway

North Oxford 2 beat Old Ipswichians 3-0 at Aldenham 21/01/18:

G.Pulsford & C.Austin beat Tom Fletcher & W.Gibbons 3-0 (12-0, 12-7, 12-3)

G.Hoskins & C.Davies beat T.Gregory & S.Burnell 3-1 (12-6, 1-12, 12-8, 12-6)

K.Hird & S.Chapman beat S.Cass & J.Caudle 3-0 (12-7, 12-2, 12-3)

The winning start to 2018 continued at Aldenham with an impressive and convincing 3-0 Division 2 win against a good Old Ipswichian side. Grandad Graham and the Wizard of Wolverhampton don't lose many matches playing together, especially on their home patch at Aldenham, and proved too strong for the Ipswichian first pair of Fletcher and Gibbons, whose three cuts straight out of court at the start of the first game rather set the tone for what was to follow. The EFA grandees - Chairman Davies and Secretary Hoskins - made rather harder work of things at second pair against the tough pairing of Gregory and Burnell in a topsy turvy match that saw the North Oxford pair win the first 12-5 from 0-4 down, lose the second to one in double quick time and go 7-0 in the third and then clinging on. The maestro had been in fine form in the first and third games but was beginning to tire in the fourth as the OI pair went 5-2 up. Either the arrival of a crowd or the desperation not to have to play a fifth game provoked captain Gareth into life for the first time as he produced by far his best spell of the match to seize control and take the fourth game and the win, which had seemed anything but certain shortly before. With Spencer and Karen mopping up comfortably in games two and three after a hardfought first game win over former NOEFC Monday nighter Simon Cass and veteran John Caudle, an impressive 11/12 repaired to the Roundbush (only Spencer letting the side down) for lunch and the astonishing discovery that there were still some Fives players who hadn't heard the website story, allowing Graham to put that right. Oh how Karen laughed, although she did then perk up when the inevitable sticky toffee pudding arrived. 

North Oxford beat The Brigands 3½-½ at Eton 11/01/18:

S.Chapman & C.Davies beat A.White & M.Skjott 3-0 (12-7, 12-7, 12-9)

H.Asquith & S.Thatcher drew with R.Pattison & R.Smart 1-1 (14-11, 11-14)

D.Naik & M.Chinery beat I.Mitchell & F.Kerr 3-0 (12-6, 12-6, 12-4)

A.Bishop & J.Da Costa beat N.Jones & D.Hewitt 2-1 (7-12, 12-9, 12-9)

The first fixture of 2018 was the traditional friendly/dinner engagement against the Brigands at Eton last night and a relatively inexperienced North Oxford line-up came away with an impressive win after an enjoyable evening's Fives. The fixture was played across four pairs, with North Oxford initially having 8 players, the Brigands 7 and the maestro available for both sides. North Oxford won the bidding war for the maestro's services, with Faye Kerr swapping sides in a desperate attempt to make the Brigands line-up slightly less dominated by men of a certain age. A late Brigands drop-out then meant a last minute call-up for Ian Mitchell to give the Brigands third pair a very NOEFC influenced look but it was the official North Oxford third pair who won that internal battle, Charmin' Dharmin combining well with NOEFC debutant Matt Chinery - the first Old Uppinghamian to play for North Oxford - to win in three. There was a long overdue first win of the season for the club president at fourth pair as he expertly supervised the young legs of Joe Da Costa to defeat Nick Jones and Danny Hewitt, coming from behind to win in three. Closest match of the night was at second pair as Harry Asquith and Stephen Thatcher took on veterans Ronald Pattison and Rod Smart, sharing the first two games 14-11, 11-14 before dinner beckoned. There was a rare appearance at first pair in a friendly for Spencer Chapman, but he chose his partner wisely, with the maestro in fine fettle as they overcame Andrew White and Mike Skjott in three games. Next up is another friendly against the Westminsters next week before the league fixtures kick in again towards the end of January.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Salopians 1 2½-½ at Shrewsbury 25/11/17:

S.Cooley & C.Austin beat T.Welti & C.Hughes 3-0 (12-2, 14-11, 12-2)

K.Hird & A.Mitchell beat B.Alderson & T.Brunskill 3-1 (12-9, 10-12, 12-5)

A.Aslam-Baskeyfield & T.Cotterell drew with T.Cox & W.Sissons 2-2 (12-11, 5-12, 12-6, 11-12)

The answer to the Salopian conundrum became clear after Saturday's Division 1 victory - play them at Shrewsbury. In a rare league fixture played north of Watford, an experimental North Oxford line-up (featuring two Salopians in an attempt to negate home advantage) overcame the frozen north and the opposition to claim a resounding victory. Chris Austin was at first pair again and up against his second Welti of the week. The wand had enough magic to account for both brothers, as Chris followed his astute choice of partner on Tuesday with an even more useful ally on Saturday, teaming up with the pro to take care of Tom Welti and Chris Hughes, with just the minor matter of overturning an 11-5 deficit in the second game standing between them and a comfortable victory. Pete Scholey's poor week concluded with a nasty case of the lurgy (perhaps not unrelated to the lengthy wait for a breakdown vehicle next to the M40 on Tuesday night) which meant his late withdrawal and a welcome last minute replacement appearance for Andrew Mitchell who teamed up with Karen at second pair. On paper, theirs looked like a tough assignment against Ben Alderson and top schoolboy Tom Brunskill but Tom was suffering from a back injury sustained earlier in the day playing football, which ultimately curtailed his afternoon's Fives, but not before Karen & Andrew had established an impressive 2-1 lead with some excellent Fives. Third pair really was a unique one in league Fives terms, not only taking place in Shrewsbury but also featuring two Old Rydalians, one on each side. Will Sissons is now a sixth former at Shrewsbury and he paired up with Old Summerfieldian Tom Cox to make a formidable looking third pair. Fresh from his EFA Trophy heroics last weekend and further adding to the Welsh connections on court, current Rydal coach Adam Aslam-Baskeyfield faced up to them alongside professional golfer Tom Cotterell, another ex Rydal pupil keen to take the opportunity to get back on court. This was an epic battle, the two young Rydalians desperate not to lose to each other and their Old Salopian partners also going at it hammer and tongs. Eventually, with the score at 2-2, a combination of the late hour, potential missed trains, spectators about to come down with hypothermia (had they never watched Fives at Shrewsbury before? Surely everyone knows it requires the same level of planning and warm clothing as an expedition to the North Pole) and a bruise the colour of a bishop's robes* on the Cotterell right hand mean that a draw was agreed in a game in which it would have been a shame for one pair to have lost. It may have been an unusual location for a league match, but the post-match entertainment followed the traditional route, although Karen had to forego her sticky toffee pudding fix this week once the move had been made from pub to curry house. A good trip all round, and hopefully one which will be repeated next year.

* (c) S.Cooley and (presumably) referring to an actual bishop rather than APWB.

North Oxford 2 lost to Old Salopians 2 1-2 at Westway 21/11/17:

N.Shaw & C.Austin beat S.Welti & T.Gerrard 1-3 (12-6, 12-7, 13-14, 12-8)

K.Hird & H.Meakin lost to S.Yick & G.Williams 0-3 (2-12, 2-12, 2-12)

S.Chapman & A.Ibbetson* lost to C.Hughes & M.Quinn 0-3 (7-12, ret)

*ineligible player named in advance

Our matches against the Old Salopians are never easy and last night's Division 2 encounter at Westway was no exception with the Scholey bike adding its name to the recent roll call of infamy that has affected the North Oxford second string alongside Grandad's cat and Staley's man flu.

Unfortunately Pete's bike broke down at the Uxbridge junction with the M40, and despite a valiant effort to get it going, he had to rely on a recovery vehicle to take him home, and they wouldn't do it via Westway...

Luckily Andrew Ibbetson was coaching a bunch of kids when Pete phoned with the bad news, and Spencer persuaded him to play for us until his wallball commitments kicked in at 8pm. Anyhow, he smashed his first five shots either down or out of  court before playing really well to make the one game scoreline respectable against Chris Hughes and Marc Quinn.

Pete's absence meant that Hugo Meakin was promoted up the order to partner Karen and together they faced a huge task against Samson Yick & Guy Williams. They were by no means thumped and played some great rallies, but mostly to prevent the Salopians from scoring. Hugo was just a little rusty in the set piece, and the good news is that he seems eager to play more Fives so hopefully we'll be seeing more of him in a North Oxford shirt this season. Sensationally Guy seemed to have broken/dislocated/badly bruised his thumb (or was it his little finger?) after making contact with Karen's thigh. You'll have to ask Karen for the blow by blow account or a photo of the thumbprint.....

The top game was an absolute belter. 2 1/2 hours of sumptuous Fives from all four players. Long rallies, fast reaction volleys and great shot selection made it a treat to watch. Nick & Chris (reliving their Superleague glory days) had one great hand of cut returns in all of the three winning games, scoring 4 or 5 points each time, and that was enough to edge the contest their way. They had a match point to win in three (after conceding an early 0-6 deficit), but the Salopians deserved to take something out of the game, and the winning shot was struck in the fourth with the lights about to go out, earning NOEFC a valuable point and keeping us comfortably in mid-table.

Next up is the second leg in the Salopians double header as we head North to Shrewsbury for the first Division 1 game to be played there for many a year.

Report, video and photos by Spencer Chapman

Action from last night at Westway

EFA Trophy at Eton 19/11/17:

North Oxford A finished 2nd in Group A to qualify for the semi-finals. Beat Lancing 6-0; lost to Old Salopians 2-4; beat Old Citizens 6-0; drew with London Universities 3-3

North Oxford: A.Aslam-Baskeyfield, S.McLoughlin, S.Chapman, K.Hird, D.Cox, C.Lloyd

The EFA Trophy has played an important part in the history of North Oxford Fives and the team who played at Eton in yesterday's qualifying competition added another magnificent chapter to the story, with a last ditch comeback of epic proportions to clinch a place in the last four by the slimmest of margins. There were on or two new faces in the NOEFC line-up this year with Old Salopian and Summer Fields gap year coach Sam McLoughlin making his club debut and bringing along his former school partner Adam Aslam-Baskeyfield, currently coaching at Rydal Penrhos in Colwyn Bay. Oxford Brookes student Hal Gibson-Leitao was also in the original line-up was a late defection to the Oxford University side who found themselves down a man at the last minute thanks to a cricket injury sustained by Old Summerfieldian Barnaby Harrison. This left NOEFC EFA Trophy stalwarts Spencer Chapman, Chris Lloyd and Karen Hird to complete the team alongside the tallest man in Fives David Cox. The team got off to a strong start with a convincing 6-0 win over a potentially dangerous Lancing side, who then took what proved to be a significant point off London Universities. Group favourites the Old Salopians were looking strong and a 2-4 defeat seemed like an ok result at the time, although Karen & Spencer were disappointed to have lost their second game 11-12 at third pair having won the first 12-8. Adam & Sam at first pair relished the opportunity to take on their former coach Grant Williams and OS Samson Yick at first pair and produced a cracking performance in the second game to claim a 1-1 draw having lost the first to an inspired display from Yick. The Old Citizens were seen off 6-0, but at the same time London Universities were putting in a sterling performance against the Salopians, claiming a 3-3 draw in a very tight encounter and making up for the point lost against Lancing earlier in the day. With the Salopians finished and already through, this left North Oxford facing London Universities in a winner take all match in the final match in the group. With each pair playing two sets against their opponents, a 3-3 draw would result in the side with the better points difference from those six sets going through. The London Universities side - a mixture of students from UCL, Imperial and LSE - got off to a strong start across all three courts and at the halfway stage the situation looked bleak for North Oxford. Sam & Adam had gone down 8-12 in the first set against Old Westminsters Matt Lewin & Sahil Shah; Chris & David had lost by the same margin to another Westminster in Will Capstick and Old Cholm Abhishek Bhattacharya and Karen & Spencer had lost 9-12 to another Westminster/Highgate pairing in Kotka Lim & Dan Marshall. Turning one of those matches round looked possible, maybe even two, but to qualify all three North Oxford pairs would have to reverse their first game defeats overturn a collective deficit of 11 points in doing so. What happened next should qualify alongside the Liverpool v AC Milan Champions League final of 2005 and the 2012 "Miracle of Medinah" Ryder Cup as one of the all time great sporting comebacks. Adam & Sam were first out of the blocks, stung by their first game defeat and hell bent on revenge against opposition who had got them riled up. Sam's steadiness, Adam's lethal left-handed volleying and their collective will to win were suddenly irresistible as they took control of the second game, going on to win 12-9 and getting the first point back on the board, albeit with an overall deficit of 1 point. Meanwhile, the key game of the comeback was happening at second pair as Chris Lloyd - finding his best form of the day in his eighth set, mighty impressive from the team veteran, and David Cox hit a purple patch at exactly the right time, racing away from Capstick & Bhattacharya to win 12-5. Two points in the bag and the deficit now only 1 point overall. A win for Karen & Spencer would now complete the job (although a 12-11 victory would have meant counting back the overall points difference in the group - this would have resulted in a North Oxford victory, although no-one knew that at the time) but as the crowd gathered to watch they were 6-8 down and in need of some inspiration. Karen and Spencer - admittedly in a John Terry style non-playing captain role - were both at Westway back in August when the Aston House Thoroughbreds pulled off an eerily similar comeback from 3-0 to win the 2017 Superleague title and they responded in emphatic style to the knowledge that an unlikely victory was within their grasp, surging ahead to 11-8 before a missed winning opportunity and a lost point were followed by two decisive cuts from Spencer and the winning point, much to the disbelief of the London students and the excitement of the watching NOEFC players. Our reward is a repeat of the 2016 semi-final and 2015 final against Oxford University in February where we hope that it will be third time lucky in the local derby as we look to win the competition for the first time since 2009.

NOEFC on their way to EFA Trophy qualification

North Oxford 1 beat Old Berkhamstedians 3-0 at Aldenham 18/11/17:

S.Cooley & J.Cobb beat A.Joyce & T.Ross 3-0 (12-1, 12-2, 14-12)

P.Scholey & G.Pulsford beat A.Rattan & M.Blundell 3-0 (12-10, 14-12, 12-7)

K.Hird & R.Wilson beat R.Dennis & A.Rennie (not that one) 3-0 (12-6, 12-2, 12-1)

The first appearance of the season in Division 1 of resident NOEFC pro Seb Cooley provided the necessary impetus to propel us to a first 3-0 top flight win of the season and make a significant move up a tightly packed Division 1 table. There was also a welcome seasonal debut for Oxford student James Cobb, clearly relishing the prospect of teaming up at first pair with Seb despite his inability to hit the ball anywhere near the light dangling at the back of court two during the warm-up, his evident frustration only amplified by Karen immediately picking up the ball and nailing it first time with practised nonchalance. One of the consequences of having Seb in the line-up is the understandable reluctance of the opposition to put their best two players up against him; OB captain and Kinnaird semi-finalist Andrew Joyce took on the task of trying to ruffle the feathers of Cooley & Cobb alongside Berkhamsted school captain Tom Ross. The result was some great experience for Tom but a comfortable win for the North Oxford pair despite Seb's best efforts to take it to four. The Berkhamstedian pairings also meant more pressure on Pete & Grandad in the North Oxford engine room at second pair, who found themselves up against the fast-improving Alex Rattan and the experienced Mark Blundell, the "Butcher of Berkhamsted" allegedly making his first league appearance for 30 years. Despite Alex's best efforts, the prevailing opinion was that this was possibly the oldest foursome ever in a Division 1 match but the quality was still there, Pete & Graham recovering from a slow start in the first to win it from behind then taking a tight second game and finishing the job off in the third. The OBs had another veteran at third pair in Richard Dennis, playing alongside Alasdair Rennie (no relation), a school contemporary of Andrew's and a good player in his time, but back on court for the first time in eight years. Robert & Karen were more than a match for them and barely broke sweat (does Robert ever?) as they cruised to a convincing win, although Karen did consider the effort put in sufficient to have merited yet another sticky toffee pudding in the Round Bush afterwards, as she looks to hit double figures before Christmas, while the geriatric end of the table all looked like naughty schoolboys let out for the day and hoping their other halves wouldn't find out they were all tucking into ham, egg and chips. They certainly don't serve that for lunch in the Courtney Friend care home for retired Fives players.

Richard Black Cup at Eton 12/11/17:

Group Stages: beat Highgate 1 2-1, Oxford University 2-1, EFA 3-0, Westminsters 3-0. First in group.

Semi-Final:

North Oxford beat Shrewsbury 2-1

K.Hird & S.Greasley beat S.Breese & K.Graham 2-0 (12-0, 12-5)

F.Turnbull & H.Asquith beat G.Davies & P.Wasdell 2-0 (12-3, 12-4)

M.Barnes & F.Kerr lost to E.Windle & I.Wong 0-2  (8-12, 6-12)

Final:

North Oxford beat Highgate 3-0

K.Hird & F.Kerr beat E.Scoones & M.Barry 2-0 (12-8, 14-12)

H.Asquith & F.Turnbull beat E.Smith-Bingham & E.Williets 2-0 (12-3, 12-7)

M.Barnes & S.Greasley beat I.Britton & L.Valensise 2-0 (12-2, 11-2 ret)

After four successive defeats in the final, North Oxford finally turned the tables on arch rivals Highgate, defeating them by the resounding margin of 3-0 to win the Richard Black Cup for the first time ever. This year's tournament looked wide open and the the North Oxford challenge got off to slightly sticky start with Francesca's train from Cardiff delayed, causing a rushed start to her first match and a 15-13 defeat at the hand of Oxford University. A 3-0 win over the EFA settled things down before the big clash with defending champions Highgate. Captain Karen looked to strengthen second and third pair by moving Sarah Greasley down to three and Harriet Asquith down to two and the move paid off as both of those two pairs won handsomely. The change was fully justified by the storming display at first pair from the promoted Faye Kerr. For a player who only started playing properly in April to be on a court with five time national champion Karen Hird, top five player Emily Scoones and multiple age group winner Eve Smith-Bingham was quite a challenge and Faye responded brilliantly, backing up a sparkling performance from captain Karen to get them ahead 10-9 and within shouting distance of a memorable upset. They couldn't quite see it through but the result was enough to see North Oxford top the group after a 3-0 win over the Westminsters and also struck a crucial psychological blow for later in the day. The semi-final was up against Shrewsbury, a team with great strength in depth, whose third pair was too strong for Mandie and Faye. Happily the top two North Oxford pairs were both in firm control of their matches with Karen and Sarah Greasley utterly dominant at first pair and Harry and Francesca too fast and too accurate for their Salopian opponents. Highgate had overcome Ipswich in the other semi-final, producing a repeat of the finals of the last four years and also of the morning group stage encounter. This was a different Highgate, however, still with some star quality in Scoones and Smith-Bingham but with younger players backing them up with some of their previous winners now off at University or abroad. Any early nerves for the watching crowd were soon dispelled as the highly-motivated and totally focused North Oxford pairs flew out of the blocks. After their heavy defeats at second and third pair earlier in the day, Highgate were forced into splitting up the Scoones/Smith-Bingham pairing. Captain Karen went with the same pairs that had worked in the first game and Sarah & Mandie struck the first blow, demolishing the tiring Highgate third pair in double quick time. Harry & Francesca were following suit, not giving Smith-Bingham (having to cope with a bruised hand) and her young partner any time to settle and not giving them any opportunity to get their noses in front and maybe provide some much needed motivation to the struggling Smith-Bingham. Fittingly it was Francesca Turnbull, the team's youngest player but also a veteran of all four previous finals, who hit the cup winning shot, nailing a right hander from the back court straight into the hole. All that remained was for Karen & Faye to succeed where they had narrowly failed earlier in the day and with Emily this time partnering the less experienced Mia Barry, Karen was able to take a firm grip on the game while Faye provided rock solid support, cutting strongly, volleying well and missing little from the back court as the North Oxford pair won in two games to complete a clean sweep and win the competition for the first time in the club's history. Simply awesome!

North Oxford 2 lost to St.Olave's School 1 0-3 at Orpington 11/11/17:

S.Chapman & G.Hoskins lost to H.Ravi & J.Prior 2-3 (5-12, 12-5, 14-12, 7-12, 11-12)

I.Mitchell & S.Thatcher lost to S.Gupta & S.Ujoodia 0-3 (0-12, 3-12, 6-12)

K.Hird & H.Asquith lost to T.Liddemore & L.Maclean 1-3 (12-4, 6-12, 8-12, 9-12)

A busy week of league Fives finished at Orpington on Saturday as a plucky North Oxford second string narrowly failed to come away with anything from a tough fixture away at the home of the defending Division 2 champions. With the team arriving en masse in the Chapmanmobile (Harry in the baby seat in the boot) it was a slightly incapacitated NOEFC side who hobbled their way down the Orpington steps to the courts; Gareth on the comeback trail after nearly four weeks out with a dodgy ankle, Ian nursing an iffy shoulder, Karen diganosed midweek with a small bicep tear and Harry with her usual assortment of cuts and bruises. Only Stephen and Spencer arrived unscathed and frankly Spencer needs no more handicaps than the ones he has already. Gareth and Spencer at first pair were up against an in form pair in Harry Ravi and Joey Prior, fresh from an impressive run to the last four of the U25s together and with Prior a recent finalist in the Midlands tournament at Repton. The first game disappeared fairly rapidly while Gareth worked out what he could and couldn't do on his ankle. The two problem areas were turning sharply and pushing forward to return cut so a cunning tactical plan was devised - Gareth would return cut from under the wall and would push forward from the back court at every possible opportunity to volley aggressively behind Spencer. It worked a treat as the North Oxford pair raced through the second game and held on to a lead in the third with Spencer having two or three cut return purple patches. The fourth went less well with Prior finding his returning game and Ravi hitting a great length into the buttress but the North Oxford pair managed to get back in front in the fifth and got to 10-5 and then 11-6 ahead. By this stage, though, there were cracks appearing: Gareth's ankle was now causing him quite a bit of difficulty and hindering his mobility more and more; Ravi and Prior had overcome a poor spell early in the fifth and were now playing as well as at any time in the match with some superb gameball cutting. Gareth and Spencer had a couple of chances but couldn't make them stick and the Olavian pair quickly pulled back the deficit and won the sudden death shoot out to leave the North Oxford pair with mixed emotions - pleased that they had played extremely well to get as close as they did but disappointed to have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory having done 99% of the job. Ian & Stephen at second pair were up against a strong schoolboy pair and it is probably best to draw a veil over their match, with neither North Oxford player able to get going, although the scoreline in the third was a bit more respectable. Karen & Harry at third pair were getting in some practice for the following day's Black Cup and got off to an absolute flyer, steamrollering their way through the first game against a rather complacent Olavian pair. Louis Maclean was an U16 finalist in the schools' championships last year, however, and a fine player and he and his partner raised their game from the second game onwards to win in four, despite Karen and Harry pushing them all the way in the third and fourth games. It may have been 0-3 on court but it was 6-0 in the Royal Oak as Karen added a 7th sticky toffee pudding of the season to her 9th appearance and Spencer feasted on chickpea and aubergine falafel washed down with cardamom, fennel and aniseed tea. Nobody else did.

North Oxford 3 beat The Abbey 2-1 at Westminster 09/11/17:

S.Purkis & G.Thompson beat H.Young & A.Vinen 3-0 (12-11, 13-12, 12-10)

E.Scoones & S.Thatcher beat C.Koksal & C.Shine 3-1 (12-3, 14-13, 12-14, 12-8)

A.Bishop & S.Nowinski lost to B.Chen & L.Doody 0-3 (8-12, 7-12, 3-12)

An excellent match at 1st pair, with Simon Purkis returning from injury and gradually getting back into it - although he'd apparently forgotten that pin-stripe suits are not the usual apparel for on court: fortunately some shorts and trainers were found for him to borrow. He steadily improved throughout, ably led and supported (in equal measure) by Old Summerfieldian and North Oxford debutant Guy Thompson, who made full use of all the ledges, bricks and under-borders that he could find. This was the last match to finish.

Emily Scoones & Stephen Thatcher at second pair scythed through in their first, then clearly had to pull all the stops out in the second. In the third we were 11-3 up and perhaps that was the moment that Stephen realised that his driver had accepted the captain's invitation for a drink in the Sanctuary House, and that he therefore had the opportunity for more practice for Saturday's match. Whatever the reason, 11-3 up became 12-14 down. Emily then remembered about her tournament on Sunday (and perhaps the drink at the Sanctuary) and ensured that the fourth would be the final game of the evening.

The experienced NOEFC 3rd pair struggled to return many cuts and therefore scoring opportunities were scarce, especially in the later stages. We restricted them for long periods at a time by cutting quite effectively (slow dippers) but too often conceded flurries of 3 or 4 points on the trot. I'm afraid that neither of us managed to find our best form and were unable to make it a clean sweep.

Report from Andy Bishop

North Oxford 1 beat Old Westminsters 1 2-1 at Highgate 08/11/17:

J.Piggot & P.Scholey lost to L.Brock & R.Houlden 0-3 (8-12, 4-12, 14-15)

G.Pulsford & N.Turnbull beat S.Shah & H.Young 3-2 (12-8, 14-11, 8-12, 2-12, 12-6)

C.Davies & A.Lumbard beat J.Sherwood & C.Koksal 3-0 (12-6, 12-2, 12-7)

Last night at Highgate saw a welcome first win of the Division season at the fourth attempt against an inexperienced Old Westminsters side. On a bitterly cold evening - two coats required for the non-playing, still injured NOEFC captain - the crowd (see above) were disappointed not to get to watch the eagerly anticipated clash between University champions James Piggot & Tom Kirkby and Kinnaird Cup semi-finalists Laurie Brock & Riki Houlden due to TK's unfortunate late withdrawal. One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity, however, and Pete Scholey gleefully stepped into the breach, relishing the opportunity to mix it with three of the country's top young players and relive some of  his Old Edwardian glory years on court with the likes of Hughes, Campbell, Mason and Mole. The pace of the game was unrelenting from the start; with the standard of returning generally better than the standard of cutting and all four players retrieving like mad as well as finding the ball difficult to kill, the rallies were long, fast, plentiful and exciting to watch. After a slow start in the first game, James & Pete began to find their feet towards the end to narrow the gap, providing cause for optimism despite losing it 12-8. Another poor start in the second couldn't be clawed back but the North Oxford pair really got going in the third, with Pete now fully tuned in to the pace of the game and playing very solidly from the back court and James showing his superb speed and predatory volleying on top step. Ahead for most of the game, including a tantalising 13-11 at one point, Pete & James certainly deserved to get a game on the board but sadly it was not to be as the Westminster pair sneaked through 15-14 to win an enthralling match 3-0. Second pair initially looked fairly routine with Grandad and Nathan Turnbull pulling out to a 2-0 lead, both games close but with the NOEFC pair generally in control against Imperial student Sahil Shah and Westminster schoolboy Hugo Young. Maybe Grandad then realised that he was actually older than the other three players on court combined (an increasingly frequent occurence...) and started feeling his age, maybe a bit of complacency set in, maybe the Westminster pair upped their game or maybe Nathan's just getting a taste for five-setters after Sunday's match in Cambridge - Nathan as the new (Richard) Black? - but the match then turned on its head, with the OWs winning the third then racing through the fourth in double quick time to take the match to a decider and leave the crowd wishing they'd brought a third coat. Thankfully, Graham & Nathan stopped the rot, finding their cut returns again and establishing an early lead which they never relinquished, going on to win 12-7 and take the match 3-2. If TK's absence meant a chance for Pete at first pair it also meant that opportunity knocked for late call-up Ashley Lumbard, making a long-awaited and keenly hoped for Division 1 debut. The circumstances were kind - on her regular home courts against an inexperienced Westminster pair and with the maestro for company - but Ashley's performance was nevertheless of the highest quality as she dominated proceedings with some ferocious cutting, nifty footwork and killer volleying. Chris, just about recovered from Sunday's epic, was able to enjoy an armchair ride, providing a few classy touches of his own to complement Ashley's virtuoso display as the North Oxford pair took charge right from the start and raced through to a highly impressive 3-0 win. The Division 1 roadshow now moves on to Aldenham in 10 days time and then up to Shrewsbury, with the next two matches marking the return to the fold of the club pro as we look to build on this win and move up the table.

Pete & James fighting tooth and nail in a tremendous first pair match

North Oxford beat Cambridge University 2-1 at Cambridge 05/11/17:

C.Davies & K.Hird lost to N.Turnbull & V.Gudiwala 2-3 (12-8, 12-5, 11-15, 8-12, 9-12)

I.Mitchell & M.Barnes lost to S.Nowinski* & A.Shah 1-3 (6-12, 9-12, 12-6, 5-12)

F.Kerr & J.Da Costa beat K.Heffernan & S.Turner 3-0 (12-8, 12-9, 12-6)

*North Oxford player loaned to the opposition!

With the morning's ladies match completed, the important business of the day was conducted in the Red Lion at Grantchester with the well-honed athletes of North Oxford following the instructions of the club nutritionist to the letter and piling in the Sunday roasts and hefty puddings in preparation for taking on the University men's team in the afternoon. Once troublemaker Kerr had stopped being rude to the bar staff, a fine time was had by everyone and it was with a certain amount of reluctance that steps were retraced to the sports centre. A late Cambridge drop out meant that Mandie was called into action for the second time in the day and she teamed up with Ian, allowing occasional Cambridge Town player Stefan to move across and partner the otherwise abandoned Akhil Shah. Mandie continued her good form from the morning, showing that her shoulder is now much improved and ready for the Black Cup next weekend as she and Ian mounted a fine comeback after losing the first game, getting close in the second and then winning the third comfortably. They couldn't quite see it through, however, and Akhil and Stefan came through to win in four. The noisiest game unsurprisingly featured Faye and Joe in court three where some Fives occasionally broke out among the shrieks and general hilarity as the future of North Oxford Fives took on two of Cambridge's new recruits, a couple of promising but inexperienced left-handers. Faye & Joe played well, showing their continued improvement, and picked up a splendid and well-deserved victory. That left just the first pair game to complete. New EFA Chairman Chris Davies and Karen Hird looked to be in total control as they twice recovered from slow starts to power ahead towards the end of the first two games, with Karen looking sharp and the maestro killing the ball in the hole seemingly for fun. Surely nothing could go wrong, even when the third slipped away 11-15 from a possible winning position? Things looked distinctly ropy in the fourth as Nathan Turnbull and Viral Gudiwala - suddenly all over the North Oxford pair like a rash - went 7-1 and 8-2 ahead before Chris and Karen roared back to level at 8-8, seemingly poised to finish things off. Instead it was the Cambridge pair who came back again to take the fourth game and level at 2-2. Still, the North Oxford pair seemed to have things in control. Chris looked as if he'd barely started, as fresh as a daisy with the first four games a mere warm up; Karen had done the groundwork for a long one by laying in a sticky toffee pudding on top of the lamb roast at lunchtime so was clearly set to go the distance. With the remaining players watching on, the fifth game was a nailbiter, moving slowly to 3-3 before more cut returns started coming back from both sides, and the scoring began to accelerate with the lead changing hands on a regular basis. At 9-7 up, Karen & Chris looked to be in control once again, but the final shift in momentum was in Cambridge's favour, and they completed a splendid comeback to win the fifth game 12-9. Chris, of course, was still full of energy and keen to carry on and play a few more sets against whoever was up for it. No-one was so he had to content himself with the thought of some more games at Summer Fields the day after. 

North Oxford Ladies drew with Cambridge University Ladies 1-1 at Cambridge 05/11/17:

C.Farquaharson-Roberts & F.Kerr beat S.Xu & E.Vinen 2-0 (12-4, 12-5)

S.Jackman & E.Leatherbarrow lost to U.Taujanskaite & M.Barnes 0-2 (6-12, 8-12)

The morning leg of the annual Cambridge double header saw the North Oxford and Cambridge ladies tuning up for next week's Black Cup. There was a welcome return for Charlie Farquaharson-Roberts, who showed her enduring class as she teamed up with Faye Kerr to cruise past students Emma Vinen and Susanna Xu. With two very promising Cambridge beginners playing a mixture of matches and receiving numerous pearls of coaching wisdom in the third court from Gareth, Karen, Ian and Joe, Mandie slotted into the spare Cambridge slot at second pair to partner Ursule Taujanskaite against former Shrewsbury teammates and North Oxford debutants Sarah Jackman and Erin Leatherbarrow, Mandie's experience proving to be the difference between the pairs. Some swapping around ensued, with Sarah and Erin defeating Susanna & Emma 12-11, 12-8 in an excellent contest and Charlie & Ursule taking on Mandie & Faye, before time was called with the familiar North Oxford refrain ringing in the ears: new club song anyone?

Action on the Cambridge courts from the morning ladies matches

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Harrovians 0-3 at Eton 04/11/17:

R.Wilson & C.Austin lost to R.Tyler & J.Fleming 0-3 (0-12, 5-12, 4-12)

P.Scholey & G.Pulsford lost to N.Shaw & O.Denby 0-3 (12-15, 13-15, 7-12)

C.Ballingall & K.Hird lost to Z.Smith & Q.Gaba 0-3 (4-12, 3-12, 6-12)

The absence of Tom Dunbar from the Old Harrovian teamsheet initially opened up a possible opportunity to take some points off the defending Division 1 champions at Eton on Saturday, but plans were scuppered by a rather longer list of NOEFC absentees, with Seb keeping his powder dry for another couple of weeks, Phil and Gareth struck down by injury and a rather unfortunately timed Oxford University/Old Etonian fixture and dinner in Oxford. Ironically, the only OU student not required for that match was Old Harrovian Oskar Denby, who duly turned out for the opposition (after an emergency stop in a layby on the A404 to decorate the undergrowth rather than the non-playing North Oxford captain's car). In the absence of the big guns, Robert Wilson and Chris Austin stepped up to play at first pair, but sadly things didn't quite go their way. They came up against a Richard Tyler & Jamie Fleming pairing in fine form, with Fleming in particular looking razor sharp around the buttress. With the North Oxford pair not getting going at all and the Harrovians also getting the run of the ball, the first game was over in the blink of an eye, the scoreline best glossed over. The North Oxford pair performed much more creditably in games two and three but were unable to get themselves in a position to challenge for the win and went down in three. Pete & Graham at second pair were up against the recovering Denby and a familiar foe in the form of Nick Shaw. The North Oxford veterans are beginning to find their form after a slightly slow start to the season and played extremely well to push the Harrovian pair right to the limit. It was a pity that they weren't quite able to win either of the first two games, both of which were incredibly tight, as coming back from 0-2 down was always going to be difficult. 12-15 and 13-15 were tough scorelines for Pete & Grandad, who certainly deserved to be at least level at that point in the match and the quality of their play bodes well for the next few matches. Third pair saw Karen Hird again stepping in and not looking out of place in Division 1 alongside Chris Ballingall, making his top flight debut. They could have had easier matches than one against Harrow School number 1 Qassi Gaba and returning former schools' champion Zikomo Smith (making a formidable four former schools' winners out of six players in the OH line-up) but they acquitted themselves really well despite losing in three, the scoreline reflecting the greater ability of the Harrovian pair to kill the ball and their slightly more penetrating cutting. There were plenty of long rallies and Karen & Chris produced some excellent Fives at times, but in the end the OH pair had the greater weapons and won in three. A 3-1 victory in the pub post-match allowed Pete to view Mr Tyler's video collection from his recent trip to Grillon, which the BBFC would certainly not be giving a PG certificate to, and the North Oxford team some time to lick their wounds and plan for future glories. Ideally against the Westminsters on Wednesday...

North Oxford 3 lost to Lancing 1-2 at Charterhouse/Summer Fields 15 & 22/10/17:

D.Cox & A.Bishop lost to A.Lumbard & C.Ballingall* 1-3 (3-12, 12-10, 7-12, 7-12)

*ineligible player named in advance

The slightly disjointed Division 3 was brought to a conclusion on Sunday, with league Fives returning to the Summer Fields courts for the first time in a while. For the second day in a row, the picture was clouded by a late withdrawal, this time Jonny Nelmes and his dodgy back causing a headache for Lancing captain Ashley Lumbard, who was happily able to improvise by calling up fiancé Chris Ballingall to make up the numbers as an ineligible player (Chris's allegiances belonging to the Citizens in Division 3 this year). With the point in the bag, the Radley maths department pairing of Bishop & Cox were able to relax and enjoy the match. They managed to win the second game, but ultimately went down in four in an enjoyable encounter.

North Oxford 2 lost to Old Millhillians 2 1-2 at Aldenham 22/10/17:

R.Wilson & P.Scholey lost to A.Rennie & G.Kong 1-3 (10-12, 10-12, 12-9, 8-12)

S.Chapman & C.Rennie beat I.Kidd & H.Gibson-Leitao 3-0 (15-13, 12-6, 12-9)

North Oxford 2 conceded third pair

Rare indeed are the penalty points conceded by North Oxford in the league, so it was with some disappointment that Saturday's third pair against the Old Millhillians at Aldenham had to be given away. With the team captain away on holiday and out of mobile reception, a Saturday night text message from Jon Staley informing him of Jon being unwell was not received until well after the event; the subsequent no-show unfortunately left Karen partnerless at third pair and two OMs without opposition. Pete Scholey was also suffering from a heavy cold but battled on to play at first pair with Robert Wilson against tough opposition in Andrew Rennie and Gareth Kong. On another day, the North Oxford pair might just have nicked it, but with Pete not quite at 100% and Robert not always able to back up his excellent play with the killer shot, the Millhillian pair won in four, a rare departure from the five-setters traditionally played at first pair in this fixture. Honour was restored and an overall negative points score avoided by Spencer and Carl at second pair, who made slightly heavy weather of their straight games win at times, but came through well at the business end of each game with Carl showing some fine flourishes. Karen was reduced to a spectating role - her first absence from a NO teamsheet this season - and to enjoying the Round Bush bar staff's opinion of Spencer's uncanny resemblance to Grandad Graham. Separated at birth maybe?

North Oxford 3 trail Lancing 0-2 at Charterhouse 15/10/17:

K.Hird & S.Chapman lost to M.Scurr & A.Abrahams 1-3 (6-12, 12-4, 9-12, 7-12)

Second pair to be played at Summer Fields 22/10/17

S.Thatcher & F.Kerr lost to J.Ravi & M.Davis 0-3 (4-12, 6-12, 4-12)

The North Oxford third string came out second best after a rather disrupted build up to Sunday afternoon's Division 3 match at Charterhouse against Lancing. Some initial confusion about the start time from the North Oxford end and some unavailability from the Lancing end meant that everyone was happy in the end with the decision to play first and third pairs on Sunday, while saving the second pair for next weekend back at Summer Fields, where Captain Andy and the tallest man in Fives David Cox will be aiming to rescue a second pair point after Lancing dominated proceedings at Charterhouse. Mylo Scurr at first pair was always going to be a handful and alongside the fast-improving Alex Abrahams he took the first game fairly comfortably against a post-lurgy Spencer and a Karen feeling the effects of her five-game marathon the previous morning at Orpington. The North Oxford pair sprung into life in game two, however, playing their best Fives of the match to level up at 1-1. The chance was there in the third to take the lead, but with Spencer's legs going and Karen's shoulder stiffening, the Lancing pair sniffed blood and went in for the kill, taking the win in four. Third pair looked like it was going to be a corker on paper, with Stephen Thatcher and Faye Kerr lined up to play against Matt Davis and Richard Black. There was a shock last-minute substitution, however, with the veteran EFA President suddenly turning into young Olavian Josh Ravi, Alex's Surrey University partner. This made Stephen and Faye's job significantly more difficult and despite putting up a valiant effort, they were unable to seriously threaten the Lancing pair, leaving Andy and David to restore some pride back on home turf on Sunday.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Olavians 1-2 at Orpington 14/10/17:

J.Piggot & S.Oppenheimer beat J.Toop & J.Prior 3-2 (8-12, 12-2, 10-12, 12-6, 12-7)

P.Scholey & G.Pulsford lost to H.Wiseman & T.Barker 0-3 (1-12, 6-12, 3-12)

G.Hoskins & K.Hird lost to P.White & R.Tudor 2-3 (5-12, 12-9, 12-4, 11-15, 7-12)

Last year's Division 1 trip to Orpington produced one of the most memorable results in North Oxford's history with a magnificent 3-0 win. A repeat was never seriously on the cards, especially with Seb away in France, but the NOEFC team produced another strong display, coming away with a well-deserved point and not being too far away from a second. The signs on arrival looked reasonably promising, with James Toop and Howard Wiseman present but one or two other notables absent. No sooner had captain Gareth uttered the immortal words "This would be looking a lot tougher if Matt Wiseman and Peter White were here", than the self same Matt Wiseman and Peter White walked through the door. Matt at least was there purely on coaching duty but nevertheless the Olavian side had a strong and experienced look to it. Howard can always be relied upon to tinker with his pairs and it was the old guard at two who cam off worst, Pete and Grandad finding themselves up against Howard and the formidable Tony Barker and predictably not being able to make too much of an impression. Gareth and Karen at third pair found themselves up against White and Richard Tudor and got off to a slow start in the first game before suddenly clicking into gear at 1-7 down in the second to perform an anti-Wilsonian turnaround and steamroller through to a 12-9 win. They followed that with a superb third game, cutting and returning impressively with Karen controlling the top step with the deft touch of a Fives virtuoso and producing a dominant display to lead her pair to a 12-4 win and a 2-1 lead. Gareth and Karen were never going to be able to maintain the same level through to the end and the Olavian pair duly came back hard in the fourth, keeping their noses in front right up to 10-7, at which point Gareth and Karen found some more inspiration to level at 10-10 and then go 11-10 ahead. Another couple of hands in a similar vein might have been enough but it wasn't to be as the Olavian pair finished the game with a flurry of winners and then kept control throughout the fifth game as Gareth and Karen found themselves unable to produce the same level of cutting that they had earlier in the match. All was not lost for NOEFC, however, as the Oxford student pair of James Piggot and Sam Oppenheimer produced one of the all time great North Oxford performances at first pair to defeat multiple Kinnaird Cup winner James Toop and partner Joey Prior in five magnificent games, coming from 2-1 down to win an epic encounter 3-2. It has been clear for a while that James has got a performance like this in his locker with his unusual angles, lightning-fast reflexes and snappy left-hand volleys causing chaos at times in the ranks of his Olavian opponents, while Sam raised his game to new heights in support of his partner. Their brilliant victory was toasted over lunch in the Royal Oak afterwards (5-0 to NOEFC) and their day was only made better by the one North Oxford pub absentee being Grandad Graham, thus sparing them from the official Karen Hird website story initiation ritual. Another time, maybe...

North Oxford 2 beat Old Westminsters 2 3-0 at Eton 08/10/17:

G.Hoskins & R.Wilson beat F.Krespi & E.Osen 3-0 (12-4, 12-4, 12-1)

A.Backhouse & B.Porter lost to A.Lumbard* & C.Ballingall* 3-0 (14-15, 6-12, 6-12)

S.Thatcher & K.Hird beat N.Williams & E.Levy 3-0 (12-2, 12-5, 12-6)

*ineligible players named in advance

A second successive 3-0 Division 2 win on Sunday sent North Oxford's second string to the top of the early season league table. The victims this time were the Old Westminsters, who were unfortunately only able to muster two pairs with several key players unavailable. Would that more of the OWs had shown the dedication of Elana Osen, arriving to play off the back of a 25 hour shift in Colchester hospital. Sadly, this proved not to be ideal preparation for a Fives match (who'd have thunk it?) and Elana was unable to find her best form as she and Westminsters skipper Freddie Krespi failed to make much of an impression at first pair against the North Oxford pairing of Gareth Hoskins and Robert Wilson, who were rather in cruise control throughout. The major surprise of the day was the enforced late addition to the playing roster of skipper Gareth, who was intending to play a supporting role, but ended up on court after another late withdrawal from the still lurgy-stricken Spencer Chapman (horse flu? contagious equine metritis*?), the surprise not being the late withdrawal but more the spurned opportunity to add a nailed-on win to the Chapman stats. In his infinite wisdom, the captain had decided that youngsters Alfie Backhouse and Ben Porter would benefit more from a tough workout than a potentially easy win and roped in Ashley Lumbard and Chris Ballingall to fill in for the Westminsters at second pair, thereby also sparing the OWs a penalty point. The league point may have been in the bag but the challenge of taking on Ashley and Chris was a tough one for Alfie and Ben, but an excellent one in terms of developing their range of skills against good quality adult opposition. The first game in particular was a cracker, with the North Oxford pair just missing out 14-15; despite playing some fine Fives, the Eton U16 and former Summer Fields pair did fall away slightly in the next two games, struggling in particular to cope with Chris going under the wall to return cut and not quite measuring the pace of their shots into the buttress, but these two are clearly stars of the future and we hope to see a lot more of them playing for North Oxford this year. After a year in the wilds of North Wales coaching at Rydal, it was great to see Old Edwardian and former Oxford student Stephen Thatcher back in the ranks, partnering Karen Hird to a routine victory at third pair over Edward Levy and Nik Williams and showing enough to suggest that he will be able to cope with tougher matches as the season progresses. Lunch in the Christopher was a typically North Oxfordian affair with a full round of puddings and the team skipper completing a consecutive weekend hat-trick (Rydal, KES, Eton) of Eton mess orders and coming to the satisfying conclusion that the best one was clearly to be had at its spiritual home.

*one very much hopes not     

Not a Westminster in sight...

North Oxford 2 beat Team Westway 2 3-0 at Aldenham 30/09/17:

G.Pulsford & C.Austin beat T.Betts & D.Patel 3-0 (12-9, 15-13, 12-11)

G.Hoskins & R.Wilson beat J.Black & T.Thurnham 3-0 (12-6, 12-7, 12-4)

C.Rennie & K.Hird beat C.Wheeler & A.Abrahams 3-0 (12-3, 12-4, 12-8)

The Division 2 campaign got off to a flying start at Aldenham on Saturday with a fine 3-0 win over perennial title challengers Team Westway 2, who arrived with a strong-looking team but who were unable to cope with the might of NOEFC on their adopted home turf. With six players available and selected well in advance, this fixture somehow managed to turn into the usual logistical nightmare thanks to the late lurgy-related withdrawal of Spencer Chapman and the non-starting car of Rob Wilson. The former was solved thanks to a welcome return to the North Oxford fold for Carl Rennie while the latter required an abrupt mid-journey U-turn for Karen Hird, a return trip to Beaconsfield to collect the otherwise stranded Rob and a slightly delayed start. Still, the sun was shining at Aldenham and all got underway eventually, with first pair out of the blocks first and a Heath-heavy battle between Grandad Graham and Chris Austin on the North Oxford side and lefty Darshan Patel and the hard-hitting Tom Betts for Westway. After the more experienced home pair had won a nip and tuck first game, the second provided the fireworks with Grandad first of all wetting himself (a faulty bottle lid, apparently, rather than the nurses failing to supply enough incontinence pads) and the Westway pair roaring out to a seemingly unassailable 11-3 lead before somehow producing a collapse from a winning position of positively Wilsonian proportions to let Graham and Chris back in. With Graham fully dried out and the wand beginning to fire, the Westway lead disappeared, the game was levelled at 11-11 and then won by North Oxford 15-13 and the stuffing knocked out of the Westway pair. To their credit, Tom and Darshan recovered well from the disappointment to make the third game highly competitive but there was a certain sense of inevitability when Chris and Graham won it 12-11 to close out the match. The second pair game was an all-Cantab match up between Robert Wilson & Gareth Hoskins and Tim Thurnham & Julian Black. Julian had been on a fitness kick over the summer and looked in great shape throughout; Rob by contrast looked like he was about to collapse in a heap after about three points. Fives matches are not won by fitness alone - just as well for most of North Oxford's players - however, and Rob and Gareth convincingly won the battle at the set piece to keep their noses in front in all three games. The 3-0 win was confirmed at third pair with Carl and Karen Hird in fine form as they cruised past Chris Wheeler and Alex Abrahams and a 6-0 pub whitewash was only averted by a late decision to stay by Julian, thus saving Westway's honour (just about). Some Tyler-esque attempts at food stealing by Grandad and the crowd (Rennie A), some impressive chip-eating from young Matthew Austin, Karen's first sticky toffee pudding of the season - undoubtedly not the last - and Julian's narrow avoidance of the full website story (he had to settle for the edited highlights) were the main post-match events of note as the team celebrated their victory in traditional Round Bush style, before the North Oxford circus moves up to Birmingham on Sunday.

Chris and Grandad get the season off to a winning start. These were taken before Graham wet himself.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Berkhamstedians 1-2 at Westminster 20/09/17:

J.Piggot & C.Austin lost to A.Joyce & A.Rattan 2-3 (6-12, 11-14, 12-5, 12-6, 8-12)

T.Kirkby & S.Oppenheimer lost to C.Nicholls & M.Scurr 1-3 (4-12, 5-12, 12-9, 5-12)

P.Scholey & K.Hird beat J.Young & M.Dight 3-0 (12-4, 12-6, 13-11)

Last season's Division 1 performance - a spectacular third place finish with a massive points haul of 24 - is going to take some matching this year, but the team got off to a solid start at Westminster last night, putting the Old Berkhamstedians under a great deal of pressure and coming away feeling a little unlucky to have scored just the one point after a strong opening performance. The Berkhamstedians have undergone a slight metamorphosis this year with the recent title-winning core of school staff and coaches taking more of a back seat to allow some of the younger products of their coaching system to take centre stage. This makes them perhaps slightly less formidable opposition than in some recent fixtures but they still have a strong group of young players, many with considerable Division 1 experience already in winning teams, and the NOEFC sextet at Westminster knew they had a big job on their hands. Fresh from a maiden triumph in the U25s at the weekend was James Piggot, leading the North Oxford line in the absence of star player Seb Cooley and taking on a former five-time winner of the same U25 title in Andrew Joyce. James was joined in an all left-handed first pair line-up by Chris Austin, looking to wave the wand, revive memories of Superleague final glories from earlier in the summer and fly the flag for the Over 30s (and indeed the Over 40s) in the top two pairs. Joyce and former Cambridge blue Alex Rattan took control at the start of the match, however, winning the first 12-6 and the second 14-11, although there were signs already in the second game that Piggot was beginning to get the measure of his opponents. James then got into full flow in games three and four, showing why he is one of the hottest prospects in the country by taking the match by the scruff of the neck with Chris providing solid support (solidity being one of Chris's main attributes on a Fives court). A big first pair comeback win looked on the cards at 2-2 but alas it was not to be, with Chris running out of steam a bit and James finding out the hard way why Joyce has so many tournament wins under his belt. Two more of the University youngsters featured at second pair for North Oxford as Tom Kirkby and Sam Oppenheimer took on recent school leaver Charlie Nicholls and Lancing Old boy Mylo Scurr, another lefty. TK and Sam were suffering from a little early season rustiness - TK in particular is at his formidable best when playing regularly - and soon found themselves 2-0 down at the hands of Nicholls - only 18 but already a Div 1 veteran - and the mercurial Scurr. The North Oxford pair found some form in the third game as the Berkhamsted pair faltered slightly to raise hopes of another comeback, but the home pair were able to regain their composure and close the match out in the fourth. One of the consequences of the reshuffling of the Berkhamsted pack this year is that they have less strength in depth than before; this will undoubtedly prove to be an opportunity for some players to gain experience and step up a level in the longer term but in this early season game, Pete Scholey and Karen Hird took advantage of their opponents' relative inexperience to ease out to a comfortable 2-0 lead before closing out the match in a tight third and ensuring that the North Oxford team didn't go away empty-handed. This was an encouraging start to the new season, with hopes high that last season's combination of old NOEFC lags and young University talent, plus an occasional sprinkling of Cooley stardust, will once again make us a tough side to beat in what is sure to be a highly competitive division.

North Oxford 3 beat Windsor & Eton 2-1 at Eton 12/09/17:

S.Chapman & K.Hird beat N.Bunyan & I.Mitchell 3-1 (10-12, 12-9, 14-13)

A.Backhouse & B.Porter beat J.Lawrence & J.Hepburn 3-1 (12-8, 6-12, 14-11, 12-6)

A.Bishop & F.Kerr lost to W.Seath & O.Avery 0-3 (10-12, 10-12, 6-12)

The now traditional league season opener at Eton on Tuesday night saw Bishop's Buccaneers get off to a strong start in their Division 3 campaign. The North Oxford team was a pleasing mixture of three experienced hands and three NOEFC league debutants, with victorious Superleague non-playing captain Spencer donning the gloves again to team up with Karen at first pair against familiar foes in the form of Nick Bunyan and Ian Mitchell. Nick & Ian are never easy to beat and it took the best part of two and a half hours for the North Oxford pair to finally get their noses in front, taking the third game 14-13 after losing the first to 10 and winning the second to 9. At that point, Bunyan cracked, faced with the unpleasant prospect of missing last orders if he were to somehow manage to win in five, and headed to the pub, shaking his head and describing Spencer as the new (Richard) Black. Praise indeed. Second pair for North Oxford were ex-Summer Fields pair and Eton U16s Ben Porter and Alfie Backhouse, who acquitted themselves impressively to overcome the loss of the second game and beat Jeff Lawrence and Jamie Hepburn 3-1. Hopefully we'll see more of these two in a North Oxford shirt this year - they are definitely ones to watch! Faye Kerr was the third league debutant alongside Captain Andy at third pair and they found themselves up against the Royal Holloway student pair of Will Seath and Ollie Avery. The students edged each of the three games but a little more experience for Faye and fewer injured bits for Andy and the result might well have been different. They will both be back!