Results 2018/19

North Oxford beat Old Wulfrunians 3-1 at Wolverhampton 23/06/19:

S.Cooley & P.Scholey lost to S.Simmons & C.Austin 2-3 (5-12, 5-12, 12-5, 12-8, 6-12)

G.Hoskins & C.Lumbard beat M.Yates & G.Hammond 2-1 (9-12, 12-6, 12-10)

A.Lumbard & K.Hird beat R.Ambler & P.Bullock 3-0 (12-0, 12-10, 12-4)

S.Chapman & H.Asquith beat T.Walters sr & B.Anwar 3-0 (12-4, 12-2, 12-3)

A trip up to Wolverhampton for a friendly fixture against our old friends the Old Wulfrunians brought the curtain down on the North Oxford 2018/19 season. The strength of the North Oxford order brought about a 3-1 win despite a shock five game defeat for the pro and Pete Scholey at first pair against a determined Chris Austin and an inspired Sid Simmons, a match we may hear replayed in the Round Bush once or twice in the next few years. Spencer was grateful for the opportunity to remind everyone of the time he took a game off Tom Dunbar in the Barber Cup (who knew?), and was already basking in the glory of a solid first post wrist injury win alongside Harry Asquith against the Salopian young and old combination of Tony Walters sr and Bilal Anwar to give the Chapman stats a much needed late season boost. Ashley & Karen blew Phil Bullock and Rich Ambler away in their first game, before seeing off the not unexpected second game fightback and Chris & Gareth came through a long and evenly matched second pair contest to record a satisfying win over Mark Yates and Greg Hammond. The match win was sandwiched between a 7-0 pre-match win in the Oddfellow's for lunch, where a large dent was put in the poultry population of the Black Country, and a 4-3 post-match win in the Royal Oak. A fine way to end another fine season.

North Oxford lost to Charterhouse 2-4 at Charterhouse 16/06/19:

Ar.Bhattacharya & O.Avery lost to T.McCahon & R.Elston 1-2 (12-10, 2-12 ret)

G.Hoskins & E.Osen beat J.Ravi & F.Mclellan 2-0 (12-5, 12-8)

Ab.Bhattacharya & S.Nowinski lost to A.Abrahams & C.Pethick 0-2 (5-12, 10-12)

S.Chapman & T.Hoskins lost to H.Young & C.Howard 0-2 (9-12, 3-12)

A.Bishop & P.Bush lost to J.Troy & J.Nelmes 0-1 (6-12)

M.Barnes & N.Lilienthal beat T.Slater & H.Hutchinson 2-1 (8-12, 12-7, 12-8)

The annual summer fixture at Charterhouse - the penultimate match of the NOEFC 2018/19 campaign - once again proved to be one of the highlights of the calendar: six pairs, summer sunshine (eventually), lots of friendly matches and the usual barbecue afterwards down at the courts. With a few regulars unavailable, there was a chance for some of North Oxford's more inexperienced players to get some game time as well as an opportunity for a few guest players to have the privilege of donning the famous NOEFC colours. With Charterhouse strengthening their hand with a gaggle of young coaches/Brigands, the result this year went 4-2 the way of the home team with the initial pairings in play. At first pair Aroop Bhattacharya & Ollie Avery got off to a great start against NOEFC's own Tom McCahon and school captain Rob Elston, winning the first game to 10. As Aroop began to fade - suffering from a bad shoulder that necessitated his withdrawal at the end of the second game - the Charterhouse pair began to gain control and cruised through the second. Club captain Gareth Hoskins and Elana Osen put in a solid performance at second pair against an under par Josh Ravi and schoolboy Finn Mclellan to win in two, while Abs Bhattacharya & Stefan Nowinski just came up short against OC Christian Pethick and NOEFC's new Division 1 signing for 2019/20 Alex Abrahams. Hugo Young at fourth pair had a bit too much class for Spencer Chapman - in his first game back after breaking his wrist - and Tom Hoskins, who coped well with the hard-hitting tactics of his older opponents. There was a NOEFC debut for the youngest Bush brother Peter at fifth pair and he put in a very good account of himself in his first ever match away from Summer Fields, partnering Andy Bishop against the wily staff pairing of John Troy and Jonny Nelmes. Mandie Barnes & Natalie Lilienthal got the second North Oxford point on he board with a come from behind victory against a Charterhouse U14 pair before a series of extra games featuring different combinations of both teams and finally a well-deserved lunch. The season concludes with a visit to the Black Country and a match against our old friends the Wulfrunians next Sunday.

North Oxford lost to Old Edwardians ½-2½ at Cranleigh 12/05/19:

P.Roper & L.Halstead lost to P.Scholey & S.Thatcher 0-3 (11-12, 5-12, 11-12)

C.Austin & K.Hird lost to J.Halstead & M.Halstead 1-2 (12-5, 10-13, 3-12)

G.Hoskins & R.Halstead drew with M.Barnes & R.Morgan 1-1 (6-12, 12-10)

Additional Games

J.Halstead & R.Halstead beat K.Hird & M.Barnes 12-10

P.Roper & R.Halstead beat K.Hird & L.Halstead 12-11

P.Roper & R.Morgan beat S.Thatcher & L.Halstead 12-10

G.Hoskins & R.Morgan beat C.Austin & M.Halstead 13-12

After a one year hiatus, the annual institution that is the North Oxford v Old Edwardians "unusual courts" fixture was back on Sunday with a vintage edition taking place in the sunshine of Cranleigh School, twelve years on from the first such match. The build up to the fixture was moderately chaotic with more ins and outs than a hokey cokey convention. The net result was only two bona fide Edwardians, a late drop out from Faye because of emergency boarding duty, Alex Abrahams getting on the wrong train at Clapham (we never did find out where he ended up) and the day being saved by double the number of expected Halsteads being rustled up at the Cranleigh end. All's well that ends well indeed. The upshot was three rather good matches followed by some further additional games with different combinations being tested out. Cranleigh's courts are rather nice, with only the slightly low roof and average lighting stopping them from rivalling the nicest on the circuit. Attempting to do them justice were the "proper" Edwardian pair of Scholey & Thatcher who were up against the Cranleigh past and present combination of Phil Roper & Louis Halstead, the Edwardians taking advantage of Phil still finding his feet after a lengthy injury absence and Louis lacking experience at this level to squeeze through in three tight games. Second pair saw the Wizard of Wolverhampton partnering Karen against Mark & Jamie Halstead. The first game saw the North Oxford pair lay waste to the Halstead brothers, winning 12-5, but with Mark playing steadily and Jamie remembering how he won three Kinnaird titles back in the late 90s, the going got tougher in game two, with the momentum taking a decisive turn to the Halsteads at the end of the game which they won 13-10, before running away with the third. Late call-up Ruby Halstead completed the full set of Halsteads, with at least one on each court and she showed lots of promise in coming from behind to score a 1-1 draw against Ralph Morgan & Mandie Barnes. The extra games were all close and highly enjoyable before the teams repaired to the Richard Onslow in Cranleigh village - last visited by the club after our one previous match at Cranleigh back in 2010 - for an excellent lunch with Karen eschewing the STP option for pudding because the portion was too small and going for the crumble instead, plus three pots of smarties and Louis Halstead single-handedly and impressively keeping the Halstead family end up. A good day out.

The Wizard show how to deal with a mere three-times Kinnaird Cup winner

North Oxford 3 beat Old Citizens 2 3-0 at Aldenham 27/04/19:

D.Cox & K.Hird beat R.Morgan & J.Greenhouse 3-0 (12-7, 12-8, 13-12)

S.Nowinski & S.Thatcher beat M.Jacobs & M.Stockton 3-0 (12-2, 12-9, 12-5)

Old Citizens 2 conceded third pair

The afternoon match saw North Oxford outnumber the Citizens by eight players (plus reserve) to four; two pairs were therefore played in the Division 3 match and both were won, giving Bishop's Buccaneers a comprehensive 3-0 win to take them to second place in the table, a fine achievement. First pair produced a very good quality match, with Karen Hird & David Cox reprising their successful EFA trophy partnership and taking on Jacob Greenhouse & Ralph Morgan. Karen & David won the first thanks to one strong hand with Karen returning well in the middle of the game. It took them a while to close it out, however, and this was a taste of things to come as Ralph & Jacob got themselves more and more into the match. Karen & David kept their noses in front to win the second but were 11-12 down in the third with Jacob returning the game ball court and Ralph lining up a winner from the right hand side at which point fate - or more accurately a handy ledge - intervened and one minute and two quick rallies later the match was over in favour of the North Oxford pair. The Stephen/Stefans were always in control of second pair against the Marks, as Messrs Thatcher & Nowinski produced a strong display and a convincing win. The rest of the North Oxford contingent were involved in a tremendous battle, with just pride at stake, as Matt Chinery & Toby Bush lost an epic first game 14-15 against Andy Bishop & Rachel Wood, then won the second to 6 and the decider to 9. After a slightly bitty day - a shame as six full courts in the afternoon would have been rather splendid - normal service was resumed in the second post-match trip to the Round Bush of the day, with an 8-3 win to North Oxford and end of league season celebratory sticky toffee puddings for the usual suspects.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Citizens 1 2-1 at Aldenham 27/04/19:

N.Turnbull & I.Kidd lost to A.Lumbard & C.Lumbard 0-3 (11-12, 11-12, 9-12)

Old Citizens 1 conceded second and third pairs

The second division season came to a bit of a tame end at Aldenham on Saturday as the planned six pair, two division fixture against the Citizens faltered due to the OCs inability to get the right number of people in the right place at the right time. Only three pairs were raised and the sole Division 2 pair was played in the morning rather than afternoon as Ashley & Chris were going house-hunting in the afternoon. It was a shame that this match happened on its own, with only the NOEFC captain & taxi driver in attendance as it was a thrilling match with two well-matched pairs and deserved a wider audience. After his year coaching at Summer Fields, Iain Kidd finally got on court for North Oxford in a competitive fixture, remarkably becoming the first Old Millhillian to represent the club. He and Nathan Turnbull got off to a slowish start in the first game and had to recover three times from deficits of 0-5, 5-9 and 9-11. They managed it on all three occasions before a tense few hands on foot down ended with Chris clipping the edge of the step on the right hand side to clinch the game. Iain was showing flashes of quality and Nathan was looking good, especially volleying on the top step, but the North Oxford pair were unable to find the set piece consistency to get themselves in front and control the game. 4-4 in the second became 4-10 thanks to a couple of cuts out of court and some good returning from Ashley & Chris before Nathan & Iain again came back to level at 11-11. If the loss of the first game on sudden death had been frustrating then the second was doubly so, with Nathan forgetting to put his foot down and then hesitating when he could have got to the ball first, allowing Chris to steal in and catch the ball. What happened next was almost inevitable and the North Oxford pair found themselves 2-0 down. The third followed a similar pattern, with the returning better than the cutting and points flowing quickly. Ashley & Chris always just had the edge in the set piece and on the scoreboard and managed to close this one out to 9 to claim the match. The straight games win did mean there was time for a first post match trip of the day to the Round Bush (a 2-2 draw) before the North Oxford taxi returned to Radlett to drop off Nathan and collect Ralph & Toby for the afternoon encounter.

North Oxford 3 beat Team Westway 3 2-1 at Aldenham 08/04/19:

S.Chapman & A.Bishop lost to M.Tavra* & H.Young 0-3 (4-10 ret)

R.Wood & S.Nowinski beat M.Gwynne & N.Lilienthal 3-0 (13-12, 12-9, 15-13)

T.Bush & A.Cha lost to J.Cooley & C.Mayger 2-3 (3-12, 9-12, 14-12, 12-4, 11-12)

*ineligible player

Bishop's Buccaneers moved up to second position in Division 3 with a 2-1 win over Team Westway at Aldenham Saturday in a splendid match, marred only by a second broken NOEFC bone in the space of a couple of weeks, Spencer's wrist joining Nick's leg (skiing in Nick's case, falling off the back step in Spencer's) as the end of season injuries stack up. The only consolation for Spencer was that as he and Andy were up against the ineligible Marc Tavra, it still counts as a win for the stats. Every cloud has a silver lining etc. The NOEFC captain was in attendance in a spectating capacity and quickly donned his kit to take Spencer's place and ensure that everyone got a game. Gareth and Andy did manage to turn a 4-10 deficit into 11-11 but couldn't quite complete the comeback and they played one further game before Eton and the ladies semi-final beckoned. Rachel & Stefan were involved in a humdinger at second pair against Mark Gwynne and Natalie Lilienthal. The two Salopians were trading metaphorical blows from the start and with Rachel & Natalie both in fine form, it took some impressive nerve-holding at the clutch points of all three games for the North Oxford pair to come through in three straight but incredibly close games. Third pair initially looked like it might be more one-sided but eventually turned into one of the matches of the season and exactly what Division 3 Fives is all about. Veteran John Cooley was partnering Colin Mayger, who has been playing at Westway for a couple of years and is now making his first forays into competitive Fives. They were up against the NOEFC youngsters - Toby Bush, improving but still light on match experience and Old Summerfieldian and NOEFC debutant Aabyn Cha, who never played while at Summer Fields but who has taken up the game with a group of fellow LSE students. Both were making their league debut and the experience of Cooley sr told in the first half of the match as the Westway pair won the first game to 3 and the second to 9. Toby and Aabyn were beginning to find their feet, however, but at 7-11 down in the third were staring defeat in the face. Suddenly the North Oxford pair launched a stunning fightback, clawing back the lead to level at 11-11 and then take the game 14-12 before storming through the fourth 12-4. Just when it seemed that they had the match under control and the watching spectators were going to be able to get to the pub for lunch at a reasonable time, however, back came the Westway pair as the fifth game turned into a nerve-shredder, which ended slightly unfortunately with a misplaced North Oxford foot at gameball up leading to a Westway catch, a golden missed opportunity and the inevitable Westway winner on the next point to end a classic encounter.

North Oxford beat Shrewsbury School 3-2 at Shrewsbury 23/03/19:

S.Simmons & S.Mcloughlin beat W.Sissons & A.Garrett 3-0 (12-2, 12-7, 12-7)

K.Hird & N.Turnbull beat J.Hinwood & J.Kynaston 3-0 (12-4, 12-4, 12-10)

G.Hoskins & P.Bullock beat G.Mcloughlin & A.Legeais 3-0 (12-9, 12-10, 12-7)

I.Mitchell & S.Nowinski lost to T.Castling & M.Van Wyk 1-3 (5-12, 5-12, 13-12, 4-12)

M.Barnes & F.Turnbull lost to S.Breese & E.Graham 1-3 (12-11, 4-12, 6-12, 6-12)

Not many clubs would be able to play a five pair friendly at Shrewsbury at the same time as a three pair Division 2 league fixture down south, but we like a challenge at North Oxford and the invitation to provide the pre-schools' championships warm up opposition for Shrewsbury School was too good to turn down, particularly with a second visit of the season to the Third Place curry house thrown into the mix. First pair saw Old Salopian Sam Mcloughlin team up with Old Wulfrunian guest player Sid Simmons against Will Sissons & Arthur Garrett. With his Wolverhampton partner having worked his magic at first pair at Aldenham in the morning, the pressure was on Sid to repeat the dose in the afternoon and he responded in fine style, combining well with Sam to blow the school first pair away 12-2 in the first game. The schoolboys fought back well in the next two, but the North Oxford pair had too much quality and experienced for their younger opponents. Nathan Turnbull - taking a four hour return train trip from Cardiff with his sister to play (good commitment!) - continued his excellent recent form alongside Karen at second pair, also winning in three games without ever looking like losing. There was another Wulfrunian guest at third pair in the formidable shape of Phil Bullock, who partnered the club captain against Antoine Legeais and next year's SF gap year coach Giles Mcloughlin. Phil showed all the classy touches we've come to expect from him in the first two games, toying with the opposition, giving them a sniff of victory and then finishing them off. The third game was rather different as the North Oxford pair went 1-7 down, with Phil beginning to run out of gas and clearly not fancying a long four or five setter. At this point, Gareth stepped in and produced a single hand that took the North Oxford pair from 2-7 down to 11-7 up and the job was done, much to Phil's relief. Two more Old Salopians were at fourth pair as Ian Mitchell & Stefan Nowinski took on Tom Castling & Marcus van Wyk. This time the schoolboy pair had the upper hand from the start and won in four, despite a fine performance from Stefan & Ian to win the third game 13-12 and extend the match into a fourth. The ladies pair saw Mandie Barnes & Francesca Turnbull take on the number one seeds for the girls nationals next week in Sophia Breese & Emma Graham and they got off to a great start, winning the first game 12-11. The Shrewsbury girls hit back with a 12-4 in the second and although the North Oxford pair competed well in the third and fourth, they gave away early leads in both that they were never able to get back. The majority of the team were joined in the Anchor and the Third Place by Seb afterwards to toast the winning of two different matches at different ends of the country - in Fives terms at least - in the same day.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Cholmeleians 2 2-1 at Aldenham 23/03/19:

C.Austin & G.Pulsford beat H.Young* & R.Morgan* 3-0 (12-5, 12-4, 12-6)

S.Chapman & P.Lyndon beat D.Lioubimov & T.Halstead 3-1 (12-8, 9-12, 12-9, 12-7)

M.Chinery & R.Wood lost to E.Scoones & M.Briscoe 1-3 (4-12, 5-12, 12-7, 8-12)

*ineligible players

The Division 2 renaissance continued at Aldenham on Saturday morning with a strong showing from a much-changed team that showcase North Oxford's strength in depth, with several members of the normal Division 2 side up in Shrewsbury, away skiing or reminding their families what they looked like. The Cholms were not at full strength either and were forced to bring in a couple of ringers to bolster their ranks. We generously allowed the two players to play at first pair rather than at third as per the regs in the interests of everyone getting a good game but ringer extraordinaire Ralph Morgan and his apprentice Hugo Young (seemingly on a mission to play for every single team in Division 2 at least once this year - we may have to offer him a game soon) were no match for the Pulsford/Austin partnership. It was good to see the Wizard finally producing some magic to record his first win for the club since October 7th last year and equally pleasing to see that Grandad is not quite ready yet to become a third pair specialist permanently. Mind you, even Spencer didn't manage to get himself down at third pair this week, but as always he chose his partner wisely, Aldenham captain Phil Lyndon slotting in seamlessly to record a strong four game victory against Dan Lioubimov and Tom Halstead. Clearly Phil had been reading Spencer's new column in The Times to get himself in peak physical condition for the match. Third pair saw a Division 2 debut for Rachel Wood alongside Matt Chinery as they took on the top ladies pairing of Emily Scoones & Marj Briscoe. It took Rachel a couple of games to come to terms with the pace of the game but once she did, she and Matt combined impressively to take the third 12-7 and raise hopes of a great comeback. They got close in the fourth as well, but Emily & Marjolaine managed to steady the ship and win to 8 to get a point for the Cholms. There was a 5-1 win in the Roundbush afterwards (Ralph kept the Cholms end up; Phil had plumbing issues to attend to. That's not a euphemism apparently) and the result sees North Oxford at least temporarily up to halfway in a very tight Division 2 table with one more game to go in the end of April double header against the Citizens.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Etonians 2-1 at Westminster 20/03/19:

N.Caplin & N.Turnbull lost to J.Piggot & A.Knight 1-3 (12-5, 10-12, 6-12, 7-12)

S.Chapman & K.Hird beat B.Slater & G.Harbord-Hammond 3-0 (12-4, 12-3, 12-8)

M.Chinery & R.Thorogood beat G.Thompson & W.Seath* 3-0 (late arrival)

*ineligible player

North Oxford's gradual progress towards Division 2 mid-table respectability continued last night at Westminster with a 2-1 win over bottom club the Old Etonians. The OEs status at the foot of the division offered few guarantees, though, as their lowly position has a lot more to do with their inability to produce full teams (or indeed provide any match balls - lucky we'd thought of that) than it does with the quality of their players. Both sides of that equation proved to be true last night as a late Etonian drop out on Tuesday meant that a trawl of the "usual suspects" was required to round up a sixth player to give our third pair a game (more of that later). At the other end of the draw was a certain J.Piggot esq, fresh from the Kinnaird quarter-finals on Sunday and partnering Alex Knight against NOEFC's own producers of Kinnaird Cup heroics, Noah Caplin & Nathan Turnbull. Noah & Nathan started full of confidence from their performances at the weekend and stormed to a 12-5 first game win before their opponents got started. The going got tougher from thereon in, however, and although the North Oxford boy wonders continued to play well and win some tremendous rallies, they began to lose the set piece battle and were unable to stop the Etonian pair winning in four. Spencer - powered by some "incredible" porridge (apples, sultanas, agave syrup, god knows what else) - and Karen had a pretty routine three game victory at second pair against George Harbord-Hammond and former Oxford half-blue Ben Slater. Not all of Spencer's ideal opposition boxes were ticked - neither player was under the age of 13 and both had the full complement of working limbs - but the "not having played for at least seven years" stipulation was adhered to and the rusty OE pair went down 4, 3 and 8. Having made himself very popular by volunteering first for the spare player gig the night before - the irony being that other interested parties were subsequently turned down after he'd got there first - young Seath then proceeded to blot his copybook rather severely by phoning the North Oxford captain at about 7:20pm to inform him rather sheepishly that he'd accidentally turned up for the match at Eton rather than Westminster. Not his finest hour. Matt & Robert played a bit of 2 on 1 with Old Summerfieldian Guy Thompson for a while and were at least able to console themselves with a win for the stats. The only surprise was that Spencer didn't select himself for the pair playing against only one opponent. Next up in Division 2 are the Cholms second team at Aldenham on Saturday, with a Div 2 debut in the offing for Rachel Wood and a rare outing for Phil Lyndon as NOEFC attempt to stretch their resources to cover the Aldenham game at the same time as playing a five pair friendly in Shrewsbury. I don't think many other clubs would be able to pull that one off...

North Oxford 1 beat Old Berkhamstedians 3-0 at Westway 13/03/19:

J.Piggot & J.Cobb beat A.Joyce & A.Rattan 3-1 (12-1, 12-2, 12-0)

N.Caplin & T.McCahon beat J.Hawkes & A.Leighton 0-3 (12-6, 12-4, 12-4)

G.Pulsford & C.Lumbard beat J.Doe & J.Iddison 3-0 (12-0, 12-0, 12-3)

The Division 1 season finished on a high note with a second victory in the space of five days, this time a resounding 3-0 win over basement club the Old Berkhamstedians. A (mainly) young NOEFC line-up took to the courts at Westway with former Oxford students James Cobb & James Piggot teaming up at first pair to take on OB captain Andrew Joyce & Alex Rattan, a pair coming off a very fine victory at first pair in the Berkhamsted derby last week. Sadly for the opposition, Andrew suffered an injury to his shoulder right at the start of the match and the Berkhamstedian pair were no match for the James & James, who breezed through the match in great comfort. At second pair, Tom continued his fine form from Saturday and with the Caplin left-hand doing a half-decent impression of the Wizard and his wand, the North Oxford pair won in three games in a flurry of fast play and winners. Third pair specialist Grandad teamed up with Chris Lumbard at third pair and they also had something of an armchair ride, Chris returning cut and volleying to great effect and Graham directing operations. The win takes us up to sixth in the table with 15½ points from 12 matches, a very respectable tally especially when you consider that Seb only played two matches for us this season. We may end up slipping a place or even two further down the table when all the results have come in, but the whole squad can be proud of another fine season that has seen us more than hold our own in the top flight.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Olavians 2-1 at Aldenham 09/03/19:

G.Hoskins & T.McCahon beat H.Wiseman & H.Ravi 3-1 (12-5, 12-11, 11-15, 12-8)

C.Austin & P.Scholey lost to P.Sathiyamoorthy & I.Jochim 0-3 (12-14, 11-12, 9-12)

G.Pulsford & K.Hird beat Su.Balaji & M.Tavra 3-0 (12-9, 15-12, 12-6)

Following last week's heroic defeat at Aldenham, the Division 1 team were back in action on Saturday, taking on and defeating the Old Olavians. The only team change was the Wizard of Wolverhampton coming in for Sam, and the decision was made to keep third pair specialists Grandad Graham and Karen together, with Chris coming in at second pair with Pete and Gareth moving up to first pair alongside Tom. Once initial logistical issues had been overcome - Pete avoiding a shed load of steel on the M25, various Olavians being fetched from Radlett station, Chris signing his life away on some spurious legal documents chez Pulsford - the action got underway, with the third pair selection immediately paying dividends. Karen & Grandad didn't hit the same heights as last week, but didn't need to, just doing enough to keep ahead of Marc Tavra & Sudhir Balaji, the 15-12 second game win doing the most damage to their opponents' chances. Pete & Chris were up against the strong schoolboy pairing of U21 champion Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy and U16 prospect Isaac Jochim. This was a frustrating encounter for the North Oxford pair, who were still debating the reasons for their defeat several hours later in the Round Bush. Suffice to say, they lost the first game narrowly, the second game even more narrowly from 11-4 up (positively Wilsonian) and the third 12-9 from 9-9. The wand attempted various acts of violence to court 4 at the conclusion of the match but both court and magical instrument appeared to come through unscathed, ready to return and fight another day.

In five seasons now of Division 1 action, North Oxford do not have a great record of winning points at first pair. 17 in five seasons in fact. Six in five seasons from pairs not featuring S.Cooley in the line-up. The seventeenth of these was achieved on Saturday, as T-Mac and the captain (recording a maiden first pair Division 1 win in a North Oxford shirt and breaking his run of recent narrow defeats) put in a vintage performance to see off former Kinnaird Cup winner Howard Wiseman and partner Harry Ravi. This was a splendid performance from the North Oxford pair, who outcut their opponents throughout, managing a constant supply of cut returns and therefore a constant supply of point-scoring opportunities. Tom & Gareth were in charge of the match for long periods, dominating the first, riding their luck at the end of the second having gone for sudden death at 10-10 before surviving game ball thanks to a McCahon volley that hit the top of the buttress and landed just in, not panicking when faced with a Wiseman comeback in the third and holding on from 10-4 up in the fourth to record an extremely satisfying win. There was a 5-0 win in the pub, with Tom taking the opportunity to head back on the train with the Olavians and gloat/commiserate on the journey back into London and Karen controversially opting for creme brulée. The Division 1 season concludes on Wednesday with the return match against bottom of the table Berkhamstedians and a chance for some of the youngsters (and Graham) to finish the season in style.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Millhillians 1 1-2 at Aldenham 03/03/19:

S.Mcloughlin & T.McCahon lost to S.Tailor & V.Bhimjiyani 1-3 (6-12, 9-12, 12-3, 4-12)

G.Hoskins & P.Scholey lost to A.Rennie & J.Patel 2-3 (12-7, 14-13, 9-12, 9-12, 7-12)

G.Pulsford & K.Hird beat O.Sander & J.Coakely 3-1 (12-4, 5-12, 15-13, 12-4)

In sport, there are defeats and there are defeats. Although we only came away from Aldenham at the weekend with one point, it felt almost like a victory after an heroic team performance against virtually the strongest available line-up from last year's Division 1 champions. On seeing the OM personnel arriving, the pre-match chat - apart from the realisation that Sam obviously knew who Grandad was, but wasn't sure who this Graham character might be and that Pete's Slovenian waiter on holiday last week was putting in a strong bid to give Pete the same nickname - centred around the team sweepstake, with a bag of jelly babies at stake, as to which pair would manage the highest number of points in a game. Three and a bit hours later, safely ensconced in a corner table at the Round Bush, we were able to reflect on all three pairs winning at least one game and collectively winning six games to the Millhillians' seven. The now traditional "youngsters at one" policy was adhered to once again and pitted T-Mac and Sam against the experienced and highly successful Sunny Tailor & Vish Bhimjiyani. A reasonable start was followed by a strong second game and then an absolute stormer of a third, as Tom & Sam hit top gear, flattening their higher ranked opponents 12-3 to get themselves right back in the match. Tailor & Bhimjiyani managed to steady the ship in the fourth and got back on top to close the match out, but this was another very encouraging outing for the North Oxford fledglings. On the next door court at third pair, the virtually unbeatable Hird/Pulsford partnership was putting together a tactical masterclass to beat the hard-hitting Oli Sander & Joe Coakely. Barring a blip in the second game, the North Oxford gameplan of taking the pace off and keeping the ball down at the Millhillians' feet and in the buttress worked a treat, a 15-13 win in the third game crucial in breaking Oli & Joe's resistance. With a point in the bag, the four finishers repaired to the Round Bush, leaving Pete & Gareth barely halfway through an absolute marathon. Recent NOEFC form against the Rennie/Patel pairing has not been encouraging with both Pete & Gareth on the wrong hand of pretty severe hammerings in recent times, generally alongside the absent Wizard. Pete & Gareth also had a point to prove after their disappointing showing against the Salopians at Eton the other week and prove it they did, winning the first game to 7 and coming from 7-2 behind to win the second 14-13 and establish a 2-0 lead. The form of the North Oxford pair didn't weaken as the match went on (and on, and on - the captain's serving travails and Pete & Andrew's regular friendly chats about positioning and lets dragging proceedings out) and they continued to play well, but the Mill Hill pair managed to tighten their game up just enough to keep their noses in front from then on in. There was a sniff of a chance at 7-7 in the fifth, but with the North Oxford pair tiring slightly, Andrew Rennie produced a burst of form that far exceeded anything he had produced during the course of the previous three hours, taking the game away from Gareth & Pete, who were disappointed to have lost (the captain's recent record of losing tight matches beginning to acquire a positively Turnbullesque consistency) but very satisfied with the way they had played. Our strong showing on court was backed by a 6-0 trouncing in the pub, with T-Mac further enhancing his NOEFC credentials by matching Karen sticky toffee pudding for sticky toffee pudding.

North Oxford 1 lost to Berkhamsted 1-2 at Berkhamsted 25/02/19:

C.Austin & K.Hird lost to R.Perrie & C.Doe 0-3 (4-12, 7-12, 4-12)

N.Turnbull & C.Lumbard beat A.Theodossi & B.Miles 2-1 (12-11, 11-13, 12-6, 12-8)

M.Chinery & I.Mitchell lost to M.Foster & M.Doe 1-3 (11-13, 9-12, 12-9, 4-12)

After the midwinter break and the splitting of Division 1 into a top half and a bottom half, the North Oxford top flight campaign resumed away at Berkhamsted last night, with an experimental team finishing off the marathon weekend with a battling against the odds performance, which resulted in another valuable and hard-earned away point. Chris Austin has been a key player this year in Division 1 - alongside Pete Scholey and the club captain - in fulfilling the "getting battered at first pair when the pros can't be bothered to turn out" role - and the Wizard of Wolverhampton once again showed that his mastery of that crucial slot is unparalleled, showing partner Karen Hird exactly how it should be done against Ryan Perrie & Charlie Doe in Karen's fourth match in three days, clearly showing that she'd listened to her physio's advice to rest her injured finger for three weeks by not playing on Friday night as well. There was a Division 1 debut for Matt Chinery at third pair alongside Ian Mitchell and they put in a strong performance against Miles Doe and Matthew Foster, recovering from the disappointment of losing the first two games narrowly to win the third before running out of steam a little in the fourth. The North Oxford stars of the night, however, were Nathan Turnbull & Chris Lumbard who had themselves suffered a couple of tough losses on the road in the first division before Christmas. This time, they were in inspired form, Nathan still confident after his impressive EFA Trophy showing on Sunday and Chris coping well with the challenge of playing top player Anthony Theodossi and U15 girls champion Bethan Miles and won in four close games. We now have to wait a whopping 6 days before the next North Oxford match, although the squad members will be doing their best to fill the long, spare hours, with 17 playing in the Jesters v Oxbridge past & present game at Eton on Thursday and another 17 turning out on Saturday for the Alumni Varsity match. World domination is surely not far away.

North Oxford beat Old Olavians 3-0 at Eton 24/02/19:

T.McCahon & C.Lloyd beat J.Ravi & S.Kundu 3-0 (12-6, 14-13, 12-6)

N.Turnbull & S.Chapman beat H.Young & J.Lawrence 2-1 (15-12, 12-13, 14-11)

K.Hird & D.Cox beat G.Wiseman & T.Liddemore 3-0 (12-6, 12-10, 12-10)

Further North Oxford traditions were upheld in the mid innings interval at Eton on Sunday, with the Lloyd banana bread and the Turnbull jelly babies going down a treat. Suitably fortified and with confidence high from the morning's performance, if not the result, the team went into the 3rd/4th play-off looking to gain a measure of revenge over the Olavians for the previous day's league defeat. Direct revenge was available at first pair with the Olavians fielding Josh Ravi & Sanjay Kundu, the exact pair who had inflicted an agonising 12-10 fifth game defeat on Gareth & Karen on Saturday. Tom & Chris did us proud, bossing the first game 12-6, holding on to win a crucial second game 14-13 (much to Chris's relief especially) and then finishing the job off in the third in fine style. Karen & David - after their "back from the dead" turnaround in the morning - were keen to continue as they had finished against the Salopians and produced a clinical performance to hold off the more than useful Olavian schoolboy third string of Gwydion Wiseman & Tom Liddemore. The coup de grace was applied by Spencer and Nathan, who won an absolute nailbiter against Jeff Lawrence (more revenge for the day before) and Old Westminster Hugo Young. Spencer was visibly tiring in the afternoon but hung in grittily in support of Nathan, who produced what was almost certainly his best ever performance in a North Oxford shirt, banishing memories of his early season run of defeats and dragging his pair over the line, coming back from 11-8 down in what had been agreed would be the decider, with the other two pairs finished and the first two games shared 15-12 and then 12-13. A fine end to an excellent day of Fives and another strong EFA Trophy campaign.

North Oxford lost to Old Salopians 1-2 at Eton 24/02/19:

T.McCahon & C.Lloyd lost to G.Williams & T.Walters 0-3 (3-12, 8-12, 2-12)

N.Turnbull & S.Chapman lost to G.Williams & M.Hughes 0-3 (3-12, 7-12, 3-12)

K.Hird & D.Cox beat S.Mcloughlin & M.Quinn 3-2 (6-12, 3-12, 12-11, 12-5 ret)

The EFA Trophy was the first competition that North Oxford ever entered, back in 2004, and in sixteen years of playing we have an enviably consistent record, making the semi-finals on 11 occasions and going on to reach the final five teams, with our one solitary win coming in 2009. Sunday morning saw our latest attempt to regain the trophy fall by the wayside at the semi-final stage again at the hands of tournament favourites the Old Salopians, but the team put in a very strong performance considering the opposition. T Walters and Guy Williams had looked unbeatable in the qualifying competition (although they went on to lose in the final to Oxford's Arthur Wellesley & Sam Oppenheimer) and Tom & Chris played exceptionally well against them, in the second game especially; this was undoubtedly one of those matches where the quality of the rallies and the level of performance from the North Oxford pair was not reflected on the scoreboard. Much the same could be said of second pair, where Spencer Chapman and Nathan Turnbull were unable to find a way past the tough pairing of Grant Williams and Mike Hughes despite producing some good quality Fives of their own. Both of those matches, while ending in defeat, saw the North Oxford pairs firing and ready to go for the 3rd/4th play-off in the afternoon. Third pair produced a remarkable performance from Karen Hird and David Cox, in his first outing of the season. Unsurprisingly, David was a bit rusty at the start and he and Karen lost the first two games pretty comfortably to NOEFC's own Sam Mcloughlin and the veteran Marc Quinn. At 7-11 down in the third, all seemed lost. There are a couple of possible explanations for what happened next, including David shaking of the rust and getting going and Marc's known liking for a five setter, but the most rational explanation is that Karen knew that if she lost her match before second pair lost theirs, there was every chance of Mike & Grant conceding to save their legs for the afternoon, thus handing Spencer a victory for his stats. Whatever the motivation, it worked as Karen & David came back from the brink to win the third 12-11 and then storm away with the fourth to 5. The result looked inevitable and with the other two pairs already won, it was the Salopian third pair who threw in the towel, giving the North Oxford pair an epic and well deserved win and yet more confidence to take into the afternoon.

North Oxford 2 lost to St.Olave's School 1 0-3 at Eton 23/02/19:

G.Hoskins & K.Hird lost to S.Kundu & J.Ravi 2-3 (8-12, 12-8, 7-12, 12-10, 10-12)

C.Davies & S.Chapman lost to P.Sathiyamoorthy & L.Maclean 1-3 (8-12, 5-12, 12-8, 1-12)

R.Thorogood & S.Thatcher lost to J.Lawrence & S.Ranasinghe 0-3 (7-12, 7-12, 3-12)

The NOEFC roadshow rolled in to Eton on Saturday morning for a weekend residency, with the Division 2 team greeted by some glorious spring sunshine and a strong St.Olave's team keen to extend their lead at the top of the division. The match rather reflected our entire Division 2 season so far - some enjoyable and close matches, some strong opposition, some near misses and not many points to show at the end of it. Nevertheless, the team acquitted themselves well, although Robert & Stephen were perhaps not quite at their best at their third pair and fell away a little at the end, having pushed Jeff Lawrence & Sanjaya Ranasinghe to 7 in both of the first two games. The maestro had passed a rigorous fitness test at Summer Fields on Monday evening and took his place alongside Spencer Chapman at second pair. They faced he formidable obstacle of Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy, fresh from victory in the Under 21 tournament at Eton the weekend before and showing his quality in partnership with fellow school pupil Louis Maclean. Having gone 2-0 down, Chris & Spencer raised hopes of a rousing comeback with a fine performance in the third game to win 12-8; by the end of the third, though, the Olavian pair were already beginning to regain the momentum and they carried that through into the fourth, winning comfortably to 1. First pair was North Oxford's last chance to take a point and this was easily the closest match of the day as Gareth & Karen took on Sanjay Kundu & Josh Ravi. This was a slightly schizophrenic match, with runs of points, unpredictable and large momentum swings and an unusual dominance of the return over the cut, all of which meant that points came thick and fast and neither pair could ever feel in control of the match. The first two games were shared, with cut-returning the key factor as so often, Sanjay & Josh getting more back in the first game and Gareth & Karen improving their set piece work in the second from 8-4 down. The third went the way of the Olavians again before Gareth & Karen really hit their straps at the start of the fourth, going 9-0 and then 11-4 ahead before clinging on to win 12-10. The fifth game was even more bizarre with Sanjay Kundu finding a purple patch to take the Olavians into an 8-0 lead. At this point, Gareth & Karen were just looking to save face and get on the scoreboard but then a couple of good returns from Karen became a couple of soft errors from Sanjay & Josh became a couple of useful ledges and the North Oxford pair found themselves 10-8 ahead. They weren't able to keep the momentum going all the way to the line, though, and back the opposition came to level at 10-10. Gareth & Karen went for the attacking option but the decision backfired with a couple of errors from Gareth finishing the match in favour of the opposition, leaving the North Oxford pair disappointed to have lost a match which they felt they probably should have won had they been able to produce a bit more set piece control and consistency. Spirits were immediately raised by yet another win in the pub afterwards (3-0 this week), where weighty legal matters were discussed and certain NOEFC members gave serious consideration to ordering a three course meal of Eton Mess, Apple Crumble and STP. And Wales then beat England in the rugby, which cheered the club captain up considerably.

North Oxford lost to Oxford University 0-2 at Iffley Road 22/02/19:

G.Hoskins & S.Mcloughlin lost to N.Caplin & H.Gibson-Leitao 1-2 (3-12, 14-12, 10-12)

W.Campion & M.Fiennes lost to W.Ponsonby & Q.Gaba 0-3 (8-12, 3-12, 5-12)

The marathon North Oxford weekend of five matches in four days started with a two pair friendly down at Iffley Road against Oxford University, providing the students an opportunity to warm up for their EFA Trophy defence and Varsity match and giving some of North Oxford's locally-based players some valuable game time. The University are very strong again this year, with some significant strength in depth, especially with the addition of students from Oxford Brookes. The late-arriving Brookes contingent were split up, however, with Sam Mcloughlin's Summer Fields and North Oxford connections far outweighing any OU affiliation and he paired up with Gareth Hoskins to take on Noah Caplin and Hal Gibson-Leitao, both themselves occasional visitors to Monday night Fives in Summertown. The North Oxford pair were slow out of the blocks and made too many unforced errors in the first game but turned it round in the second and the rest of the match was a fast-paced game with some long rallies, attacking volleying from Sam, amazing retrieving from Noah and Hal and a laudable effort from the club captain to keep up with three students all less than half his age. Sam & Gareth deservedly took the second game 14-12 but were always close but tantalisingly out of reach in the third, with every point hard-earned and the North Oxford pair never quite getting on level terms, despite reaching 10. The prospect of taking it to a best of five was not overly enticing to any of the players and with the time well past 9:30pm already and the sports centre shutting at 10, time was called on an excellent encounter. Three games were also played in the second court, which got underway rather more promptly (no Brookes players involved here). It was great to see two of North Oxford's grandees on court together as Martin Fiennes and the lesser-spotted Will Campion took to the Iffley Road stage to take on former OUEFC captain Will Ponsonby and first year - and Old Harrovian Barber Cup player - Qassi Gaba. The North Oxford pair were never uncompetitive (apart from maybe when they went 10-0 down in one hand at the start of the second game!) and showed all of the classy touches you would expect from two players with the pedigree of Will & Martin, but the student pair were simply too strong and came through in straight games.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Salopians 2 2-1 at Eton 10/02/19:

G.Hoskins & P.Scholey lost to C.Hughes & S.Welti 0-3 (1-12, 4-12, 3-12)

C.Lloyd & K.Hird beat M.Quinn & O.O'Callaghan-Brown 3-1 (12-7, 8-12, 12-3, 12-5)

M.Chinery & S.Kaaber-Gore beat R.Parr & M.Hughes 3-2 (9-12, 7-12, 12-10, 12-7, 5-4 ret)

The slow climb up the Division 2 table continued at Eton yesterday with a second 2-1 victory of the week and one which followed a similar pattern to Tuesday's match at Mill Hill. Once again, the opposition decided to put their two big guns together at first pair rather than splitting them up, more understandably this time round since Chris Hughes & Sam Welti were playing their Barber Cup semi-final straight afterwards and wanted to be sure of a) finishing on time and b) not exhausting themselves. For the second time in a week, therefore, Pete took one for the team, this time with the club captain, who was simply less young, less fit, less quick and less good than the highly rated opponents. Once again, though, the top pair's self-sacrifice was not in vain, as Karen Hird & Chris Lloyd - despite a second game blip - were able to win their match in four games against Marc Quinn and Oliver O'Callaghan-Brown and were pretty much in control throughout the latter stages. The third pair match was an absolute classic with the classy and experienced Mike Hughes teaming up with former Oxford ladies captain Rosie Parr for the Salopians and taking on Matt Chinery - racking up a week's total of over twenty sets of Fives - and Steve Kaaber-Gore in his first competitive Fives match. Since starting to play properly back in September, Steve has improved incredibly fast on Monday nights at Summer Fields and has the potential to become a top player but took a while to find his feet and adjust to the tempo of league Fives, especially against as tough and canny competitor as Mike. The first two games went the way of the Salopian pair but Steve & Matt were beginning to work out the tactics required to get past Mike and put Rosie under pressure. With Mike also beginning to tire slightly, the tipping point was reached in the third game, with the North Oxford pair only a couple of points away from defeat but taking it 12-10 and then going on to win the fourth game to 7. The pairs were neck and neck in the early stages of the fifth but eventually Mike cracked, a finger injury followed by a tumble and a nasty looking back spasm forcing his retirement to bring a great match to a slightly anticlimactic conclusion. When Steve wins the Kinnaird in 2025 I'm sure he'll look back at this report and remember this one, which is sure to be the first of many. A comprehensive 4-0 routing in the pub - with allowances for the gap of at least a couple of hours to watch the Barber semis and ladies match - maintained North Oxford's dominant record in that area this season. Plus the Golden Curry even managed to add up this time, although the numbers were rather smaller than on the last occasion. The end of one of the busiest NOEFC weeks of the season now signals a break of a couple of weeks before a big trio of matches in Division 2, the EFA Trophy and Division 1 in a couple of weeks time.

North Oxford Ladies beat Old Salopians Ladies 2-0 at Eton 10/02/19:

E.Osen & E.O'Malley beat R.Parr & H.Pritchard 3-0 (12-0, 12-4, 12-5)

F.Turnbull & F.Kerr beat A.Long & I.Barber 2-0 (12-3, 12-8)

F.Turnbull & F.Kerr beat R.Parr & H.Pritchard 1-0 (14-13)

Despite the fairly late cry-off from Shrewsbury School, which would have enabled a three-way ladies fixture, North Oxford were able to take on the Old Salopians in a two pair ladies fixture alongside the Division 2 match. At first pair, Elana Osen & Emily O'Malley were a bit too sharp for the tired Rosie Parr (playing straight after her five game league marathon) and the rusty Hannah Pritchard, both former Oxford captains and occasional Summer Fields Monday nighters. The Salopian pair improved as the three games went on and were ready for one final match - Rosie's ninth game of the afternoon - against Faye & Francesca, which was a 14-13 classic, narrowly won by the North Oxford pair, who had earlier seen off Alice Long & Issy Barber in two enjoyable games.

North Oxford (EFA) beat Marlborough College 1½-½ at Marlborough 10/02/19:

R.Thorogood & R.Wood drew with T.Kiggell & M.Wilson 1-1 (12-4, 5-12)

A.Bishop & T.Bush beat C.Peck & O.Light 2-0 (12-8, 14-12)

The strength in depth of the North Oxford squad was illustrated on Sunday as an Andy Bishop-led EFA side (a North Oxford team by any reckoning) took on Marlborough College on their home courts, while the Division 2 and ladies sides played against the Salopians at Eton. The college play a lot more Rugby Fives than Eton Fives sadly, and required the presence of M-i-C Tom Kiggell to bolster the ranks, but the match was notable for Toby Bush's NOEFC debut after some strong Monday night performances before Christmas and the appearance of another Monday nighter in the opposition ranks in Conrad Peck. The NOEFC influence spreads far and wide. The match was won overall and as Andy made it through the day undefeated, the result inevitably has to be added to the official statistics. President's privilege and all that...

North Oxford lost to Old Harrovians ½-2½ at Harrow 07/02/19:

G.Pulsford & J.Piggot drew with R.Tyler & R.Wijeratne 1-1 (12-5, 2-12)

G.Hoskins & K.Hird lost to N.Shaw & A.Poole 0-3 (11-13, 2-12, 11-14)

M.Chinery & N.Turnbull lost to A.Shirazi & H.Rowse 2-3 (12-7, 11-12, 12-4, 13-14, 5-12)

With the two teams now in different halves of the Division 1 table, the return fixture against the Old Harrovians was played as a friendly at Harrow last night. For the Harrovians, this was an opportunity for one or two of their key men to get some game time before their Barber Cup semi-final on Sunday and for their school players to get some invaluable match practice; for North Oxford it was a chance to get James Piggot back on court and for several players to try and fail to improve their stats for the season. The fixture also saw a debut for Harrow's new hi-tech training aide, with an enormous TV screen set up in the coaches room indoors with cameras showing the live action from all three main courts. The action on the top court was fascinating with two of the best young players in the country taking each other on in James and Rahul Wijeratne. While waiting for the predictably late arrival of Mr Tyler, James and Grandad took on Rahul and Nick Shaw, losing a thriller 12-11. With Tyler now in situ, the North Oxford pair powered through impressively to win the next game 12-5, with Piggot's weird left-handed angles causing all sorts of confusion in the OH ranks. The third game saw Wijeratne come to the fore, finding his cut returning rhythm and taking control of the top step. In true Etonian style, James then decided that he had somewhere else to be and that his evening's work was done but it was good to see him back - hopefully we'll see more of him in the remaining Division 1 fixtures this year. With Nick now ensconced in the Harrow second pair with Alex Poole, watchers on the big screen indoors will have quickly changed channels after watching a mistaken-ridden first game against Gareth & Karen. A slow ball didn't help matters and after a second game about which the less said the better for the North Oxford pair, a change of ball in the third produced an improvement in the quality of play from all four players. Gareth & Karen even got themselves 11-9 ahead, but couldn't return the one game ball cut they got and then promptly conceded five straight points in the next hand to slip to a disappointing defeat, sadly not allowing Karen to celebrate her last evening as a twenty-something with a victory but at least giving her the consolation prize of enough time to go next door and get a couple of games of rackets in. While the first two courts had been indulging in such partner-swapping and ball-changing shenanigans, the third pair were involved in a five game classic. For 90% of the match it looked as though Matt & Nathan had things under control, winning the first game comfortably and recovering from the disappointment of missing game ball opportunities in the second to win the third 12-4 and go 2-1 up. The fourth was close and got a little bit tetchy; again Matt & Nathan had game ball chances to win the match, but couldn't take them and lost it 13-14. With Matt slightly under the weather and the atmosphere slightly soured by the fourth game disagreements, the North Oxford pair lacked the fight to come back again and the fifth game went the way of the schoolboy pair. Honour was saved with a 4½-2 win in the pub afterwards (Karen preferred to sit with her rackets friends most of the time so she doesn't really count), which featured such delights as a detailed analysis of the correlation between Spencer's colour co-ordination and on-court performance at Mill Hill on Tuesday, the reappearance of the Wizard of Wolverhampton in the national rankings and hoovering up vomit. Hard to understand why Karen went to sit elsewhere, really.

North Oxford 2 beat Old Millhillians 2 at Mill Hill 05/02/19:

P.Scholey & C.Austin lost to A.Rennie & J.Patel 0-3 (7-12, 3-12, 0-12)

G.Pulsford & K.Hird beat R.Levy & J.Weller 3-0 (12-3, 12-6, 12-2)

M.Chinery & S.Chapman beat J.Hutcheson & W.Seath 3-1 (2-12, 12-4, 12-6, 12-2)

The North Oxford second string finally recorded their first Division 2 win of the season away at Mill Hill last night, scoring a much needed 2 points against one of our closest traditional rivals. For Pete and Chris at first pair it was a rather bittersweet victory - they were able to take some satisfaction in the fact that the OMS felt the need to put their two big hitters at first pair to take them on and couldn't afford to split them across pairs one and two, thus opening up the other two rubbers for North Oxford. On the downside, they found themselves up against Andrew Rennie & Jitesh Patel on their home courts in a match up that must have given the Wizard flashbacks to a similar match up against the same pair alongside the club captain a couple of years ago, a match both players still only talk about in hushed tones and one that had a similar result to last night. The beneficiaries of this noble sacrifice were Grandad & Karen, dovetailing beautifully as always to cruise past Raph Levy and Jack Weller with ease at second pair, helped by the excellent new lighting which enabled the more elderly gentleman on court to actually see the ball. Spencer and Matt at third pair could rather euphemistically be described as having had something of a slow start, lucky to get 2 in the first game against Will Seath and James Hutcheson. Thankfully, they managed to sort themselves out quickly and were never troubled thereafter, neatly finishing by reversing the first game scoreline to win in four and double our Division 2 tally for the season. Time for a late charge up the table? There was a 6-3 North Oxford win in the pub, although the team arrived too late to get any food, which upset certain members of the team more than others. There will be a chance to put that right at Harrow on Thursday.

North Oxford 2 lost to Team Westway 2 1-2 at Westway 23/01/19:

G.Pulsford & C.Davies lost to T.McCahon & J.Black 0-3 (7-12, 10-12, 12-14)

S.Chapman & N.Turnbull lost to A.Abrahams & T.Thurnham 1-3 (6-12, 6-12, 12-8, 12-14)

M.Chinery & R.Thorogood beat T.Campbell & B.Bannerman 2-1 (12-9, 10-12, 12-10, 5-6 timed out)

North Oxford suffered a third successive away Division 2 defeat at Westway last night, once again coming up against an opposition side at near full strength. A battling point was salvaged at third pair with a win for Uppinghamians Matt Chinery & Robert Thorogood against Bryanstonians Tancred Campbell & Bertie Bannerman.

Spencer Chapman reports: Last night's match produced a very similar set of results to Sunday (once the Westway team finally turned up). First pair games were all close: Graham and Chris could have won either or both of the second/third games, but didn't. The maestro had an early start for a flight out to Barbados on Thursday morning, so perhaps that was at the back of his mind....Graham on the other hand had earlier been sent a video of a catwalk model, and it seems to have overexcited the old boy. Young Nathan didn't know where to put himself when the phone was handed his way for a pre-match look.

Perhaps still reeling from having access to Grandad's phone, Nathan was rusty early doors, and Alex and Tim played really well. We fought back though and from 4-8 and 5-10 down in the fourth played our best fives to get the scores level at 11-11. Unfortunately I missed an easy left hand volley which would have given us game point, and they just got over the line. Nathan was playing superbly at the end, with some lovely powerful volleys out of the buttress.

Matt & Robert were involved in a titanic tussle, with points being hard won on both sides. After two hours of game time they edged 2-1 up and asked Grandad for a ruling on what would happen when the lights went down only to be left in the dark both literally and metaphorically.

North Oxford 2 lost to Old Ipswichians 0-3 at Ipswich 20/01/19:

G.Hoskins & K.Hird lost to M.Graves & T.Gregory 0-3 (9-12, 10-13, 12-14)

S.Chapman & G.Pulsford lost to S.Burnell & T.Fletcher 1-3 (12-8, 4-12, 4-12, 13-15)

M.Chinery & S.Thatcher lost to C.Cooley & I.Weaver 1-3 (5-12, 12-4, 9-12, 9-12)

North Oxford's only previous outing to Ipswich was at the end of the 2016 Coast to Coast weekend and a first competitive outing at the home of Fives was long overdue. The upsides of the trip were many - a gloriously bright and sunny Suffolk winter's morning, an opportunity to prove that league Fives can exist and prosper outside the London midweek bubble and the chance to add the Greyhound's sticky toffee pudding to the NOEFC guidebook. It also, however, meant a rare home league outing for some of the locally-based Ipswichians, something of a double-edged sword as we found ourselves up against a strong OI line-up. In the end we failed to come away with a point - our first league defeat at the hands of the Ipswichians since 2007, so they were probably due one - but all three pairs were excellent matches and the NOEFC pairs will all feel that they had chances that on another day they might have taken. Gareth and Karen at first pair got themselves into good positions to win both of the first two games against Mark Graves & Tim Gregory, leading 9-4 in the first and then 10-6 in the second. They didn't exactly throw either of them away, with Mark showing his enduring class, especially in and around the buttress, and Tim solid in support but never quite found the consistency of cutting and returning needed to feel comfortable in the lead. The frustration continued into the third where a comeback from 7-11 back to 11-11 raised hopes that were once again dashed as the OI pair just made it over the line first once again. Spencer and Grandad got off to a flying start against Steve Burnell & Tom Fletcher at second pair, establishing an early lead which they never relinquished. The OI pair turned the tables in the second and third but the tide turned again at the start of the fourth as Graham and Spencer got back on top, shooting out to a 10-1 lead before a Wilsonian North Oxford collapse brought Steve & Tom back to 10-10 and then to a 15-13 win as the Ipswichians once again just had the edge in another close finish. There was a similar story at third pair as Matt & Stephen shared the first two games with Charlotta Cooley & Isaac Weaver before the OI pair proved themselves to be marginally the stronger pair in the third and fourth. Lunch was taken at the Greyhound - a 6-5 win for North Oxford but a full house of players over the age of 18 and a strong effort from the two teams. Karen pulled the impressive manoeuvre of ordering a roast dinner that never appeared - the significant compensation being a full refund and a free pudding instead. No surprises as to what was then ordered. I think that's what football managers call "taking the positives" after a 3-0 away defeat. Thankfully an opportunity presents itself for an early shot at redemption as the Division 2 side try to get their campaign going at Westway on Wednesday after the rather slow start leaves us - temporarily we hope - down at the wrong end of the table.

North Oxford 3 beat The Abbey 2-1 at Westminster 17/01/19:

R.Thorogood & K.Hird beat L.Doody & D.Huang 3-0 (12-10, 12-10, 12-2)

S.Thatcher & H.Asquith beat B.Chen & Darshan 3-0 (12-5, 12-5, 12-5)

A.Bishop & R.Wood lost to H.Barma & W.Ching 0-3 (10-12, 7-12, 8-12)

The post-Christmas league resumption started at Westminster last night, with Bishop's Buccaneers taking to the courts against the Abbey youngsters and heading to the top of the Div 3 table with a 2-1 victory, albeit having played more matches than most of the other sides in the division. A settled NO3 line-up achieved the rare feat of starting a whole Fives match promptly at 7pm, with all three pairs finished by 8:45, enabling most of the squad to head to the Sanctuary for a lengthy debrief while Robert was last seen hailing a cab outside Westminster Abbey and heading off to Leicester Square having received a better offer. The NOEFC club captain was even on hand to watch the last half an hour or so of action after an early finish to a nearby EFA meeting. On court, Robert and Karen at first pair got out to good leads in all three games but took until the third to properly shake off their opposition, who cut well for long stretches of the match and made life hard for the North Oxford pair. Stephen - sartorial elegance personified in beanie, orange gloves and cycling top - and Harriet had a relatively straightforward win at second pair, pleasingly producing a scoreline to reflect the name of the game. Andy & Rachel had a rather more frustrating time of it at third pair, playing well in patches but unable to stop their schoolboy opponents keeping the scoreboard ticking over with sufficient regularity to make it to 12 first each time. The team's final two matches will decide how the season turns out - maximum points against the Citizens 2 and Westway 3 and the top of the table is not out of reach; anything less and mid-table respectability beckons.

North Oxford beat The Brigands 3-1 at Eton 10/01/19:

R.Thorogood & M.Chinery lost to C.Davies & M.Skjott 1-3 (5-12, 3-12, 12-9, 7-12)

S.Thatcher & I.Mitchell beat M.Powell & O.O'Callaghan-Brown 3-1 (10-13, 12-8, 12-6, 12-3)

G.Hoskins & R.Wood beat R.Pattison & O.Avery 2-1 (13-11, 10-12, 12-9)

A.Bishop & M.Barnes beat F.Kerr & D.Martin 3-0 (12-9, 12-2, 12-3)

The first NOEFC fixture of 2019 took place at Eton last night, the traditionally chilly January friendly against the Brigands. North Oxford demand for places exceeded that of the opposition so there was a certain amount of resources juggling required to produce four courts worth of action. The Uppinghamian mean machine of Matt & Robert took on the challenge of playing at first pair, taking on our own Chris Davies - in his alternative guise as a former Brigand -and Old Stoic left-hander Mike Skjott. The North Oxford pair struggled to get to grips with their opponents in the first two games but responded well with a storming performance in game three to turn the tide and raise hopes of an epic comeback; the fourth game dispelled those notions, but not before Matt & Robert had given their highly rated opponents some tricky moments. The last time Stephen Thatcher & Ian Mitchell played together for North Oxford was in a best forgotten defeat at Orpington last season. Offered a shot at redemption, they seized their opportunity with alacrity, recovering from the narrow loss of the first game to dominate the remaining three games with increasing ease against Martin Powell and Oliver O'Callaghan-Brown. The NOEFC captain had an armchair view at third pair as Rachel Wood tore into Ronald Pattison and late call-up Ollie Avery, volleying strongly, cutting and returning effectively and most importantly stepping up when it counted in the crucial points at the end of the first and third games of a tight encounter. At fourth pair, Faye switched sides to team up with David Martin and was unusually quiet, not finding much to shout, squeal or indeed scream about as Andy & Mandie cruised through a straight games win. The majority of the group retired to the Golden Curry for the first NOEFC curry of the year after an entertaining and friendly match with the greatest controversy caused by the inability of the Golden Curry staff to add up. All was resolved amicably and the focus for the rest of January now switches back to the league, with crucial Division 2 and 3 matches coming up in the next couple of weeks.

North Oxford beat Cambridge University 3-0 at Cambridge 25/11/18:

K.Hird & N.Turnbull beat A.Shah & N.Choustikov 3-0 (12-0, 12-4, 12-2)

S.Cass & M.Chinery beat S.Turner & A.Clover 3-0 (12-3, 12-4, 12-5)

G.Hoskins & T.Hoskins beat H.Kalaiya & A.Butcher 3-0 (12-3, 12-7, 12-3)

Extra matches:

S.Cass & M.Chinery beat A.Shah & N.Choustikov 12-4

N.Turnbull & T.Hoskins beat S.Turner & A.Clover 12-4

The afternoon match was preceded by a minor traffic incident involving Rachel, her car, a sharp bit of kerb, a tyre blow out and some rusted on wheel nuts that wouldn't shift for love nor money. While Rachel therefore passed a pleasant afternoon seeing some of Cambridge's lesser known tourist sites - the pavement next to Sainsbury's and the local branch of Kwikfit - everyone else's attention turned to running off lunch with a three pair match against the Cambridge men's team. Gareth breathed a large sigh of relief on realising that after yesterday's match at Eton, the closest he was going to get to Riki Houlden today was the enormous picture of him on the courtside mural, and as it turned out the Cambridge side was missing several other top players, leaving the stage to some of their newer and less experienced players. This led to comfortable victories for Karen & Nathan - looking to start a run that might set his reputation for consistency off in a different direction - and Matt & Simon Cass - a former Monday nighter making a welcome return to North Oxford colours - at first and second pairs and a third pair win for Gareth & Tom Hoskins, with 14 year old Tom making an assured debut in his first best of five North Oxford appearance. The extent of the NOEFC dominance was shown by additional wins for Matt & Simon against their first pair and for Nathan & Tom against their second pair, while Gareth & Karen split with the Cambridge third pair for one further game. Rachel then made it back just in time to get one final game in with Matt, Nathan and Sam Turner to end a successful trip.

North Oxford Ladies beat Cambridge University Ladies 1½-½ at Cambridge 25/11/18:

R.Wood & F.Kerr beat U.Taujanskaite & S.Florineth 3-0 (12-4, 12-9, 12-4)

E.O'Malley & C.Farquharson-Roberts drew with K.Hird & A.Molyneux 1-1 (15-14, 14-15)

The first half of the traditional Cambridge double header only managed to tempt three of the Cambridge students out to West Cambridge, but with Karen guesting for her alma mater (and having to swallow the disappointment of a missed appearance for the stats) two excellent matches were played. Black Cup winners Rachel and Faye teamed up to take on the University first pair, the Lithuanian/Swiss combination of Ursule Taujanskaite and Sophia Florineth. The North Oxford pair won in three games but this was a terrific match full of great athleticism, dynamic movement, attacking volleying, astute shot selection, loud shrieking and occasional outbreaks of violence, although to be fair the last two were exclusively courtesy of Faye. In the other court Karen played the senior role alongside relative novice Annabelle Molyneux up against Charlie Farquharson-Roberts and NOEFC debutante Emily O'Malley who between them produced two nailbiting games with each pair winning one and losing one 15-14. There was time for some brief pre-Three Codes practice on the Rugby Fives court (the one that didn't have a ping pong table in it anyway) before the morning and afternoon squads headed off to the Blue Lion in Hardwick for some refuelling and team-bonding, with Emily in particular putting in a strong performance to establish her North Oxford credentials by taking her chocolate brownie pudding seriously enough to line up a glass of hot milk in advance. It's that sort of attention to detail that gets you selected again.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Westminsters 1 0-3 at Eton 24/11/18:

G.Hoskins & T.McCahon lost to L.Brock & R.Houlden 1-3 (2-12, 12-11, 6-12, 4-12)

C.Austin & G.Pulsford lost to S.Shah & M.Lewin 0-3 (12-13, 13-14, 10-12)

North Oxford 1 conceded third pair

There was a rather disappointing end to the first section of the Division 1 season, with our final match before the post-Christmas split resulting in a rare 3-0 home defeat at the hands of the Westminsters. Maybe there were early warning signs with Sam Mcloughlin and James Piggot both pulling out in the run up to the match having originally been available. There was still plenty of squad depth available but then Noah Caplin arrived at the Oxford taxi meet with injured toes having fallen off a pull up bar and wearing Doc Martens instead of trainers and Phil Roper then forget to come at all, leaving us a man down. With third pair conceded and Noah - and injured feet - reduced to a spectating role, frustration was compounded on frustration as Chris & Graham proceeded to lose 12-13, 13-14, 10-12 at second pair, dominating the rally play but unable to string enough cut returns together to back up their open play superiority. The only bright spot of the day came from Gareth & Tom at first pair, who were up against the formidable pairing of Laurie Brock & Riki Houlden. After a chastening first game, Gareth & Tom went for the bold - but necessary - tactic of keeping the rallies as short as possible with both players pressing forwards and volleying hard at the first opportunity. This change of plan worked a treat in the second game as the Westminster pair made several simple mistakes under pressure from the North Oxford press, which was underpinned by an excellent cutting performance. A slight dip in standard of cutting almost let the Westminster pair back in from 5-10 down, but Tom & Gareth held on deservedly to level at 1-1. They continued to trouble their highly rated opponents for the first half of the third game, reaching 6-6 before Laurie and Riki finally began to get more cuts back and make the North Oxford pair have to play on their terms more often, which generally resulted in only one outcome. Nevertheless, Gareth & Tom were pleased with how hard they hand pushed the opposition, although less happy with the 0-3 defeat, which almost certainly condemns us to life in the bottom half of the table when the Division splits after Christmas.

EFA Trophy at Eton 18/11/18:

North Oxford A beat Newbury 3-0, Lancing/Ipswich 2-1, Monday Knights 2-1, Old Wulfrunians 3-0, Newbury 3-0, lost to Oxford University 1-2 and finished 2nd out of 7 in Group B

North Oxford B beat Old Citizens 2-1, Berkhamsted 3-0, lost to Old Salopians 0-3, Old Olavians 1-2, Old Ipswichians 0-3, Aldenham 0-3 and finished 5th out of 7 in Group A

North Oxford A: T.McCahon, S.Chapman, K.Hird, N.Turnbull, C.Lloyd, F.Fairhead

North Oxford B: M.Chinery, S.Thatcher, C.Davies, S.Nowinski, A.Bishop, H.Asquith, R.Wood

The EFA Trophy has always been an important date in the North Oxford calendar and was indeed the stage for our first ever appearances as a competitive entity back in the mists of time. Since then we have consistently reached the latter stages - although we still only have the one victory to our name, back in 2009 - and our A team lived up to expectations at Eton yesterday by qualifying for yet another semi-final. This year's competition was one of the largest for many years, with 14 teams taking part and almost 100 players descending on Eton. North Oxford were the only club able to produce two full teams - another feather in our cap - but with all of the usual suspects entered, including recent winners Oxford University, Aldenham, Old Salopians and Old Wulfrunians, as well as strong teams from the Old Ipswichians and the Monday Knights and the Old Olavians back in the competition for the first time in several years, qualification was never going to be easy. In the end it was greatly to the credit of the A team that they qualified comfortably ahead of the Monday Knights, Old Wulfrunians and a decent Lancing/Ipswich combo, and rather than having to work hard to finish second they found themselves ruing a missed opportunity to top the group. Going into the final round, both NOEFC and opponents Oxford University - our EFA Trophy nemesis for the last three years - were safely into the last four; two earlier 15-14 losses for North Oxford meant that we needed to turn over the unbeaten students 3-0 to take top spot. Tom McCahon & Freddie Fairhead lost to Arthur Wellesley & Sam Oppenheimer at first pair but Karen & Chris Lloyd put in a superb performance to inflict the first defeat of the day on Will Ponsonby & Old Summerfieldian Ted Mcdonald-Buchanan. Nathan & Spencer were 14-7 up against Jacob Greenhouse & Hal Gibson-Leitao at third pair; had just one of the earlier 15-14 losses gone the other way, a win for Nathan & Spencer would have given us top spot and kept us out of the semi-final path of the ominously strong-looking Salopian team. Somehow though, and maybe we'll give them some credit for knowing it was something of a dead rubber (or maybe not...) Nathan & Spencer contrived to turn 14-7 into 14-15 and miss the opportunity to have at least scored a 2-1 victory over the University side. In the other group, Andy Bishop's B team performed with distinction, beating a Berkhamsted parents team 3-0, recording a fine 2-1 win over the Old Citizens with the standout result of the day a 15-14 first pair win by Matt Chinery & Stephen Thatcher over eventual qualifiers the Old Olavians. An eventual fifth place finish, just one behind an Aldenham team including Grandad and Carl Rennie was a very pleasing result indeed.

Richard Black Cup at Eton 11/11/18:

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

Final:

North Oxford beat Ipswich 2-1

K.Hird & H.Asquith beat C.Cooley & E.Carter 2-1 (12-7, 7-12, 12-7)

F.Turnbull & F.Kerr lost to C.Gregory & L.Rymell 1-2 (11-12, 12-8, 5-12)

R.Wood & M.Barnes beat N.Gregory & N.Mason 2-0 (12-6, 12-7)

Having finally got their hands on the Richard Black Cup last year after four successive defeats in the final, North Oxford were not going to let go of it easily and the team brilliantly and successfully defended the trophy at Eton yesterday. The group stages were a seven team round robin playing one game matches up to 15 with the top two teams qualifying for the final and the team produced some fine performances to top the group with 15 points out of a possible 18 and all six matches won. Captain Karen marshalled the troops well, setting the tone at first pair with a series of dominant displays alongside Harriet Asquith and Rachel Wood. Faye Kerr, Francesca Turnbull and Mandie Barnes all put in solid performances lower down the order to keep the team ahead of strong teams from Ipswich, Shrewsbury and the EFA, two good young Highgate teams and an inexperienced Oxford University side. After five finals in a row against Highgate, there was new opposition this time as Ipswich qualified in second place, just one behind North Oxford and two ahead of Shrewsbury. This meant a first pair head to head between Karen and Charlotta Cooley at first pair and some exciting games in prospect at second and third pair, which had finished 15-12 to North Oxford and 15-11 to Ipswich in the earlier group stage match. The first pair match earlier in the day had been won comfortably by Karen & Harriet against Charlotta & Eloise Carter but Eloise in particular had found her game during the course of the day and a repeat of the 15-4 morning stroll always looked unlikely. Karen & Harriet got ahead in the first and stayed in control all of the way through to win 12-7 but hopes of a routine victory were dashed by an Ipswichian comeback in game two, one poor hand by the North Oxford pair enough to allow Ipswich to seize the initiative and level at 1-1. With the Ipswich pairs stayed unchanged all day, Captain Karen rung the changes again, moving Rachel down to third pair to partner Mandie and moving Francesca up to second pair to play with Faye. Both responded well to the challenge - Rachel was always in control of the third pair match against Nadia Mason and young Natasha Gregory, returning cut effectively, volleying well and with Mandie offering solid support the North Oxford pair never looked in trouble as they won 12-6, 12-7. Ipswich therefore needed to win both of the first two pairs to take the title, and for a while that looked a distinct possibility. With the first pair locked at 1-1, the second pair match was even closer. Francesca had been tasked with the responsibility of taking on the dominant attacking role that she is capable of but which she doesn't always produce, but she stepped up magnificently as she and Faye took on Ipswich's "banker" pairing of Charlotte Gregory & Louise Rymell. Faye & Francesca came from behind to take the first game to 11-11; Ipswich took the bold step of opting for sudden death and it paid off, with Louise hitting a perfect gameball cut and then a fine return to go one up. Faye & Francesca responded impressively, however, with Faye more and more solid from the back court and Francesca producing a masterclass of fast attacking volleying to hit back and win the second 12-8. With both the first two pairs into a decider, the tension began to mount. With third pair in the bag, North Oxford just needed to take one of the two games in play. As it turned out, neither ever really looked like going the distance: Charlotte & Louise reasserted themselves impressively at second pair to win fairly comfortably but all to no avail as Karen & Harriet cut out the bad spell that had cost them in the second game and got into a lead that they never looked like relinquishing, winning 12-7 to complete an unbeaten day for both of them, a fitting way to take the trophy. Poor Francesca had to head back to Cardiff at the close of play but the rest of the victorious team, plus hangers on, headed down Eton High Street to the Henry and the Golden Curry to celebrate.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Salopians 1 0-3 at Westway 06/11/18:

J.Piggot & T.Kirkby lost to E.Taylor & T.Cox 0-3 (6-12, 9-12, 8-12)

P.Scholey & T.McCahon lost to C.Hughes & H.Lewis 0-3 (3-12, 5-12, 8-12)

C.Lumbard & K.Hird lost to S.Welti & T.Gerrard 0-3 (8-12, 5-12, 5-12)

A second major Division 1 scalp in the space of three days proved beyond North Oxford at Westway last night as a formidable Old Salopian team continued their 100% start to the season. The Salopians are clearly on a mission to try and win Division 1 this year and although the NOEFC pairs all fought hard and were never less than competitive, the results on the scoreboard tell a tale of Turnbullesque consistency. It was great to welcome back James Piggot and Tom Kirkby at first pair, providing the quality needed to take on Ed Taylor and Old Summerfieldian Tom Cox. The young North Oxford pair pushed the Salopians hard, especially in the second and third games but in the end were perhaps just a little short of top level match practice this season to take a game off the home side. Pete & Tom also improved over the course of their match against Salopian skipper Chris Hughes and Henry Lewis without ever quite threatening to get ahead and it was a similar story at third pair as Karen Hird & Chris Lumbard made it back on court after their three hour plus marathon at Eton on Sunday (with a Jesters game in between on Monday to keep their eye in) against Sam Welti & Tom Gerrard. Karen and Chris were late replacements for Noah Caplin (job interview) and Chris Austin (lurgy) but even the two left-handed wizards would have been hard pressed to get any change from yet another tough Salopian pair. No games and no points then, but plenty of pride to be taken from a battling performance that leaves us on 9 points from 7 matches with just the Westminsters to come before the mid-season break and everything to play for as we try and get into the top five for the return fixtures after Christmas.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Harrovians 2-1 at Eton 04/11/18:

S.Cooley & T.McCahon beat T.Dunbar & Q.Gaba 3-0 (14-12 ret)

P.Roper & S.Mcloughlin beat R.Tyler & N.Shaw 3-2 (15-13, 12-8, 8-12, 12-14, 15-13)

C.Austin & P.Scholey lost to O.Denby & E.Hewens 1-3 (11-12, 14-11, 10-12, 4-12)

Further along the courts from Bishop's Buccaneers, the North Oxford first team found themselves involved in an even close battle, with three tremendous matched ultimately resulting in an historic 2-1 win for North Oxford, our first ever victory over the Harrovians in the top flight at the ninth time of asking. Much of the pre-match speculation had centred around the possibility of a rare Cooley v Dunbar match up at first pair. Tom was partnered by recent school leaver Qasi Gaba while Seb was playing with the revelation of the season so far, Old Emanuel Tom McCahon and a classic match looked on the cards. Once the players had got into the match, it began to deliver. With lost of the young Summer Fields contingent watching on, Tom and Seb began to work their way through their whole repertoire, with T-Mac and Qasi - despite the odd unforced error - both rising to the occasion. With a tight end of first game battle looming and a potential thriller developing, however, Dunbar suddenly bent the fingers of his right hand back badly against the buttress; he continued through to the end of the first game, which Seb & Tom took 14-12, but he was clearly struggling and took the understandable decision to retire at the end of the first game, a slightly anti-climactic finish to what could have been an absolute classic. In terms of closeness, the other two pairs were matching the top game point for point, with seven of the ten games overall set at 10-10 or 11-11. Chris & Pete at third pair lost the first game 11-12 to Ed Hewens & Oskar Denby but won the second 14-11 to level at one all. The two pairs were virtually inseparable for over two hours of Fives but as the Harrovian pair took the third 12-10, the North Oxford pair finally began to tire, worn down by the steadiness of Hewens and the relentless consistency of the classy Denby. With the legs unable to maintain the standards of the first three games, the Harrovian pair took the fourth more easily to claim the point. This meant that the outcome of the match came down to the second pair, which had developed into a five act epic. In the OH corner were Old Edwardian veteran Richard Tyler and North Oxford's own Nick Shaw - a seasoned pair with a wealth of league and tournament experience to call upon. In the North Oxford corner were young guns Sam Mcloughlin and Phil Roper, looking to make a name for themselves by taking a significant scalp. Right from the start, the North Oxford pair took the fight to their opponents, Sam cutting impressively and returning athletically from under the wall and Phil using his fast reactions and precise left-handed volleying to pick off the winners. The North Oxford pair took a tight first game 15-13 and then played even better in the second to take it 12-8 and go 2-0 ahead. Nick & Richard are not a pair to lie down and take defeat easily, however, and they dug in, waiting for the opportunity to make their move. It came with Phil & Sam 8-6 ahead and the finishing line just beginning to hover into view on the horizon - 12-8 to Richard & Nick and game on. The fourth was another nailbiter, with little to separate the sides. Again Phil & Sam had glimpses of victory, with the most tantalising of all coming at 12-11 up with a cut returned and then a volley missed which could have taken them to 13-11 and match point. The chance was fleeting, though, and in the very next hand, the Harrovian pair took it to 14-12 to level the match. The psychology of these games is always interesting and with the match now back in the balance, Phil & Sam were able to relax a little bit, no longer feeling the pressure of expecting to win maybe as the tag of favourites shifted slightly to their opponents. Even with the experience of Richard & Nick, however, finishing off a match like this one is not easy and Sam & Phil continued to play well, not losing their self-belief even at 7-9 or 10-12 down and this time when the chance came, they took it, Phil watching his opponent's shot clip the back side ledge and land just out, much to his and Sam's relief and excitement. As virtually the last match to finish (along with Karen & Stephen in the Div 3 match a couple of courts down) there was a decent sized crowd - including the delighted non-playing captain - there to appreciate an exciting end to a tremendous match - certainly one of the more memorable wins in the history of North Oxford EFC! There was a 3-0 win in the Christopher (pity the poor couple who thought they were going to enjoy a quiet late Sunday lunch until 14 hungry, thirsty and noisy Fives players turned up) and not even the absence of certain puddings on the menu was able to dampen the spirits at the end of a hugely enjoyable double header.

North Oxford 3 lost to Lancing 1-2 at Eton 04/11/18:

K.Hird & S.Thatcher lost to A.Lumbard & C.Lumbard 2-3 (12-10, 13-12, 6-12, 5-12, 11-13)

R.Thorogood & E.Scoones lost to A.Abrahams & D.Lioubimov 0-3 (4-12, 8-12, 8-12)

A.Bishop & R.Wood beat N.Cox & A.Lewthwaite 3-1 (12-6, 12-10, 6-12, 12-9)

With the Eton courts dominated by the Fives players of North Oxford - six adult league pairs and seven Summer Fields pairs taking on Highgate - Bishop's Buccaneers came out on the wrong end of a thrilling match against Lancing, with the first pair match alone lasting three and a half hours. Karen & Stephen got off to a strong start against Ashley & Chris Lumbard, winning both of the first two games, firstly 12-10 and then secondly 13-12. With Chris doing his best to injure himself by taking on the court on several occasions and generally losing (has he forgotten the Winchester Fives doubles earlier in the year? Probably yes in fact given the concussion sustained on that occasion) and marital tensions looking strained at various points - some impressive self-control from Ashley there - the game began to turn as Stephen began to go rather AWOL, having played superbly for the first two games. Ashley & Chris fought back to win the third and fourth reasonably comfortably before Stephen found his second wind in game five, aided by some rapid consumption of the Hird family's substantial array of post-Halloween leftovers. It really was one of those classic matches that could have gone either way, momentum over the last few points swinging back and forth before the Lancing pair took it 13-11. By the time the first pair match finished, Emily & Robert at second pair were long gone, defeated in three games by a very strong Lancing combination in Alex Abrahams and Dan Lioubimov despite some stout resistance in games two and three, where a strong fightback was just cut short before it turned into a full-blown counter attack. After all that unrewarded effort and hard work at first and second pair, it was Andy & Rachel who won the point that was the least the North Oxford team deserved with a fine win over Adrian Lewthwaite and the uberveteran himself Nigel Cox. The North Oxford pair were in control for the majority of the match, despite a third game wobble with Andy enjoying both the win and the feeling of playing in a pair with a combined age forty years younger than that of their opponents. Post-match in the Christopher was a 4-4 draw, although the Lancing team did all huddle together by themselves at a corner table and the additional presence of the Rachel Wood fan club probably meant we just shaded it anyway.

North Oxford 2 lost to Old Westminsters 2 1-2 at Highgate 30/10/18:

K.Hird & G.Pulsford beat S.Shah & H.de Quetteville 3-1 (12-4, 6-12, 12-7, 12-9)

N.Turnbull & M.Chinery lost to H.Young & C.Koksal 0-3 (7-12, 7-12, 10-12)

S.Chapman & H.Asquith lost to W.Illingworth & K.Lim 1-3 (12-9, 7-12, 6-12, 5-12)

The Division 2 campaign got off to a slightly belated start at Highgate last night with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of the revitalised Old Westminsters second team. The last couple of years have seen the OW second string propping up the rest of the table and struggling to put out a team; a change of management has had the desired effect and the six that the NOEFC team came up against last night had a fairly formidable look. A late change of venue from Westminster to Highgate failed to put off the NOEFC side, who were nicely balanced with a mix of three Cambridge University alumni, two former Oxford students and one graduate from the University of Life. Karen and Grandad reprised one of the more successful pairings in recent North Oxford history and while Grandad narrowly avoided a heart attack caused by the off court fireworks, the North Oxford pair produced enough on court fireworks of their own to withstand a second game dip and beat the OW first string of Sahil Shah and the Big Q himself, former Cambridge team mate of the absent NOEFC captain Harry de Quetteville. Second pair was all about the stats as Westminster youngsters Can Koksal and Hugo Young were clearly unimpressed by Matt Chinery's new trophy-winning reputation and proceeded to inflict yet more damage on his previously high-flying NOEFC win percentage. His partner Nathan Turnbull is proving to be Mr.Consistency himself this season, making it nine sets out of nine so far. He's had some tough games though, to be fair and perhaps needs to have a word with Spencer about how to negotiate getting yourself into an appropriate pair. Speaking of which, as the OWs didn't have a fourth pair, Spencer had to play at three for his first outing of the season alongside Harry Asquith, herself making her NOEFC seasonal bow. Despite being kept waiting by another ex-Cambridge player in Will Illingworth, the North Oxford pair showed no signs of rust in the first game, winning to 9 against Will and Imperial student Kotka Lim. That was as good as it got, though, as the Westminster pair began to hit their stride and took the next three games to 7, 6 and 5. Post-match order was restored with a 5-0 win in the Bull (Nathan the guilty party - off to see a friend who was being deported (sic)) - and a precise following of the advice of the team's resident dietician/nutritionist.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Millhillians 1 1-2 at Mill Hill 16/10/18:

C.Austin & G.Pulsford lost to J.Coakley & A.Rennie 1-3 (6-12, 9-12, 15-12, 5-12)

N.Turnbull & C.Lumbard lost to V.Bhimjiyani & J.Lefort 0-3 (5-12, 5-12, 4-12)

K.Hird & P.Scholey beat S.Tailor & M.Bhimjiyani 3-1 (7-12, 12-9, 12-5, 12-3)

Another tough away trip and another valuable point earned was the story at Mill Hill last night as the run of five matches in seventeen days finished at the home of the defending champions. The midweek team - with the Wizard of Wolverhampton back in for the absent T-Mac - took on another tough challenge after last week's whitewash at the hands of the Cholms, facing up to a Millhillian side fresh from victory against the Harrovians in a potential title-deciding six pointer. A chink of light was offered by the absence of Jitesh Patel due to a knee injury, with strength in depth the only question mark hanging over the OM's title credentials. This meant a shuffling of the pack for the Mill Hill side, with Grandad and the Wizard looking to invoke memories of some of their marathon five set post midnight wins at Mill Hill in times past. They did the first part very well, losing the first two games 6 and 9 to Andrew Rennie (an all-Aldenhamian battle at first pair in Div 1 - probably the first time that's happened for a while!) and Joe Coakley. They then continued to follow the script with an impressive 15-12 win in the third game but rather than being the springboard for a monumental comeback, it merely delayed the inevitable as the home pair took the fourth game to 5. Nathan Turnbull and Chris Lumbard found themselves together again in the engine room of the side at second pair and for the second week in succession they performed well against formidable opposition in the shape this time of Vishal Bhimjiyani and Justin Lefort. Both Nathan and Chris will benefit from the experience gained and we're expecting some significant contributions from both of them as the season progresses. The absence of Patel meant that the OMs number one Sunil Tailor dropped down to third pair to partner Mitesh Bhimjiyani against Pete Scholey and Karen Hird. After a slow start - the first game was lost to 7 - the North Oxford pair began to take control with Tailor unable to keep up the level of play required to carry his less experienced partner. Once they got control of the match in the second game, which was won to 9, Pete and Karen never let it go and powered through strongly to win the third and fourth to 5 and 3 in fine style. A 4-1 win the the Three Hammers and a suitably comfy armchair for Grandad completed the evening. We now take a break from league action for the Universities and Midlands tournaments before the second division campaign gets underway at Westminster in a couple of weeks time.

Spot the difference: one of these photos is of Grandad Graham in the Three Hammers after the Mill Hill game. Can you guess which one?

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Olavians 1-2 at Orpington 13/10/18:

S.Mcloughlin & T.McCahon lost to T.Barker & P.Sathiyamoorthy 1-3 (12-4, 1-12, 6-12, 9-12)

P.Scholey & G.Hoskins beat H.Ravi & J.Ravi 3-0 (12-8, 12-7, 15-14)

K.Hird & R.Thorogood lost to P.White & S.Gupta 1-3 (4-12, 12-8, 0-12, 6-12)

The first division team were back in action again on Saturday and bounced back from the midweek whitewash with a battling performance away at Orpington against the Old Olavians, coming away with a hard earned point. The selection policy of youngsters at one was once again adhered to and it worked a treat to start with as the returns of the macs (© Mark Morrison, 1996) were too much for Tony Barker and the latest Olavian wunderkind, Prajeeth Sathiyamoorthy. Sadly, Sam and Tom peaked a bit early, losing the second game in double quick time with several cuts flying out of court (Sam offering what is known in Fives circles as "the Bunyan excuse" - the ledges, the ledges...) and went down in four despite some good spells in the third and fourth games. Pete and Gareth found themselves up against the Ravi brothers at second pair and put in a solid performance in the first two games, seizing the initiative in both with a run of points halfway through and seeing both through fairly comfortably. The third game was much closer and necessitated a comeback from 11-14 down, which was achieved thanks to some excellent gameball cutting, a resolute belief that the game was still there to be won and - as per last week - a certain amount of desperation from the NOEFC captain not to have to play any more. Third pair featured a top flight debut from Robert Thorogood, promoted to the big time having cut his league teeth with Bishop's Buccaneers. He partnered Karen Hird and they put in a fine performance, recovering from the loss of the first game to win the second 12-8 against sixth former Swastik Gupta and the experienced and classy Peter White. The loss of the second game stung Peter into action and the Olavian pair rattled through game three in no time at all before withstanding the NOEFC pair's best efforts to take it to five. Normal order was restored afterwards with the Olavians disappearing almost before they'd finished, leaving North Oxford to celebrate a resounding 6-0 win in the Royal Oak and lead T-Mac through the traditional NOEFC post-match recovery protocols (no beer sorbet, custard instead of cream). Karen did express a certain amount of concern at the dangers of becoming typecast, but frankly it's far too late for that and her feigned reluctance was soon shelved. The current run of Division 1 matches concludes with another tough away assignment at Mill Hill - the home of the defending champions - on Tuesday night.

Pairs one and three battling it out at Orpington on Saturday

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Cholmeleians 1 0-3 at Highgate 10/10/18:

P.Scholey & T.McCahon lost to J.Ho & M.Kovar 0-3 (2-12, 2-12, 2-12)

N.Turnbull & C.Lumbard lost to O.Hallam & A.Pavitt 0-3 (5-12, 8-12, 9-12)

K.Hird & G.Pulsford lost to J.Marks & Ab.Bhattacharya 0-3 (10-12, 9-12, 1-12)

After two wins and five points out of six to start the Division 1 campaign, it was down to earth with a bump on Wednesday evening at Highgate as North Oxford found themselves on the wrong end of a good old fashioned shellacking at the hands of a strong Old Cholmeleians side. The only shock of the evening came with the absence of any snow or other freak weather conditions as this fixture - postponed multiple times last year - actually happened first time round this season. Pete Scholey and Tom McCahon were soon wishing for some divine intervention as they found themselves up against Kinnaird finalist and former North Oxford star (we taught him everything he knows of course) Jonny Ho and Matt Kovar. This pair dished out a fairly comprehensive toweling to Gareth & Chris at Aldenham back in March and with home advantage now on their side as well, Pete & T-Mac perhaps did well to get six points. Chalk that one up to experience and move on. Nathan Turnbull & Chris Lumbard were making their first top flight appearances of the season at second pair and put in a creditable performance against Ollie Hallam & Alex Pavitt without ever really threatening to win, while Grandad and Karen - returned from a fortnight sunning herself in Spain ("work" apparently) - got closest, taking two hours to lose the first two games to 10 and 9 against Joe Marks & Abhishek Bhattacharya before letting the third one go rather more quickly, perhaps in a hurry to get to the pub, where North Oxford recorded their only victory of the evening. Karen had clearly not readjusted to English food, opting for jaffa cakes rather than a first STP of the season (mid-October already; some catching up to do at Orpington on Saturday) while Ho & Marks went for chicken wings & chips outdoors. The Division 1 fixtures continue to come thick and fast with two more tough away matches at Orpington on Saturday and then Mill Hill on Tuesday before a much needed break.

North Oxford 1 beat Berkhamsted 2-1 at Aldenham 07/10/18:

N.Caplin & T.McCahon lost to R.Perrie & M.Doe 2-3 (12-9, 5-12, 7-12, 12-4, 7-12)

C.Austin & G.Hoskins beat D.Foster & J.Pemberton 3-1 (12-8, 12-14, 12-1, 12-11)

P.Scholey & G.Pulsford beat G.Campbell & L.Hannah 3-1 (12-4, 12-8, 3-12, 12-8)

North Oxford's great start to the Division 1 season continued at Aldenham yesterday with a second successive victory over a Berkhamsted team, completing an impressive haul of five points out of a possible six so far. Last week saw the Old Boys defeated and this time it was the school staff/pupils team, which featured the formidable figures of Ryan Perrie, Doug Foster and George Campbell alongside three highly talented school players. After the aversion of an early morning disaster involving the Oxford half marathon, multiple city centre road closures and Noah's lost phone, the decision was taken to set the team up along age lines - twentysomethings at one, fortysomethings at two and sixtysomethings at three. Poster boy Noah was relishing the opportunity to go up against his old Westway coach Ryan Perrie and he and new signing Tom "T-Mac" Mccahon got off to a strong start, winning the first game to 9. Perrie then began to exert control with his young partner Miles Doe (whose father played first pair against us last week) settling into the match well and 0-1 down became 2-1 up. The North Oxford pair weren't finished yet, however, storming back in the fourth to take the match to a decider, which ultimately went the way of the Berkhamsted pair, but this was a splendid and very encouraging performance from the two North Oxford youngsters, and hopefully a sign of further good things to come from them both this season. Second pair was an interesting match, with Gareth & Chris up against former Kinnaird semi-finalist Doug Foster and Berkhamsted pupil Jack Pemberton. Chris & Gareth were in control initially, winning the first game to 8 and establishing an 11-6 lead in the second. A combination of factors then began to turn the match - some sloppy Fives form the North Oxford pair who thought the game was in the bag, an upping of the pace from Foster and a rise in confidence from his younger partner plus an increasing lack of paint on the ball, which affected the North Oxford pair's ability to see the ball clearly and also find the spin and dip that had served them well earlier in the match. The Berkhamsted pair picked off the lead and took the second game 14-12, but soon had cause to regret their decision to accept a change of ball for the third game, as Chris & Gareth took advantage of being able to see again, racing through to win 12-1, with the winning shot a Hirdesque half volley from the back of the court from the North Oxford captain. The fourth game was the closest of the match - for the first time the Berkhamsted pair got their noses in front and stayed there, all the way through to 9-7 and then 11-9. By this stage, two and a half hours in, Gareth & Chris - and more pertinently their legs - were not particularly looking forward to the prospect of a fifth game and thanks to as much desperation as inspiration, two inch perfect Austin foot down cuts were followed by two Hoskins cut returns to level at 11-11. Much to the relief of the NOEFC pair, Berkhamsted opted for a bold sudden death policy; the cut came up off the ledge and there was no way Chris and Gareth were going to let that one slip. The old firm at third pair were first to finish, further extending their record as the oldest pair to win a Division 1 match with a fine win over former Kinnaird finalist Campbell and serial age group champion (U13, U14 and U15) Lola Hannah. Despite a wobble in the third game, Pete and Graham were simply too canny for Berkhamsted youngster, who nevertheless showed plenty of great touches and who is a really exciting prospect for the future. She will certainly have benefited hugely from the privilege of sharing a court on a Sunday morning with two such legends of the game. Unusually, a combination of family and other commitments meant that the Round Bush was not then graced by our presence for once (an unusual post-match 0-0 draw); with the Olavians away next Saturday and Karen back in the team, the severe lack of STP consumption this season should finally be put right. Before that, however, the Division 1 team take on the Cholms at Highgate on Wednesday evening, so expect sub-zero temperatures, snow, ice and a plague of locusts or something in the North London area midweek.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Berkhamstedians 3-0 at Aldenham 30/09/18:

S.Cooley & T.McCahon beat A.Joyce & J.Doe 3-0 (12-4, 13-10, 12-5)

C.Austin & N.Caplin beat J.O'Neill & J.Iddison 3-0 (12-6, 12-1, 12-4)

Old Berkhamstedians conceded third pair

The North Oxford first team got their 2018/19 Division 1 campaign off to a flying start at Aldenham on Sunday with a resounding 3-0 win over the Old Berkhamstedians. There was a tinge of disappointment in that the OBs cancelled third pair the day before, leaving Nathan Turnbull and Captain Gareth on the sidelines but there were lots of positive aspects to the day - a welcome outing for Seb at first pair, a splendid debut for new signing Tom McCahon and a strong performance from the all left-handed pairing of Chris Austin and Noah Caplin. Seb's dedication was impressive - an early morning start after a late night on boarding house duty and a circuitous route to Aldenham via Solihull and Oxford - but his presence was handy with the dangerous Andrew Joyce in the opposition line-up. In a sensational Fives first, all four pairs were on court and ready to play at the stated 10:30am start time - for the first and last time this season? - with Seb lining up alongside Old Emanuel Tom, straight into first pair for his new team having impressed against us in both Division 1 and 2 last year in Westway colours and following the withdrawal of Team Westway from the top flight. Despite a shaky period at the start of the second game, they were always in control against Joyce and James Doe, with Tom showing the potential that will hopefully lead to him becoming a key player for us this year. Chris and Noah at second pair found themselves up against Jeremy O'Neill and Joe Iddison, a talented player returning to the game. This was a tough match for Joe to try and find his feet in and although he showed more than enough to suggest he will be more than useful with a few more matches under his belt, Chris and Noah, fuelled by mid match jam and peanut butter sandwiches, were too strong for the Berkhamsted pair. The prompt start and reasonably quick matches meant that the team was in the pub by 12:30 (a 4-0 win), although the early season STP stats took another hammering with Karen still absent in Spain. The Division 1 matches now come thick and fast, with more Berkhamstedians - in the shape of the school staff/pupils team - on their way to Aldenham next Sunday.

North Oxford 3 lost to St.Olave's School 2 1-2 at Orpington 29/09/18:

A.Bishop & R.Thorogood lost to S.Gupta & J.Williams 1-3 (12-7, 6-12, 2-12, 6-12)

P.Wilkinson & R.Wood beat L.Redmond & P.Robson 3-2

M.Chinery* & M.Tavra* lost to S.Chakraborty & M.Li 1-3 (12-6, 7-12, 5-12, 11-14)

*ineligible players

Reporting from Andy Bishop & Rachel Wood:

After a week of scouring the outer reaches of the NOEFC contacts book, Bishops' Buccanneers headed to Orpington on Saturday with only two counting pairs for a match against 2017 Division 3 winners St.Olave's 2. A penalty point was avoided thanks to Matt Chinery standing in at third pair with a young Olavian partner, leaving Andy, Rachel, Robert and NOEFC debutant Philip Wilkinson to battle it out at the top two pairs. Andy and Robert stepped up at first pair to take on a very useful Olavian pair including Swastik Gupta, who has had plenty of experience on the adult circuit already. That wasn't enough to cope with Robert's dynamic play and Andy's wily old man cutting in the first game as the North Oxford pair took a 1-0 lead in fine style. That was the high point of the match for the North Oxford duo, however, as the schoolboys took on board the advice of coach Howard Wiseman and began to cope much better with the challenge of playing a canny older pair, returning cut more effectively, dominating around the buttress more and producing bursts of points-scoring that turned into game-winning leads in each of the next three games. At second pair, Philip became the first Old Rossallian to represent NOEFC and after a slow start (student, Sunday morning, long journey...) formed a strong partnership with the fast-improving Rachel Wood. Having lost the first game 4-12 with too many unforced errors, a tactical readjustment - mainly involving not letting the dangerous Lia Redmond volley if at all possible - led to the North Oxford pair winning a tight match 3-2. Philip and Rachel were dovetailing nicely with Philip's excellent back court retrieving complementing Rachel's vicious top step volleys and they even finished up by going through the whole repertoire of back-off-the-bricks and through-the-legs shots to get themselves over the line. Matt proved that he has some stats-massaging lessons to learn from Spencer by managing to lose at third pair with Zuozer Marc Tavra but merely by being there he performed a crucial role in saving us from a dreaded penalty point. There was a 4-0 win in the Royal Oak but again the STP count was zero, with Karen's absence costing us dearly in that particular department.

North Oxford 3 beat Windsor & Eton 2-1 at Eton 11/09/18:

A.Backhouse & K.Hird beat I.Mitchell & J.Lawrence 3-0 (12-7, 12-7, 12-8)

R.Thorogood & S.Thatcher beat N.Bunyan & O.Avery 3-1 (12-8, 9-12, 12-7, 12-7)

A.Bishop & R.Wood lost to M.Chinery & M.Barnes 3-2 (12-9, 10-12, 10-12, 12-5, 10-12)

Karen Hird reports:

Following NOEFC's summer exploits in glorious sunshine, the more familiar sight of a drizzly Tuesday night at Eton heralded the start of the North Oxford league season, as Bishop's Buccaneers took on Windsor & Eton in the now-traditional season opener.

At first pair, Karen (after a long weekend in Zuoz playing in the Engadin Challenge and attempting to keep up with Stefan walking up hills) was grateful to be paired with the young legs of former Summerfieldian and current Etonian Alfie Backhouse. They took on Ian Mitchell and Jeff Lawrence, resulting in a hard-fought win for the North Oxford pair, with Alfie dominating with his long reach and finding his cut returns at the crucial time to make sure his pair pulled away at the end of each set.

Meanwhile, Stephen and Rob were ensuring the win was wrapped up in four games against Nick Bunyan and a much-improved Ollie Avery, helped by a clip off the edge of the back step towards the end of the fourth set, much to Nick's delight.

On the adjacent court, Andy and Rachel faced familiar foes (and regular teammates) in Mandie Barnes and Matt Chinery at third pair. From the assortment of strappings there only appeared to be three working knees on court, two belonging to Rachel, but despite (or perhaps because of) this, the match turned out to be an absolute classic, with the North Oxford pair winning the first set, then fighting back from the loss of the second and third games to force a fifth. However, Matt and Mandie managed to find some crucial cut returns and shots into the buttress at the end of the final set (helped no doubt by Matt helping himself to Rachel's water at the end of the fourth game) to ensure Windsor & Eton didn't go away empty-handed.

So with a win behind them, the North Oxford team departed their separate ways looking forward to the season ahead, although disappointingly none of them made it to the Henry, resulting in North Oxford's first loss in the post-match entertainment in living memory, and leaving Karen with an early deficit in the matches played to sticky toffee puddings consumed season stats.