IPSOBLTA: Nick Ames and Charles Homewood, Alex Ferguson and Ben Mercer, Rory Pullinger and George Donnelly
KCS: Kirill and Fabian, Rafa and Aiden, Ben and Archie
What a glorious day! The sun was out, the clubhouse greeted us with warm bacon rolls, and the 1st XI were playing cricket on an immaculate pitch that would put Lord’s to shame.
The King’s boys looked sharp in their red shirts, while the iPubs arrived in an eclectic mix of attire - from the vintage faded polo to the latest dri fit design “Carrying History Forward!”
Nick Ames and Charles Homewood had a tough first encounter against Ben and Archie, finding themselves 2-1 down, 40-0 down. But they dug in, clawed their way back to 2-2 long after every other pair had finished, and then stormed through to a 6-2 win, despite one game featuring an unbelievable fourteen deuces!
Alex Ferguson, now in his second year with the iPubs, made his long awaited debut. Ben Mercer used to go KCS himself and was never going to let the youngsters get the better of him. They held their nerve superbly in the third-set championship tiebreak against Rafa and Aiden, with Ben crunching some forehand winners and Alex serving strongly.
Rory Pullinger and George Donnelly were on fire in the first match and kept their winning streak going throughout the fixture without dropping a set.
It was a joy to reunite the old “legends” of Putney Lawn Tennis Club, who used to play men’s first team tennis together 20 years ago. After the tennis, we wandered over to the Crooked Billet for a well deserved pint and fish and chips.
Ben James was the ideal host and the King’s boys were, as always, polite, friendly and technically better than us!
Rory Pullinger - Match Manager