Last Monday we played our annual AC friendly against Watford as the first fixture on their annual weeklong tour. Unfortunately one of their players had to drop out at short notice, but we were able to draft in Tim Dutton at the last minute to make up the usual five players per side. In the end, because Peter Adams and Bernie Phillips were finding it difficult to schedule time to play their Pat’s Plate game, Bernie made up the numbers for Watford instead of Tim, so that one of the afternoon games could serve a dual purpose.
The morning games were shared with John Gosden and Julie Tremble comfortably winning the doubles and Peter doing the same in his match, making good use of his seven and a half bisques. The other two matches were very close with Richard and Tim both losing on time, by respectively one and two.
Fortified by an excellent lunch provided by Andrew and Wendy Lockwood, Watford nearly swept the board in the afternoon, with the only home victory coming courtesy of Julie who won a closely contested game by three on time. Even discounting the two games won by Bernie, the loaned player, Watford still won 4-3 overall. Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable day of friendly competition.