Southbourne V Ringwood

Rain did not stop play!

At about 6.30pm, it looked like it would be a very wet and miserable evening. However, just when when we had given up all hope with the weather, the skies suddenly cleared and our 1st and probably biggest decision, was whether to play inside or outside the Spyglass & Kettle pub. We took the plunge (literally!) and after a towel down (which was not for us but for the tables and benches!), the opportunity to play outside proved too tempting to miss even though, perhaps disappointingly, there were no ice-creams to be bought anywhere! With Ringwood turning up with 5 players and Southbourne 11 players, our next important decision was which 3 Southbourne players should play on-loan on boards 6, 7 & 8 for Ringwood for a suitable transfer fee, perhaps a packet of crisps! This was soon sorted and play got under way at just a fraction past 7.30pm. The individual games were all, in the main, tight and closely fought and thankfully, there was no further rain. Indeed, the sun came out during the evening if you looked hard enough for it! Such was the sporting nature of the match, that there were a few 'takeback' moves on board 8. Maybe a 'takeback rule' should be introduced for next year, similar to a 'VAR' check in football, 'DRS' in cricket and a 'challenge' in tennis! We would like to thank the Ringwood players for making this an enjoyable, sociable evening.

Martin J Simons