Murphy Shield, second round

Sussex County travelled to Surbiton on Wednesday to play Cheam in the second round of the Murphy Shield.

The team of David Dickins (Capt), Vincent L’Estrange, Paul Green and Francis Ainley trailed 1-2 at lunch, having only won the doubles in the morning.

With all to play for in the afternoon, David Dickins won the first singles, but Vincent narrowly lost his match to an in-form Cheam player. Both Paul Green and Francis Ainley then won the first of their best of three games, and Paul soon wrapped up the win to leave the match at 3-3.

The ever-dependable Tony Nicholas won the second game against Francis setting up a nerve-jangling decider. Francis took an early lead, but Tony came back to level things at 6 all. Francis prevailed on the golden hoop, giving Sussex a 4-3 victory, after both had has chances to steal the win.

Congratulations to all.