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REAL TENNIS
**FIXTURE UPDATES**
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Please refer to Fixtures 2022/2023 for the following updates:-
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Holyport Sat 22 Oct - this match has been rearranged for Wednesday 14 December 2022 at Holyport from 10.30-4.00 Invitations have been sent out to all members.
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The Manchester match will take place on Saturday 4th March 2023 at Manchester
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NEW FIXTURE LIST 2022/23
The Dedanists’ Society Fixtures List 2022/2023 has now been concluded and is attached, with the first fixture, the Warwickshire Weekend on 3rd/4th September and the last the Oxford/Brigands Weekend in early July 2023.
In all we have 30 matches against Clubs together with a further 4 events. You will notice that there are one or two fixtures listed marked tbc, which I am working on to conclude as soon as possible and thereafter to refresh on the website. One point I would like to make is that a number of the new season’s match dates have changed quite markedly in terms of a different month from the 2021/2022 season. So check them through in case you have assumed that the dates were one day behind the 2021/2022 Season. We have a revived fixture against Bristol and we have dropped the Seacourt fixture which we will keep under review on an annual basis.
An updated Match Managers' Contact details, to complement the Fixtures List, is also attached. Can I encourage you all to look through the Fixtures and if you would like to play send an email to the relevant Match Manager to register your interest. The MM’s will all welcome this as it will make their lives easier in selecting a team. They will routinely email an invitation to play to all Dedanist members, which now totals nearly 225 players.
Which leads me on to say we all hope that matches should end up as Doubles which, I am sure you will all agree, are much more fun for both the home team and indeed the visiting Dedanist team. More in the Dedans the better. Furthermore the post match collection from all Dedanist players (plus contributions by the host club to include where Dedanists have played) by our Treasurer, John McVittie, utilising GoCardless, goes a long way to helping our main raison d’être to support Real Tennis programmes around the country. I am sure that you all read more about these initiatives here within our website. We are lucky to have this such great support from within The Dedanists’ Foundation.
Finally can I take this opportunity to remind Match Managers to send, post match, their Match results + photos + a short report to Tory Wall torywall@hotmail.com who will put the detail on this website.
Guy Egerton-Smith
Fixtures Secretary
The Dedanists’ Society
To play in a match please contact the relevant match manager.
Match Reports......
DEDANISTS v HAMSTERS
20th OCTOBER 2022
Reporter: Ian Harris
Sun setting on Hampton Court Palace
“It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall,” said your intrepid reporter to Carl Snitcher, having braved the 3.5-mile high-pass journey from Notting to Primrose Hill in just over 35 minutes.
“There’s a bad moon on the rise,” agreed Carl, gnomically.
We arrived at a rain-soaked Hampton Court Palace in the nick of time; just as well, as your intemporal reporter was playing in the first rubber. Some might argue that our arrival was actually “worse than two”, but a more substantial discrepancy soon revealed itself; the marker’s sheet was showing a lesser handicap for the Dedanists than the sheet that James McDermott & I had been sent.
In order to avoid a major diplomatic incident, James & I acquiesced to the lesser handicap, yet still somehow contrived to win our rubber, albeit narrowly.
Your insipid reporter was involved again in the second rubber, albeit only for the last two sets, as Carl chose to “play his joker”. Tony Friend and I managed to take the matter to a third set before succumbing to the might of Simon Cripps & Richard East – arguably also a Dedanists pair but playing for the Hamsters on this occasion.
The third rubber also saw your decrepit reporter in the action, in the marker’s chair this time, as Paul Cattermull & Graeme Marks made relatively light work of their rubber, albeit with Robert Frost playing in his “Arch” leftie capacity.
On finally staggering away from the court, your incognizant reporter picked up a message that the Prime Minister had resigned. “That’s the second Liz whose expiration has been announced while I was on the real tennis court in the space of six weeks”, I mused, having been informed of the late Queen’s demise by Tony Friend while I was on the Lord’s court.
I thought I might be the tidings-bringer this time, only to discover that most of the group had learnt the demise of Liz Truss some 45 minutes earlier.
Anyway, this was no time to ponder the fate of shambolic politicians – it was time to tuck into the pies before they too were to become a footnote in history. A positive footnote in the case of the pies of course – once again a delicious choice of
· Chicken Ham & Leek;
· Steak & Ale.
Bread and cheese (yes please) and two species of yummy desserts that self-discipline allowed me to avoid, along with the jolly wines on offer.
Thus your temperate reporter just about made it back to the dedans in time for the dénouement of a match between Yarnall & Banks (Hamsters) and Stogdon & Philips (Dedanists) which went down to the deciding game of the deciding set, only to land in the Hamsters favour and leave the match tantalisingly poised at 2-2.
Your incorrigible reporter also marked the deciding rubber, in which Yuri Kugler & Christie Marrian defeated Charlie Kearl & Simon Cripps to settle the match 3-2 to the Dedanists. To be fair on the Hamsters, Simon was playing a second rubber as alternate and match-manager Charlie had been acting as chef and waiter for the magnificent lunch.
The Dedanists’ Society won this match in more ways than one, of course. Once again, those warm-hearted Hamsters chipped in with generous donations to add to the Dedanists’ contributions. Thus we raised £380 from the fixture this year.
There’s no better way to lift the spirits on a gloomy, worrisome day than a day of pastance with Dedanists and Hamsters. Symbolically, as the nation’s political shenanigans moved on to its new phase, the heavy clouds and rain of the morning had lifted to reveal a gorgeously
bright, sunny evening as we all left. Tony Friend took a few charming snaps to capture that memory, along with the earlier snaps from a couple of the matches.
“So foul and fair a day I have not seen”, said Carl, gnomically, as I dropped him home.
“Pass time with good company”, I replied.
Charles Kearl
Hampton Court Gardens, after rain. Photos by Tony Friend
McDermott in Action
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Kearl, CRIPPS, kugler 7 9out of shot), Marrian
The Results
Dedanists v Bristol RTC @ BRTC
Sunday 9th October 2022
We revived the Bristol fixture after a few years absence and I was pleased to take responsibility as the Match Manager and I will continue in that role.
We arrived at BRTC with a team of 7 which was reduced to 6 on the morning of the match as Robert Kilgour sadly had a family bereavement earlier in the day. I had arranged 6 matches but this was reduced to 4 completed matches as Simon Martin suffered a nasty accident in what was going to be the penultimate 5th match on court from which I am pleased to say he has recovered.
The Match result was a win for BRTC 3-1 as follows:-
David Weston & Tony Branfield v Luke Sutor* & Chris Harland - lost 2-6, 2-6
Simon Martin v Alfie Gilbert - won 9-3
Guy Egerton-Smith & Katy Weston v Elliot Watkins* & Ben Brown*- lost 2-6, 4-6
Peter Mason & Tony Branfield v Caspian Rugg* & Dan Brown - lost 2-6, 4-6
Felix Wigzell* & Like Sutor* played in the 5th doubles for BRTC which was cancelled following Simon’s accident on court
*above denotes the 5 young BRTC players.
It was great to have the 5 young players from BRTC against us and it was so good to hear from their parents how much their boys had enjoyed
playing in the match and had benefited from the Dedanists programme at BRTC, under Ben Taylor-Matthews and from Paul Weaver at Queen’s.
Guy Egerton-Smith
Match Manager
Dedanists v Radley
Saturday 10th September 2022
JULIA KENT & CHRISTOPHER MACKARNESS v Liz Fisher & Anton Eisdell
5/6 2/6 (rec 1/2 15)
JOHN MATTHEWS v Liz Leach
6/2 6/3 (owe 1/2 15)
JONATHAN ORDERS v John Harrington
8/1 (rec 1/2 15)
JUSTIN SNOXALL v Michael Llewellyn-Jones
8/7 (rec 1/2 15)
JONATHAN ORDERS & JUSTIN SNOXALL v John Harrington & Michael Llewellyn-Jones
8/2 (rec 1/2 15)
VICTOR TILL & CATHERINE HUDSON v Pam Tomalin & Tim Tomalin
5/6 3/6 (rec 15)
Radley won 4 - 2
Liz Fisher was our Match Manager.
The Warwickshire weekend
3rd and 4th September 2022
The cheerful firing squad pose at Moreton.
LTCC 3rd September
Over the weekend 16 enthusiastic Dedanists gathered for the first matches in the Real Tennis Calendar starting quite rightly at the oldest Real Tennis club in the world. A family bereavement and knee injury were the only clouds that hung over what was otherwise a great weekend. The first match started swimmingly well with John Tacchi and Charles Heaton storming ahead 3 love but then a tough handicap difference, a Virgin Pilot, Ollie Newbury and canny retired accountant, David Howells stole the show with Leamington clinching the first match 4:6/0:6.
The second started in a similar way with the M.M. and the deceptive Giles Stogdon taking the first set to love. The next two sets were another matter with an initial strong defence from John Devis and John Edwards followed by an attack. The M.M. wobbled with some of his returns and despite a steady performance by Giles we lost the next two sets. 6:0/5:6/5:6.
The third match was a singles classic encounter between Paul Cattermull and Matt Fattorini. The Dedans were treated to an elegant floor game which saw a good number of chases laid better than 2, many beaten. After taking the first set Paul proceeded to deliver a series of well worked serves low and hugging the back wall, followed by accurate shots which proved too much for Matt who succumbed 6:4/6:0.
Play was suspended for lunch which consisted of Paella followed by a delicious Rhubarb & strawberry crumble washed down with an Albarino in keeping with the Spanish theme.
Following lunch there was a heavy weight bruising battle between Michael Llewelyn Jones and Ian Hawkey who played against the home team Paul Brennan and Henry Bryan. Energy and determination resulted in long rests with some super retrievals. Michael and Ian fought off several attacks producing some excellent tennis and volleys to win in 3 sets 4:6/6:1/6:4.
Chris Marguerie and Martin Village, Martin’s first time on either the LTCC or MMTCC surfaces, played a considered and steady game against the tricky Miles Buckinghamshire and Jon Davy. After levelling up the sets at one a piece they powered up to take the second to win 4:6/6:3/6:4.
With the Dedanists one match up with one to play the pressure was off Tony Branfield but could we claim that rare victory at LTCC? There was no doubting Tony’s efforts to claim victory for our side. He covered large swathes of court retrieving many shots to keep him in the match. The youthful Joel Armstrong, at least a couple of decades Tony’s junior, had all those frustrating characteristics of a good ball player, new to the Royal game, who would not give up the chase! A splendid match to watch with Tony losing respectably 4:6/3:6.
Result: Dedanists 3 LTCC 3.
We were unable to raise enough individuals to trigger dinner at the club and hence retired to the reliable local Cote Brasserie. Five players were fortunate enough to have the company of Julia, Martin Village’s wife which no doubt improved the tone of the repas.
MMTCC 4th September
The full team, 16 strong, presented to do battle at Moreton. Fortunately, several Dedanists’ could declare dual loyalty and hence play for the home team. Six pairs of doubles were set up with the first commencing at 9.45. In future, I think that we should encourage starting times at 15, 30 and 40 minutes past the hour! The trusty pairing of John Yarnall and Peter Mason took to the floor. John should be commended on bringing his wife, Grace, to the court to celebrate their 58th wedding anniversary. He clearly knows how to give a girl a good time! Spurred on by the great day John peppered the grille/tambour and Peter regained his killer underarm twist after managing back-to-back double faults. It was a close match but there was enough to overpower John Tacchi and Peter Wilson. Coincidentally and unbeknown to me, it was poetic to learn that Peter Wilson had many years ago introduced John Tacchi to the game so it was great that they could play together. 5:6/6:3/6:3.
Up step Paul Cattermull and Julian Sheraton Davis to play Tony Branfield and the random shot generator Jon Lambdon. It was Paul and Julian’s first time on the new floor and before they could settle in Jon & Tony brought an intensity to the contest forcing little rhythm to be established. Some back luck and unforced errors, by their high standards, meant they were under pressure. The opposition had a bisque per set which was excellently called by Tony which resulted in frustration and almost a request for a steward’s enquiry from Paul’s quivering lips which he managed to stifle. There was a whiff in the air of impending doom. 2:6/3:6.
For the third exchange, Ian Hawkey raced over from LTCC having popped in there for an early successful match representing Prested v Leamington consisting of 3 set warm up. Liz arrived with Theo, a gorgeous 3 year black Labrador, who did not make a sound, presumably being hypnotized by the scent carried by several canine owners. Across the net stood Michael Llewelyn Jones, playing for Moreton, fresh from a great victory at Leamington and a rejuvenated David Prophet. After losing the first set 6:1 there was a sense of déjà vu. Ian found some extra reserves from the depths of his sturdy legs and Liz continued to brew a mixture of serves. They put up a good fight but sadly came second 1:6/4:6.
Lunch was taken during the fourth game which was between Charles Heaton and Martin Village v Mark Savage and David Aldwincle. This was always going to be a tough match given that Martin and Charles had never played on the court whilst Mark and David had numerous cunning successes at the club 2:6/4:6.
A score line pattern was beginning to emerge. What could the M.M. bring to the next match to change matters ……the trusty, nimble and soft hands of Linda Sheraton Davis from R.T.C. The problems were firstly Bruce Paxton, who had taken on the task of supervising and managing the excellent new floor at Moreton and Martin Harris an ex-South African grade level cricketer. My plan….one large glass of Mark Savages’ first-rate club claret might make the difference. I didn’t need to persuade myself! The match was a tough affair and somehow Linda and I secured the first set 6:4, then the inevitable backlash 2:6. Throughout we released the macho hits were not the route to success. Step up the gliding Linda with strong wrists seeing us home to victory. 6:4/2:6/6:3.
Again, down to the last match. Of course, the unexpected twist in the tail or rather Chris Marguerie twisting his knee as he hastily got out of the car. Well, you think a rheumatologist would know better. In his stead the eager, dog-loving and enthusiast Charles Heaton for his second match of the day bounced forward. I think Ian Hawkey might have gone home, no doubt he would have found enough gas in the tank for his third exploit of the day. The reliable Giles Stogdon and competitive Charles, who reached far and wide with his racquet, could not overcome Paul Smith OKA Pablo the Moreton Bandit and the mercurial Bernie Spratt who were in destructive mode. 6:1/1:6/3:6. The M.M.’s editorial hope of claiming “the Dedanists’ ravage Warwickshire” will have to wait another year.
Result Dedanists’ 2 MMTCC 4.
These two fixtures are a lot of fun so do put them in your diaries for next year!
Ferocia et Fraternitate,
(the MMTCC moto thanks to our Dedanist Mark Savage, Classics Scholar and M.W.)
David Phillips
M.M. Warwickshire weekend
Michael Llewelyn Jones & Ian Hawkey played against Paul Brennan & Henry Bryan
Dedanists' at MMTCC
Paul Cattermull
Dedanists v Prested - 11th June 2022
The match was won by Prested 3-1.
Clive Turner playing for the Dedanists won his match v Vince Lucey. Unfortunately, Clive and Simon Martin lost 2-0 to Chris Vigrass and Brian Muir, Anton Eisdell lost 2-0 to Patrick Foster and Jonathan Ellis- Miller and Yuri Kugler lost 2-0 to Ian Hawkey and Bruce Hogarth-Jones. Several of the Prested players are also Dedanists so there were some mixed emotions.
The match was played in great spirit and was marked by the Prested pro-Mark Hobbs. Hobbsy was trialling a new Bluetooth microphone announcer for the space behind the glass wall and with eagle eyes whilst marking in the Dedans was able to announce J Ellis-Miller apparition as seeing Top Gun Tom Cruise enter the club. He had the ray bans and the hair and the right stuff attitude.
Kudos too to Yuri for playing almost immediately having got through National Highways worst on the M25.
Dedanists v Oxford – Saturday 9th July 2022
Nick Browne v Rafa Perera v 6/4 6/5
James Mallinson v George Lythgoe 6/4 6/2
Yuri Kugler & Iain Harvey v JF Bellec & Charlotte Harris 3/6 6/4 4/6
Kugler & iain Harvey v Bruce Morrison & Jonathan Orders 6/3 4/6 4/6
Giles Stogdon & Anton Eisdel v Ian Barry & Tim Goodacre 0/6 5/6
Giles Stogdon & Sebastian Wood v Jenny Jones & Elli Harris 5/6 2/6
(James Mallinson filled in for Ronald Paterson who had pulled out of Saturday)
Result: Oxford win 4/2
Dedanists v Brigands – Sunday 10th July 2022
Ronald Paterson v James Mallinson 3/8
Nick Browne & Ronald Paterson v James Mallinson & Paul Kettle 8/5
Nick Browne v Paul Kettle 8/5
Yuri Kugler v Malcolm Thorp 5/8
Giles Stogdon v Paul Heaver 1/8
Anton Eisdell v Jenny Jones 5/8
Yuri Kugler & Giles Stogdon v Paul Heaver & Malcolm Thorp 8/2
Anton Eisdell & Yuri Kugler v Jenny Jones & Malcolm Thorp 3/8
Anton Eisdell & Giles Stogdon v Jenny Jones & Paul Heaver 8/6
Result: Brigands win 5/4.
