POPPS ‘B’ WIN AGAINST THE ODDS
Monday December 14 at the Chapel, Old Town

The last time Popps ‘B’ ventured into the wilds of Old Town, they were incorrectly directed to the wrong venue by a mistake in the handbook. The resultant cold wait did not help their performance as two members phoned round to find where to play, sitting in cold cars on a freezing night wondering if they were going to be eaten by werewolves. This time, we have the advantage of knowing where we were going. As for the OT Robins, they finished 2^nd to bottom in last year’s league, so we knew we could proceed with cautious optimism. In addition, none of our team, John Mitchell, Terry Wassall and Robin Thomas had been on the shortlist for BBC TV Sports personality of the year, so had not been involved in a boozy night at Sheffield over the weekend. John has of course lost a number of lucrative sponsorships after going off the rails, but that would not affect his game tonight.

In the event, we had to play with 2, as something untoward must have affected John and he was not able to get there. Would Terry & Robin be able to win 5 out of 6?  In the words of B. Obama, yes they could!

Terry started off against Jo Sweeny, wondering whether he might have to play all 9 matches himself. Things were balanced initially and the first game went to an unprecedented 15 all, when Terry managed to hold it together to win 18-16. He started slowly in G2 and was down at 6-7. However, a new steadiness has entered Terry’s strategic approach and he edged ahead to win 11-9. Jo roared off to 5-1, only to allow Terry to level at 5-5. It was still level at 11-11, but a couple of useful shots took him to 13-11 and 3 nil victory.

Robin then took on Declan Sweeny. Yes, TT is a family game in these wild hills, where inter-breeding is rife. Robin won the first game 11-9, but after a mini-marathon, Declan squeezed the second game at 18-16. Things steadied down in the remaining games, which Robin won 11-4 and 13-11. Robin’s occasional spin serve worked quite well and the pressure of knowing we had to win 5 out of the 6 games, may have added focus. Terry was now back on the table against  Phil Dean, winning 11-8,11-9 and 12-10, having to come back from being 4 down in the last game.

Robin continued his good form against Jo. Despite finding the floor surface a bit like Dancing on Ice, he developed a Robin Cousins-like facility to control his movements to win 3-1. Jo won the third game 11-9, but Robin won 11-5, 11-8 and 11-7. Jo’s forehand smash was effective but did not work all the time.

POPPS needed one more set to register a famous victory over the odds and Terry took on Declan in a confident manner. He moved to 7-3, Declan pegged him to 7-5, but fell away as Terry cruised to 11-6.  Declan executed some useful b/h flicks, but couldn’t stop Terry moving to 11-8. In G3, Declan lost concentration as Terry eased ahead to an 11-4 win.  I’m not saying it was cold in this ancient chapel, but full track suits were kept on at all times, so there were no revealing strip teases. Phil, whilst scoring, wore some black leather gloves, looking a bit like a Black Panther at the Olympic Games at Mexico.  

The last set, between Robin and Phil was a bit of an anti-climax as Robin could not deal with some   useful smashes from Phil, who won 12-10, 11-9 and 11-3.

Our hosts were very hospitable, providing drinks and biscuits during the match. The fact that we were one short meant that Declan was able to scoff the last of the ginger nuts, which could have explained his below par performance in his final game as his gut bulged with ginger biscuits. As usual, the game was played with great sportsmanship and Terry and Robin disappeared in their different directions on that chilly night through the country byways, in the proud knowledge of a famous victory in the wild hills of Calderdale.