As the first round of nine matches in the Bournemouth and District league came to an end, the New Milton club could only muster one win from their ten teams, their lowest haul of the campaign. The other results were four draws and five defeats.

In the Premier, the A team (Brian Vibert, Steve Hemmings and stand-in Alan Gordon) lost 4-6 away against fellow third-spot challengers Bournemouth Sports C. Hemmings won two including a victory over Bourne’s rising star Hugo Pang, but captain Vibert was just deprived of his own brace as he lost to Laslio Barcsai 13-15 in the fifth set. Gordon returned to the fold to add one more to the tally, so the doubles were required to force the draw. It was not to be however as Vibert and Hemmings lost over five sets.

In Div 1, the B team (Zoltan Karib-Barath, Shaun Newcomb and Julie Smillie) did well to hold the table-topping Ringwood A to a 5-5 draw at Mudeford Wood. The Hungarian won two and his team mates added one apiece to the reckoning. It was a bit of a nail-biter in the doubles as the gents took the first two ends but lost the next two. However they resumed control in the fifth to land the draw and the precious extra point.

Not doing quite so well in Div 1, the C team (James Lewis, Jacob Tse and Max De Kment) lost 4-6 away against mid-tablers Bournemouth Sports F. Tse won two but captain Lewis and De Kment had to be content with one apiece. Once again the doubles proved decisive as Lewis and De Kment lost in three straight sets to miss out on the draw.

The club’s only win came in Div 2 as the D team won 9-1 for the second week running, this time at home to the struggling Winton YMCA A. Captain Terry Jenvey and Bob Fagan both scored hat-tricks but Roy Hobbs lost to Winton’s wily old veteran Harold Feltham.

In Div 3, the E team’s three week winning run came to an end as they lost 3-7 away against title challengers Ringwood B. Simon Golding bagged a brace, Bill Page chipped in with the one win but captain Bev Scott-Johns drew another blank.

The F team (Ian Linney, Sylvia Smith and Frank Handy fared better in Div 3 as they drew 5-5 at home to Broadstone C. Handy only just missed out on his sixth hat-trick of the campaign as he lost 11-13 in the fifth against Stone’s Brian Vincent, Linney also won two but captain Smith won just the one. Milton came so close to clinching the match through the doubles but Smith and Handy lost over five hard-fought sets.

Also in Div 3, the third placed G team (Simon & Matthew Daish and Lewis Reading) tripped up as they lost 4-6 to the struggling Merton E at the Arnewood School. Matthew Daish won two and big brother Simon chipped in with the one win. Reading was unfortunate not to have chalked up a win as he lost two of his matches 9-11 in the fifth and final sets, but he helped Daish junior to win the doubles in three straight sets.

In Div 4, the H team could only manage to draw 5-5 at home to Merton G, despite the opposition turning up a player short. Andrew Daish and Bobo Jiang added one each to the three game advantage but John Parkhouse lost both his matches. The doubles would have brought victory but fourth man Peter Daish and Jiang lost over four sets.

The fourth of the club’s draws came in Div 5 as the J team (Luke Gurton, Geoff Biggs and Keith Kensley) tied away against Shamrock B. 16 year old Gurton played beyond his years to bag his third hat-trick of the season, but Kensley and Biggs could only add one more each to the tally. Gurton earnt his place in the doubles with Kensley but they lost out over five ends.

The K team (Sibyl Bartlett, Sue Wootton-Freeman and Jack Fisher) remain rooted to the bottom of the league as they lost their fifth successive game by 0-10.