(guest review by Mr Rob Crawford: thanks, Rob!)

Tonights outing was against our closest opponents last year, Sidegate Lane, like us, newly promoted from division 3 and still acclimatising to the dizzy heights of division 2, not yet having won a match.

Rob, Kev and Andy were tonights line up for the Defiants, with Ed mysteriously unavailable.

A pale Andy, doubtful to play for most of the day, decided to turn up at the last minute, and played all his games in succession so he could go home early to recuperate.

Playing in his usual style (is this guy really ill?), Andy breezed past Jim Follett and Richard Wyatt, only dropping an end to give us an early 2-0 lead. His last game appeared to be in-the-bag but an on-form Martin Westlake dashed his hopes of a maximum, taking Andy down 3-1 with some outstanding hitting. Maybe that last game was just too much for Andy, allegedly not having eaten all day.

Exit Andy, leaving Rob and Kev to battle on for the rest of the evening, Rob takes to the table and with a shaky start, unable to find his hitting range, goes down disappointingly 3-1 to a steady Richard Wyatt.

Kev, showing marked improvement with his new bat, narrowly loses his first against Martin Westlake. Although losing 3-0 it was a close match.

Rob, still frustrated from his first match, and determined to do better then takes on Jim Follett, quickly re-discovers his form, winning easily 3-0.

Kev, growing in confidence then takes to the table against Richard Wyatt and puts in another good performance, unfortunately going down 1-3.

Rob then takes on an unbeaten Martin Westlake, with Rob winning comfortably 3-0.

A steady Kev, buoyed by his recent improvement, bounced back and won his last game convincingly against Jim 3-0, giving a jubilant and revitalised Kev his first win of the season!! Pats on the back resound around Adastral park.

Kev was quick to the table, realising he had "auto-entry" to the doubles and tells Rob "We can do it". And we did!! Winning 3-1 on a slippery floor giving us an 6-4 win overall.

3 wins out of 6 should ensure we remain in our mid-table comfort zone.