Dampness all around this Monday, and it's up to that Dome to play a team with an avian nomenclature. Already clipped the Cormorants and upset the Avocets, so tonight invites some naval-gazing as we encounter the Wrens. Note: way back, we used to play a lady called Jenny (with me here?) who, if she missed a shot, would yell "fish!" End of story.

Only spinserve Ed(gar) left from our previous meet, now joined by new boys lefty Anton and Felixstowe Mike. This being a rearranged game -- cheers to both team secs for making that happen -- it's just us and them. Which is a big change since usually there'd be one or two other matches in progress. Three tables means three parallel games, agreeing to keep score among ourselves. Should make for an early night. In brief:

• underwhelming 1/3 for Andy, beating Anton 3-1
• satisfactory 2/3 for Yang, winning his first two before losing in straight ends to give Anton his only point
• surprising 3/3 for Ed -- yay! -- not losing an end all night (according to the scorecard)

Singles done and everybody's got at least a point to go home with, which is unusual. Yang offers the doubles to Andy who manfully offers it back. Not the greatest track record for Ed and Yang in the doubles, yet they came through to land that crucial extra point to propel Defiants into the top three. Good way to end the first half. Fat Coke in glass bottles awaits us at the Man On The Moon.