The Chelmsford Blue team of John Skuse (3) Judith Hand(4) Keith Harris (7) and Sheila Harris (9) entertained Maldon Pavilion on Friday when practically the whole match was played in weather intent on giving all of us a good soakng. However the 2 doubles games were played before the drenching and John and Sheila took their game 7-3 versus Al Brown (1) and Henry Humber (9) whilst Judith and Keith won by the same margin over Pete Howe (2) and Neil Grandy (8). The first set of 4 singles went the way of the visitors with only John chalking up a point with Judith and Sheila losing unluckily at the golden hoop. The next set before lunch was shared with wins for John and Sheila whilst the other two games were lost narrowly on the 12th hoop. Lunch was taken in the Clubhouse as we all moaned about the conditions and hoped for better weather in the afternoon. Score to date: Chelmsford 5 Maldon Pavilion 5. Our visitors took the 3rd set of singles 4-0 with Judith and Keith losing at the golden hoop (13th) whilst the final set was shared 2-2 with Keith having a very fine win 7-2 over Pete Howe whilst John ground out a 7-6 over Henry Humber over a considerable amount of time. At least by that time the rain had stopped. Final match score Chelmsford 8 (103 hoops) Maldon Pavilion 10 (98 hoops). However the result had to be referred to the League Manager as Maldon fielded 2 players with handicaps less than 3 which is in contravention of the rules for this handicap competition. A shame because the whole match was played in a fine spirit with little or no recourse to the GC rule book. A final word must go to the back-up we received from Anne Skuse by way of providing hot drinks, ringing out the entry mat once the rain had stopped.and together with Judith providing the excellent cakes for our after match refreshment.