Notts v Lincolnshire - 14th October 2007
Captain Eagling assembled most of our best players for this match - a selectorial coup but one which removed the usual alibi.
The Teams:
Dawes - John and Irene Auld; David Burgess and Gordon Fullerton; Tony McNiff and Tony Sowter; Willie Crook and Sandy Fulton.
Porter - Keith Rodgers and Lloyd Eagling; Graham Brindley and Graham Lee; Eric Nunn and Frank Ball; Mark Goddard and Robin Fisher.
Markham - Sally Cook and Bernard Moore; Chris Clarke and Barbara Hatfield; Margaret McCorkell and Andy Coleman; Richard Kowalski and Stan Kujawinski.
I like a quiet start to these matches but knew it was not to be when I picked up the North hand on our first board:
♥ 9
♦ AKQJ7643
♣ AJT
♥ A53
♦ T9
♣ 743
♥ J2
♦ 8
♣ K98652
♥ KQT8764
♦ 52
♣ Q
N/S Vul - Dealer North
I opened 1♦, Irene responded 1♥ and West overcalled 1♠. I improvised with 3♣ and we got ourselves to 6♦ - spurning Blackwood en-route.
West won the ♠A at trick one and now he too was wishing for a quieter start to the match. Should he try to cash ♥A or should he trust me to have a void? He trusted me (but never again) and played a trump. The heart loser vanished and 6♦ made.
This result was duplicated by Mark Goddard - but he is a recent junior international so one expects that kind of enterprise. More surprisingly it was repeated by his opposing pair for no swing.
The no play slam was bid four times and defeated once.
A better 6♦ arrived in the next set.
♥ 8
♦
♣ J876432
♥ AQT2
♦ T87642
♣ AT9
♥ K63
♦ KQJ53
♣ Q
♥ J9754
♦ A9
♣ K5
E/W Vul - Dealer North
Our opposing East/West bid 1♦ - 2♦ (forcing) followed by cue bids, splinter bids and Key Card Blackwood to the slam. At our table South overcalled 1♥ (I would double) and Irene also decided to raise diamonds.
The auction in full:
| East | South | West |
| 1♦ | 1♥ | 6♦ |
| All Pass |
At the vulnerability I think 6♦ is a fine bid. North/South certainly could not find their spade fit and why should East not bid 7♦ if holding ♦AKxxx?
Despite our strong lineup, at half time the first team trailed by 5 imps, the second team by 2 and the third team by more.
The second half saw some of the first team remember the script to win by 16 imps (13 VPs) but the second and third teams lost by 1-19 and 4-16 VPs respectively.
Our best pair on the day were unsurprisingly, Tony McNiff and Tony Sowter - but congratulations also to Stan K and Richard K who salvaged some VPs for the cause.