Oxfordshire v Notts - 6^th April 2008

Notts final match of the season was away to Oxfordshire. This was our chance to salvage some VPs after a disappointing campaign.

The Teams:

Dawes - Keith Rodgers and Lloyd Eagling; John and Irene Auld; David Burgess and Gordon Fullerton; Robin Fisher and Sandy Fulton.
Porter - Graham Lee and Graham Brindley;Ellin Overton and Evelyn Grainger; Mike and Daphne Coggles; Rob Atkinson and Gerry Franklin.
Markham - Phil Dale and Ray Furlonger; Chris Clarke and Barbara Hatfield; Margaret McCorkell and Andy Coleman; Joan Burgess and Jackie Parsons.

We arrived to find Sandra Landy playing for Oxfordshire’s second team. That was bad news if it meant there were eight better players in the first team.

All Vul - Dealer West

In the first quarter all twelve N/S pairs chose the same wrong contract on board 4. I sat North and opened 1NT, over which partner transferred to spades before bidding 3NT. Now like everyone else I bid 4♠ with some misgivings, and sure enough 3NT was almost certain while 4♠ depended on a finesse. I think that North should pass 3NT because the flat 12 count is so gruesome that ten tricks in spades will hardly ever be easier than nine in No Trumps.

When I say 4♠ needed the heart finesse that is not quite true. Against me, East led a club, won in dummy (West playing the J) and I played spades. Winning the Ace West tried a diamond on which East played the 9. Now he could not avoid being thrown in with a diamond to lead hearts.
E/W were well capable of foreseeing the endplay and unblocking diamonds but had some defensive misunderstanding. The spade game was made seven times so the defence must be harder in practice than in theory.

In contrast with board 4, board 30 produced a range of opinions.

No Vul - Dealer East

My partner opened 1♦ and West doubled. I have no idea what North should do now - anything could work. I chose 5♦ which would be great opposite weak spades and short hearts but probably not facing a balanced 18 count including 4 spades. That cost 300.
Elsewhere, South sometimes opened 1♠ and played it, or was overcalled eccentrically with 1NT. Lloyd Eagling and Keith Rodgers defended 3NT by South - 6 off - to gain 300 so no swing!

4♠ by West was bid only twice and made once (doubled) by Robin Fisher and Sandy Fulton (our best pair). It needed a heart lead to beat 4♠ but why should North lead a heart?

The Dawes and Porter teams lost 0-20 and the Markham team lost 3-17 so our quest for VPs was almost fruitless. Well played Oxfordshire - it was a long journey back to Nottingham.

Match Report by John Auld