Gloucestershire v Notts - 4^th January 2009

This match was moved from 11^th January because this date clashed with a Midlands Counties event and also the Notts Mixed Pairs Chapionship. Being so close to the New Year meant that several regular players were unavailable, so special thanks to those who travelled all the way down to Cheltenham.

The Teams:

Dawes - Lloyd Eagling & Keith Rodgers; Ellen Overton & Martin Mellor; Gordon Fullerton & Frank Ball; Rob Atkinson & Sandy Fulton.
Porter - Janet Jacques & Will Irving; Carol Fisher & Robin Fisher; Graham Brindley & Graham Lee; Daphne & Mike Coggles.
Markham - Sally Cook & Bernard Moore; Mary Cooke & Gerry Franklin; Terry Lynex & Peter Waldron; Sylvia Goodlud & Nick Clarke.

Gloucestershire did their best to ensure that we did not arrive by arranging to close the M5 for the day – but despite this setback we arrived to take them on.
Board 12 was a triumph for one North although he wasn’t too proud of it!

N/S Vul - Dealer West

• (1) Weak - very weak!
• (2) This was a limited take out with at most 15 points.
• (3) North felt that 3NT was as likely to make as 3D. Still he’s not proud of the bid

West led x♠ to the J, Q & A.
At trick 2, declarer played x♣ to the J and returned 9♣ to 10 - East winning with the K. East then played Q♥, the K winning in dummy. Declarer played ♦x to the 8, putting East on lead again with K♦.
After a lengthy thought, East cashed A♦, felling Wests Q and declarer unblocked the J. East now needed to cash A♥ to prevent declarer making an overtrick - he didn’t, so declarer made the remaining 7 tricks: 2 spades, 2 clubs and 3 diamonds. Result +950 to Nottingham (Not really First Team County Bridge!).

All Vul - Dealer South

On Board 7, Frank opened 1♥. With such a distributional hand, this bid is unlikely to be passed out. Playing Benji Acol, the sequence 2♣ - Pass - 2♦ - Pass - 2♥ could end the auction, and a spade game could be missed. The auction proceeded Pass - 2♥ - Double. Frank made the excellent rebid of 6♥, which depends on partner having K♥ and there being only 1 spade loser (East is likely to hold A♠ for his double and partner is likely to be short in spades).
This contact was doubled. Result 6♥ doubled made, +1660 to Nottingham. However at our table West decided to sacrifice in 7♦ vulnerable which only goes three off, so the best we could manage was +800.

The most costly hand from the team's point of view was Board 20. The contract was either 4♥ or 6♥, with a two-way finesse for the queen of trumps. However, only one Notts pair bid and made 6♥, the other 3 who bid it going down. Overall this board cost 36 IMPs.

Although it was fairly tight at half time, Notts fell away in the second half and the final results were - 1st team lost 3-17, 2nd team lost 4-16 and the 3rd team lost 4-16.

Congratulations to Gordon & Frank, Mike & Daphne and Sylvia & Nick who all managed positive Butler IMP scores.

Match Report by Lloyd Eagling