Notts v Oxfordshire - 8^th Feb 2009

This match took place in the midst of bad weather and Oxfordshire were given every chance to cry off. But no, they were more than happy to brave the ice and snow to play us.

The Teams:

Dawes - John and Irene Auld; Keith Rodgers and Lloyd Eagling; David Burgess and Gordon Fullerton; Sandy Fulton and William Crook.
Porter - Graham Brindley and Graham Lee; Ellen Overton and Martin Mellor; Martin Mulligan and Gerry Franklin; Robin Fisher and Mark Goddard.
Markham - Mike and Daphne Coggles; Janet Jacques and Will Irving; Sylvia Goodlud and Nick Clarke; Sally Cook and Bernard Moore.

After 16 boards Oxfordshire had cruised to a 61 IMP lead in the Dawes match - no wonder they were so keen to come. None of our county experts managed to bid two laydown slams, one of which (board 12) involved reaching 6NT with a balanced 16 opposite a balanced 17.

The other slam was board 9:

E/W Vul - Dealer North

Given a clear run South can open an Acol 2♣ or a risky 1♠ and cruise effortlessly to slam (surely?), but our Souths employed more exotic methods to stop in game.
A frequent problem was what to do over 1♥ from East. I opened 1♥ (which is awful so do not ask me why I did it) and South mused before bidding 4♠ as often happened elsewhere. This is, in a word, lazy - you expect to lose heart tricks, but maybe not.

Only one Notts pair in all three teams bid 6♠, namely Ellen Overton and Martin Mellor. Ellen doubled 1♥, after which Martin's only problem was keeping out of 7♠. They also managed to bid board 12 to slam via a strong 1♣ from Martin and 6NT from Ellen.

The second half gave us plenty of chances to get back into the match, none better than board 30:

No Vul - Dealer East

North-South can make 6♣, 6♦, 6♥ or 6NT - all good contracts. How did the first team pairs choose from this enticing array?

Consider first the misfortune befalling one Notts declarer – let us call him declarer K. He opened 1♦ was overcalled with 2♠ and heard his partner double. Now he bid clubs and finished in 6♦. West led his club and K decided West was being tricky and played low for one down. It is a pity he was not playing against Willy Crook.

When Willy sat West this was the bidding:

Willy did not have a side suit singleton but decided to take advice from the Hideous Hog, i.e. ‘not having a singleton is no excuse for not leading one’. He duly lead the 3♥.
Poor declarer thought that a heart ruff was all too likely and played the Ace, relying on the trump finesse - down one again.

This last misadventure was not really bad luck. Willy would not lead a singleton if he thought he had a trump trick. In other words the trump finesse will not work (as hoped) in the event of a singleton lead.

Irene and I played a good and personable young pair who were equipped with all the latest stuff. Would they succeed in a heart contract?

• 1. Shows cards - over to you partner
• 2. Pick a slam
• 3. No, you pick a slam
• 4. If I must...

Down one for the third time.

Could our remaining pair succeed in No Trumps? Could they find a way not to make 6NT? We shall never know because they played in 3NT, which is probably just as well.

We recouped 1 IMP to lose the Dawes match 2 - 18; The Porter team won 14 - 6 and the Markham team lost 0 - 20.
Our best pair according to the Butler IMPs was Ellen and Martin in the second team, with Sandy and Willy doing well in the first team. Well played Oxfordshire and our Porter team.

Match Report by John Auld