Roehampton beat Watford to win the Murphy Shield 4-3

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The victorious Roehampton team receiving the Murphy Shield from David Openshaw

Roehampton beat Watford 4-3

From John Pearson at Ealing

In the few years in which the Club has been entering a team,
Roehampton's record in the Murphy Shield could best be described as
indifferent. This year, with two 2 handicap players vieing for the one
2 handicap place allowed in a team (one of whom we could never field,
and the other soon lost to injury), a doughty 3 handicap stalwart, and
a trio of fast improvers, we approached the campaign with greater
optimism.
We started with a home 5-2 win over Ealing, followed by a good 6-1 win
away to Ryde, fielding a new 2 handicap player, Nick Yates, who
promptly became ineligible by going down to 1. The semi-final brought
a 4-3 home win over Guildford & Godalming, with Diana Wilson becoming
the Club's 4th 2 handicap player of the summer.
Watford (the holders) had already reached the Final with the benefit
of a walkover. A neutral Final venue at Ealing on 28 September was
very swiftly agreed - and blessed by the CA - the day itself being
kindly and expertly hosted by Ealing's Tony Elliott. The morning play
was dominated by Watford, they winning both the reverse singles and
the doubles, and so going into lunch with what looked like an
unassailable 3-0 lead.
But the age of miracles is not dead. Roehampton came back from lunch
as if rejuvenated. First, no. 4, Elaine Phillimore, played very well
to notch up a 2 game win against Steve Dennis. This was soon followed
by a strong win by Andrew Wilson over George Skinner. Meanwhile an
extremely tight 3 game encounter was going on between Nicholas Halton
and Alan Clark. Both had their chances, but, after a nerve-wracking
final 15 minutes, Nicholas managed to triumph over the unlucky Alan at
the golden hoop. This left the score tied at 3-3, with the top singles
between Diana Wilson and Kevin Connolly still going on. In a tense
high quality display, Diana managed to pull off a memorable (and
unexpected) turnaround for Roehampton in 2 games.

Huge commiserations to Watford, but euphoria for Roehampton !

Teams
Roehampton - Diana Wilson (2), Andrew Wilson (3), Nicholas
Halton (3), Elaine Phillimore (4).

Watford - Kevin Connolly (2), George Skinner (3), Alan
Clark (3), Steve Dennis (4).

Doubles
Diana and Andrew Wilson lost to Keven Connolly and George
Skinner 7-5, 5-7,5-7

Singles
Elaine Phillimore lost to Alan Clark 7-4, 5-7, 5-7
Nicholas Halton lost to Steve Dennis 5-7, 4-7
Diana Wilson beat Kevin Connolly 7-5, 7-5
Andrew Wilson beat George Skinner 7-4, 7-4
Nicholas Halton beat Alan Clark 3-7, 7-2, 7-6
Elaine Phillimore beat Steve Dennis 7-5, 7-4.

David Openshaw kindly presented the Shield to the winners.