Wednesday’s game was a must-win-match for the blues in order to gain a step closer to promotion to the premier division.

The match started with the doubles in which Cohen, with his good pace and varied serve, and Johnston, with his world class returns, wrapped up the first rubber for Cambridge 6-4, 6-4.

On the other court Muirhead and Sylvester got off to a great start, taking the lead in the first set. However with a dip in form coupled with determined opponents, they managed to let the match slip away from them, allowing Nottingham to level the tie at 1-1 and leaving everything to play for in the singles.

Unfortunately, Cambridge suffered a set back when Cohen picked up an injury, obliging him to withdraw from the singles; however, Sylvester was there to step up to the plate. Sylvester playing in his usual aggressive style rushed to a 5-0 lead, but the pressure seemed to get to him as he lost three consecutive games. Nevertheless, he held his nerve and managed to close out the first set. Despite a good start, his opponent stepped up his game, forcing Sylvester to commit too many unforced errors, which ended the match 6-3, 0-6, 2-6.

At number three, Muirhead used his strengths to force his gifted opponent into errors. However, with his opponent dealing with his tactics well, the pair fought out a very tight and important rubber, and the Nottingham player came out on top with a 7-5, 7-6 victory. This left the tie in Nottingham’s grasp; one more rubber and they were home and dry.

Markides at two proved too much for his Nottingham counterpart, playing a very clever game with a strong mental state, thus comfortably winning 6-4, 6-4.

All was left down to Johnston to level the tie and steal a point for Cambridge. Experience and leadership were both showed by the captain, who grinded out a win of 6-4, 5-7, 6-3.

With a concluding tie of 6-6, the team went home knowing that the league was still anyone’s to play for. The result will still leave them in good steed for promotion and, on the balance of things, was probably a fair result as the match could easily have gone either way.