Simon Bayne is probably at home still counting his lucky stars.
In arguably the best game of the Bush Hall Dungeon Road Tennis Competition so far, Bayne just managed to overcome a herculean effort from Deighton “Pa” Roach to win 17-21, 25-23, 21-18, during Wednesday night’s “B” class clash at the Deighton “Pa” Roach Tennis Centre.
Bayne, a finalist for Christ Church in the last two years of the Inter-Parish Road Tennis Championships, twice surrendered two big leads before finally triumphing over the 64-year-old Roach – after whom the Bush Hall facility is named.
After a slow start that saw him quickly fall behind 5-14, Bayne eventually found his rhythm.
Three successive injections, which his opponent failed to return, got him back within four points (18-14), before Roach used his service to good effect to close out the first set.
A warmed-up Bayne then seemed headed for victory in the second set, as he continued to bemuse Roach with short balls, and he rushed to a comfortable 18-13 lead.
But the wily veteran refused to go away, winning the next five points, on his way to holding match point at 21-20.
But after Bayne won that point to level the scores, a brief shower forced the match to be delayed for close to ten minutes.
And after saving another match point, Bayne went on to win and force a decider.
Once again it was Bayne in control early on, transforming an early 7-0 advantage into a 14-5 rout.
But once again Roach battled back, winning seven of the next eight points to get within three (12-15), and then getting as close as one point when he trailed 17-18.
However, Bayne held his nerve to come away with a thrilling victory, and avoid becoming the biggest name to crash out of the competition in the first round.
In another closely contested “B” class match, Randy Bennett rebounded from being sowed in the first set to register a hard-fought 9-21, 23-21, 21-15 win over Sean Jordan.
After committing several unforced errors in the opening set on his way to being totally outplayed, Bennett twice had to stave off match points after trailing 19-20 and 20-21, in the second set.
He eventually managed to level the score at 1-1, before going on to down Jordan in the third and decisive set, pumping his fist in the air when his opponent sent his forehand shot long on match point.
In the dungeon class, Carlos Chandler was an easy 21-14, 21-16 winner over Rolic Branch, Ronald Chapman comfortably defeated Steven Richards 21-9, 21-16 and Tyrone “Picker” Jones got the better of Alex Sealy 24-22, 21-13.
The competition continues on Sunday at 7 p.m.
