Derek Parrott was joined by Roger Ravenscroft, making his seasonal debut in sweltering heat, and the pair struggled initially to find their rhythm.

Having lost the first set 6-3, they rallied to take the next 6-2, and then won the deciding set on a nail-biting tie-break.

On the other court, Steve Pym and Tony Bush had too much class for a young second pair and won comfortably 6-2, 6-3.

The return rubbers started in light drizzle that quickly became torrential rain, making the tarmac courts extremely slippery.

Parrott and Ravenscroft were making light work of their youthful foes, leading 5-2, while Pym and Bush were finding life uncomfortable against the top pair, trailing 4-1.

With the courts unplayable, it was agreed to share the final matches, which was slightly unfortunate, as, strangely, Pym and Bush seemed convinced that they would have turned their match around.

In the first fixture of the Mixed League Division One season, Clitheroe A turned out against champions Parkwood.

The Clitheroe second pair of Julie Pym and Phil Mileham started nervously against the Parkwood second pair, and soon went 4-1 down in the first set.

They then found their form and took the first set on a tie-break, before running out easy winners in the second set to take Clitheroe to a 2-0 lead in sets.

The Clitheroe first pairing of Jennifer Holgate and new-boy Nick struggled against the Parkwood first pair, and despite some heavy hitting from Nick and quality strokes from Jennifer, lost 2-0.

In the return rubbers, Julie and Phil beat the Parkwood first pair with some ease, 6-3 7-6.

Jennifer and Nick were still struggling to find their form, and lost by a similar scoreline to the Parkwood seconds.

The match was drawn 4-4 in sets – a very creditable early season performance against the reigning champions.

The newly-promoted mixed team had a landslide 12-0 win over fellow newcomers Springfields C.

The winning team were Steve Pym and Jennifer Holgate, Tony Bush and Julie Pym, Robert Brass and Louise Burrill, and Derek Parrott and Shirley Bush.

Meanwhile, travelling to Wrea Green, the locals furthered their climb up the league with a solid 9-3 win.

The team on this occasion was Steve Pym and Mary Brass, Tony Bush and Julie Pym, Mark Higson and Louise Burrill, and Steve Higson and Shirley Bush.