Both teams, Jersey and East Dorset, look likely to go down a division, depending on other team results in a week’s time.
However, when East Dorset arrived, their kit, including racquets, shorts and trainers, didn’t come with them.
They had been left at Bournemouth airport.
‘The game was supposed to have started at 11.30 am, but it was 12.30 pm before we actually turned out on court,’ said team manager Ian Morgan.
‘I went back home to sort through the racquets I had, and eventually came back with five.
‘Between us, the Caesarean Club provided shorts, racquets and tennis shoes.
If we hadn’t have done so, the match would never have been played.’ As it was, Jersey won 4-2.
Andrew Evans beat Dorset’s James Dominey 6-2, 6-1, in fairly convincing style.
Then Gareth Roberts beat East Dorset’s No 3, Simon Evans, quite convincingly, 6-1, 6-0.
There was a turn-around then, when Richard Bruggraber lost to Colin Patterson 6-2, 6-2, followed by one of the most challenging games in the competition, when Jersey’s Jeremy Cross lost 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 in a tremendous confrontation of styles, to Alan Orchard, before the doubles’ matches began.
In both games Jersey were in the driving seat before East Dorset conceded the doubles’ ties, with their taxis and flights waiting for them.
So Jeremy Cross, playing with Andrew Evans in his doubles won 6-1, 5-2.
Meanwhile Gareth Roberts and Richard Bruggraber won 6-3, 2-2 against competing rivals who suddenly disappeared, waiving their games, and heading for St Peter, and a plane.
‘It was one of the strangest matches I’ve known,’ said captain Ian Morgan afterwards.
‘Two of their players were dressed to play, but we had to find kit for the other two.
It was a bit like drivers turning up for a driving test, without any of them having a car.
The only thing I can say is that we loaned them everything we could.
Whether we stay up or not is now in the hands of the LTA.
The whole day was an event in itself.
The players themselves took to the day remarkably well.
Having turned up with no racquets, they came away saying they’d quite like to own or borrow the racquets I have for future matches!’
