NORTHWICH’S Greg Mairs admitted it was good to blow the cobwebs away after the festive break as he and his Loughborough Sport side maintained their unbeaten start to the AJ Bell National League on Monday.

He was first on court, along with Jenny Moore, in the mixed doubles at Surrey, and the duo ensured the visitors got off to a winning start after edging a tie-break in the fifth set.

Their opponents, Chris Tonks and Emily Westwood, twice went ahead before Mairs and Moore turned the contest around.

Loughborough went on to win three further rubbers - in the men’s and women’s singles and women’s doubles - to secure a 4-1 success.

Mairs, who entertained the crowd with a few trick shots along the way, admitted there was a touch of rustiness to his play at times.

“It was a bit of a delayed start which maybe didn’t help,” he said.

“But this format is all about fine margins and maybe there was a little bit of rustiness because we’ve not played matches for quite a few weeks.

“It was just good to come away with a win.

"I didn’t plan to do the trick shots, but after the Christmas break I was perhaps not as sharp as usual and I had to resort to getting it back anyway I could!”

Victory took Mairs’ Loughborough side onto 11 points for the season and maintained their position at the top of the table with two match nights to go.

The top four teams progress to the season-ending play-offs and, after sneaking in last season before finishing as eventual runners-up to champions Team Derby, Mairs is encouraged by what he's seen this time around.

“It’s been a great start to the season," he added.

"Last season we didn’t quite have the start we wanted, but we’ve found our feet now and we’re getting used to his format. Hopefully we can keep this run going.”

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