The Mechanics pair sitting N/S (who shall remain nameless) were playing Nottingham Club and South's 3C bid was a Stayman enquiry. North failed to alert the bid and South could have retrieved the situation by informing the opponents that North should have alerted the 3C bid before the opening lead was made but neglected to do so. On seeing dummy, E/W claimed they had been damaged by the failures to alert and "reserved their rights". The contract subsequently made but E/W continued to insist they were damaged and believed they could have defeated the contract with a different lead. (East in fact led a Heart but "might" have led a Spade which "might" have defeated the contract!).

After much discussion between the parties concerned and the two captains, it proved impossible to resolve the matter and the dispute was submitted to the Notts CBA Appeals Chairman for a ruling.

Congratulations to:-

      Brian Cast & David Fox

    winners of the Derbyshire Cup trophy, 2010

The trophy was presented to the Club in 1954 by Alderman Derbyshire and has been competed for annually since that date.

The Mechanics Team's winning streak (3 matches) came to a crashing halt on Monday 1st February with a humiliating 16:4 defeat by Phoenix. The hand above contributed significantly to the defeat with both Mechanics pairs being in contracts of 6H one off and both Phoenix pairs settling for game. Six Hearts is an excellent slam and is actually a 100% sure contract against any lead and any defence. If both slams had made we would have gained 35 imps on the board and the match would have been drawn.

Earlier, the Mechanics team had secured a 19 : 1 victory on Wednesday 20th January against South Mansfield. This followed victories against West Bridgford B (17:3) and Newark Cavaliers (14:6).