Choose the lead ... for 6 silver points

Playing in a STaC pairs game (one of only two C pairs in a room full of strong players), we are holding our own (we think).  And then, I forget our system and as a result, partner has doubled their contract.

This is the hand I held:

S

South

♠

876543

♥

K9876

♦

5

♣

9

6-5 in the majors, but only 3 points.

Partner opens 2C, which shows a 5+ clubs and an opening hand:

W

West

N

North

E

East

S

South

—

2♣¹

Pass

2♦²

Dbl

2♥

5♦

Pass

Pass

Dbl

All Pass

(1) 5+ clubs, 10-15 points

(2) Stayman

We play that 2D now is Stayman and I thought I'd be cute and do a "Garbage Stayman".  Whatever partner bids, I thought I could pass.  Of course, if he rebid clubs, I'd have a problem and if the opponents interfered, I'd have a problem, but I wasn't thinking too clearly.

After carefully ensuring that my 2D was artificial, West doubled.  Partner bid 2H, showing 10-13 points and a 4-card heart suit.  East who had heard enough of our bidding on 13 total points, jumped to 5D.  I passed of course, but partner who thought my 2D showed an invitational hand, doubled for penalties.

So, now, I have to come up with a lead.  What would you lead?  Take a look at my hand (above). Make up your mind.  I didn't know it at the time, but this hand would make the difference between placing in the district overalls and not making it.

Decided?

I chose the singleton club and this turned out to be the full deal:

.

Vul: N-S

Dlr: North

N

North

♠

A

♥

Axxx

♦

xxx

♣

Qxxxx

.

W

West

♠

KQx

♥

Qx

♦

AKxxx

♣

xxx

E

East

♠

J10x

♥

xx

♦

QJxx

♣

AKJ10

.

S

Me

♠

876543

♥

K9876

♦

5

♣

9

.

As you can see, either a spade or a heart lead produce down 2.  +300 would be a clear top.  The club singleton lead that I chose at the table gave declarer the tempo to pull trumps and throw away a heart loser on the good club. -550 was a clear bottom.

So, the lead on this hand produced a 14 matchpoint swing and was the difference between coming in first and coming in third, placing in the overalls (with 58%) or not placing (with 52%).  The lead turned out to be worth about 6 silver master points ...

UPDATE:  I was looking at the wrong thing ... turns out to be a difference of only about 3 silver points.