Grenhilheg 3 – 4 Mens Plastics One

Nick F & Simon T | David W & John W | David P & David R

Just in case no-one writes a better match report for this one… here’s a quick one!

With only 20 mins left before we got kicked out of the hall, the situation was:

• Nick and Simon had played two games, winning both by small margins with some good smashes from Nick and backhands from Simon.

• David and David had played all three games, with some very nice drop-shots, but weren’t able to take any of them, although the three-set one was close.

• David and John had only finished one match (which they’d won).

So that meant the score in the match was 3-3, and the only game that would have time to finish was the one David and John were in the middle of playing – against the opposition’s top pair.  And it had gone to three ends.  And it was 21-21.  And John decided now was a good time to put in a couple of unreturnable smashes and take it 23-21.  🙂

Probably we’d have won 5-4 anyway if we’d had time to finish, since Nick and Simon had time to lose the first set against that top pair, and David and John had time to win the first set in their third match, before we got ousted.

Mens Plastics 1 9 – 0 Jaguar 2

Nick F & Simon T | David P & Aaron G | David W & John W

With a 7-2 victory over Jaguar 2 quite recently, we expected to be at least in with a chance with our home advantage; that’s exactly how it turned out. Our opening pairs had little difficulty in securing a 2-0 lead before sacrificing the extra court to a surprisingly busy club night on a cold January evening. The Walker family then did what we have come to expect of them and wrapped up the third rubber with little difficulty. At this point there were mumblings about the “blue lines” but we’ve come to expect that when playing at home (especially if we’re winning). Consider it a “home advantage” since we have no crowd as such to get behind us.

From there it was reasonably plain sailing although there were some close games to be had and the Walkers even had to go to three ends to rack up their third rubber. In the end, Oakbrook ran out comfortable winners and it’s good to see the team back on track. Having lost the first three games of the season, we’re now on a four match winning streak which has seen us climb back up the table and once again aiming squarely at mid-table mediocrity. God forbid that we should get promotion to Division 1!

Abbeydale D  0 – 9  Mens Feathers

Simon O & Simon T | Tipue M A & Gavin B | David W & John W

Today’s excuse: Too chilly, too Sunday.

Abbeydale D, with an average age of approximately 15, made last week’s opponents look positively middle-aged.  In contrast, all our players are aged 50 (to the nearest 50), and were looking a bit less bouncy and more in need of an afternoon nap at half-past five on Sunday afternoon.

The two Simons looked both cold and asleep in the first game, and Aerohog was a little slow in getting its propellers whirring.  After losing the first end of the first game 19-21, Simon T declared himself sufficiently warmed up, and their joint improvement saw them go on to win all their games fairly comfortably after that.  Though the standard wasn’t their best – the spectators were asking for their money back… or at least they would have been if they’d paid any money to watch… or if indeed there actually were any spectators.

Tipue and Gavin made a more convincing start, in only the second match they’ve both been able to play this season.  Two straightforward victories were followed by a 21-8, 23-21 final game – apparently “they got better” in the second game but Tipue and Gavin kept just enough in reserve to avoid having to play a third game.  They finished with straight-set wins for a total of 128-91, and we hope to have them available as much as we can in the remainder of the season.

David and John were ready to make their mark on the season, and made short work of all three games, for a total of 126-84, not only winning their first feathers games of the season, but taking the team’s best scores in the process.  This is more the sort of form we were used to last season so hopefully this is a sign of more successful times to come!  Scientists are wondering if there is a correlation between snow and Walker-badminton-playing-excellence given how much of both we saw last year and the fact it snowed as we left the hall after this match.

So, save from the Simons’ slow start spoiling the scorecard, some solid shots saw us score strongly, this successful, snowy Sunday.  Say that speedily six times in succession.   😛

Mens Feathers 3 – 5 Mosborough B

Tipue M A & Gavin B | Simon O & Simon T | David W & John W

Today’s excuse: We’re all still full of Christmas, and running around is a lot of hard work.

A full team for the first time in… erm… about two years!

And, early on, we wondered if perhaps this might be leading to a rare victory.

The first two games on court gave us cause for optimism.  Tipue and Gavin decided that 21-18 was too comfortable a win in their first end, and waited until 26-24 to win the second, with Gavin stating his inspiration to win was that there was no way he was going to be made to summon the energy for a third game.  Meanwhile, Simon and Simon completed three games in the same amount of time, losing a lead in the third game only to regain it right at the end to win 17-21, 21-15, 21-18 after an amazing array of smash-defence-winners from Simon O.  At 2-0 up in the match, a club member asked Simon T if we might be in for a win.  With his customary captainly confidence, he predicted a heroic 4-5 loss.

Perhaps the rest of the team heard him and tried to fulfil the prophecy, for it was from then on that things started going a bit awry.  Or perhaps the opposition, who had only one player over the age of 18, had brought a little more new-year fitness than us and didn’t peak so early in the evening.  David and John continued their season’s run of playing great rallies but narrowly losing close games, including a three-game effort against the opposition second pair which ended 21-17, 12-21, 13-21.

Tipue and Gavin came close to a second win, but this time the very-long-and-very-close game went the wrong way, and they lost out 21-15, 19-21, 22-24 in the longest game of the evening.  Simon and Simon were also keen to get their money’s worth out of the evening.  They followed their first game win with another three-set win 21-17, 22-24, 21-19, and had just taken their final game to a 23-25, 21-17 draw when ten o’clock came and it had to be abandoned.  Simon O was disappointed as he felt we had the momentum to take the third end; Simon T was disappointed as he agreed, and knew that had they done so, he’d have been spot on with his prediction of a heroic 4-5 loss.

So with that final game uncompleted in the closest match we’ve had this season so far, the final score was 3-5.  A win for well-coached youth over… well, over whatever it was we had!

University Students 7 – 1 Mens Feathers

Simon O & Simon T | David W & John W | Mark J & David P

Today’s excuse: The shuttles were too fast.

The excuse-of-the-day was at fault early on, for a few too many shots out of the back of the court during an otherwise good performance from David and John saw them lose their opening game 22-24, 17-21. Once they’d adjusted, their play improved further, with David’s smash back to its venemous best. With both of them playing well, they deserved something from their other two games, both of which went to three ends. Sadly in both cases they lost out 15-21 in the final end, and despite the fact that they look to be winning most times I watch them, they are yet to win their first feathers game this season.

Simon T had only one word of advice for Simon O at the start of their first game: “I think these shuttles are fast, so don’t hit them out at the back.” Simon duly noted this sage advice, and hit his first shot out at the back. But after that, the Simons kept the shuttle in, and spent most of the game ducking as their opponents failed to do the same. They won with a comfortable 21-15, 21-10. Aerohog had taken off, but like a Red Bull Flugtag competitor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kmEUuai-tE), they were airborne for only the briefest of moments. Simon T’s well-known inconsistency saw him hit five shots out in a row to lose their next game 13-21 in the third end, and a very close final game against the students’ top pair was also lost by a couple of points in the third end.

David and Mark were also playing well, and making sure the students earnt their points. They lost their first two games, but were always safely into double-figures and went as close as 19-21 against their first pair. They were only behind by three points in the final game of the evening, and just commencing their planned excellent comeback to win in three, when we were ejected from the hall by the sports hall staff, so their final game was an unfinished 13-21, 16-19.

Thanks to David for replacing Gavin, who has injured himself, and to Mark for stepping in with just a few hours’ notice to replace Calvin, our replacement for Tipue who himself then fell ill. Thanks also to Dawn for not (we hope!) telling David off for being late home! Our next feathers match isn’t until January, so this gives us a good while for Gavin and Calvin to get well again, and for the rest of us to practise winning three-end games instead of losing them right at the end as we’ve done so many times this season so far. We played well today, despite the scoreline, so hope to get some wins in 2013.

Mens Feathers 2 – 7 University Students

Simon O & Simon T | Calvin B & Aaron G | David W & John W

Today’s excuse: We got so tired trying to battle through the traffic, we’d run out of energy for badminton.

The students had found a fresh batch of talent to replace those that left them last year, and we knew we’d have to be on top form to win today.

Calvin and Aaron ran them very close in the first game: 21-17, 17-21, 19-21, just losing their lead in the last few points. The Walker Duo also started strongly, with a tiring 19-21, 21-19, 17-21. In their second games, both pairs again went extremely close: a 20-22 loss for David and John being bettered by a 24-26 loss for Calvin and Aaron. Some excellent rallies to watch in both games kept the students at full stretch, but they had just enough each time. And that’s where both pairs peaked, with less tight final games meaning no points for either pair despite impressing the club members with their close finishes.

Simon and Simon took a different path. Much like our late arrivals due to the traffic on Darwin Lane, Aerohog was not ready to fly at 1900, and the Simons struggled to make double figures (or even hit the shuttle in the court) while the others were having such competitive games. But after a bit of a rest and some biscuits, they came up with a tactical plan to hit as many lucky frame and net shots as possible, and Aerohog was speeding down the runway. This seemed to make the difference, for they went on to win both their remaining games by narrow margins, 21-18, 19-21, 21-17, and 22-20, 21-14.

Thanks to our regular substitutes Calvin and Aaron for standing in for us again in place of Tipue and Gavin. Our next game is the away fixture against the same team next week, so we have only a short time to practise our lucky frame and net shots in preparation.

Mens Feathers 0 – 9 University Staff

Calvin B & Gavin B | David W & John W | Jack E & Simon T

Today’s excuse: It’s just not right playing on a Sunday afternoon when you’re meant to be sleeping off a roast dinner.

Last year we beat the Uni Staff 9-0 at home, so we turned up confident of a victory. And then we realised that wasn’t going to happen.

Against the Uni Students last year, their first pair Rich and Fred beat us hollow but we knew at least they were going to graduate so we wouldn’t have to face them in the students team this year. Turns out they only graduated as far as the Staff team, and once again beat us hollow, winning their games to a total of 126-74 without really getting past third gear.

The staff’s first pair were not to be outdone, and finished us off equally comfortably with scores of 126-74 overall as well. They previously played in the top plastics division, and moved to the Staff’s feathers team for the first time this year. Calvin and Gavin made the best effort against them, with a 17-21 12-21 loss, as the rest of us had to put in all our effort to scrape a score of 21 in total across both games put together.

Our chance of breaking the whitewash was against their slightly weaker second pair. David and John weren’t quite able to convert their strong start, and lost out 18-21 15-21. Jack and Simon went closest, at 22-24 15-21, but hadn’t got quite enough to get a game.

Thanks to Calvin and Jack, substituting for Tipue MA and Simon O. Jack unfortunately ruined last week’s excuse of us being rusty with feathers, by playing very well despite never having hit a feather shuttle before, and coming out with our best points of the day, 88-126 overall.

Mens Feathers 3 – 5 Abbeydale C

Simon O & Simon T | David W & John W | Tipue M A & Aaron G

Today’s excuse: Most of us haven’t hit a feather shuttle in about six months!

David and John, last year’s super-subs with more wins for the team than any of the normal pairings, now have a fixed place in the team. Sadly they left their winning streak in Mens Plastics 1, and lost their three games, despite two very close (and very long!) three-setters. This is much more in keeping with our normal feathers standards, so we’re sure they’ll fit in well.

Simon and Simon were more successful in their new partnership, with three straight-set wins. If they can keep the same level of play up for the rest of the season, then they can be assured of some more wins, and a team of pigs will do a fly-by to celebrate.

With Gavin ill at home, Aaron kindly stepped in to partner Tipue. They got better as the evening went on, and only narrowly lost their second game in three sets. With time running out after earlier difficulties parking before the match, and then some long matches, they knew that 10pm was approaching fast when they took to the court for their final game… and then proceeded to wait until 26-24 before winning the first set. That left only time for one more set before we got kicked out of the hall, and with Abbeydale taking that one, we had to call it a tie.

Close games throughout, and with some excellent rallies along the way, it was a good first match. With a little more luck in the three-set matches we could perhaps have stolen a victory.