This week's headlines .....

Back to school in their new uniforms but early reports still read "could do better and really must try harder"

The Match

Really not much to say, as ever G&M got their money's worth by going to three whenever possible and from a disappointing 5-15 loss in the opening game salvaged their pride and reputation to wear down the opposition first pair. Meanwhile H&J were having the usual problem adjusting to the wonders of yellow plastics and despite actually being in the game for a while never looked like serious contenders and eventually lost out. By this time Roy had finally arrived hot foot from Honda in deepest Swindon to partner Phil in his first excursion in the dizzy heights of division 3, the opening game proved to be a reasonably close affair against the WA third pair before losing 15-10, sadly there was no repeat in the second game and I will draw a veil over the actual score, suffice to say they came second.

G&M now back on court and with the deadly combination of ageing stealth and slightly younger power they eased to a win over the WA third pair to give us false hope of salvaging something from the match.

That win signalled the end of any genuine resistance from the team with a succession of rather one sided rubbers apart from the inevitable as G&M went to three again against the strangely attired young lad in his "Hallam" top, is it the panto season already. Unfortunately despite being 10-5 up in the decider they were not able to apply the finishing touch.

Not the start to the season we hoped for but thanks as ever to Matt for helping out.

The Match

Finally an away win over Ernsford !!!

A last minute team shuffle saw Matt dragged from the comparative safety of his sofa to stand in for the "sorry I can't make it" Bharat.

With half of Mens 1 in attendance confidence was high as R&P stepped on court and quickly overpowered the EG first pair 15-3, too easy bayed the crowd, how wrong they were as this merely woke up the opposition. Cue a long hard fought 3 setter where R&P were always in the match but never quite in control to eventually lose out 10-15, 13-15, so much for egos and reputations...

Meanwhile G&M operating with insider knowledge ground out a 15-12, 17-14 win to set us on our way. Having watched from the sidelines H&J now had the simple task of beating the third pair and on reaching 14-12 in the opening game looked secure until the winning serve crashed into the net chord and EG dug in to win 17-14. Not to worry we were soon 10-5 up in the second game but yet again failed to push home the advantage losing out 15-12, so much for poise and experience.

Time for R&P to show their superior qualities and with Roy looking almost "sylph like" (in a certain light with rose tinted glasses) dressed in his new SH top they promptly won at a canter 15-8, 15-9, reputations partially restored.

Score now 2-2

The key double header was now on court with G&M playing out of order against their first pair whilst R&P played their third pair whom they beat with some ease 15-6, 15-10. The other rubber was not progressing as well with the opening game being lost 10-15, cue a change of tactics and some lengthy rallies in the second game before persistence and guile, that well known double act, prevailed to give us a 15-10 win and force the decider. All downhill now as G&M turned 8 love up and seemingly home and clear..... well perhaps not as the opposition scored points on their serves whilst we did not. Somehow we were now only 9-8 up with the crowd was growing restless and offering the usual helpful advice from the safety of the bench, Roy was playing his best points during this juncture as he explained what shot he would have played, fortunately his advice was ignored and with growing relief all round G&M pulled away to record a thoroughly satisfying win 15-10.

Score now 4-2

H&J now back on court against the recently defeated first pair who were clearly seeking revenge and after the customary exchange of views , this time over which court we were going to play on (we won that debate) lost unceremoniously 15-3, 15-4. Luckily for us the other rubber with G&M taking on the EG 3rd pair was progressing smoothly and without having to exert themselves that much (apart from Matt's normal penchant for "balletic" splits) they won 15-7, 15-12 and the match was ours !!!

Finally H&J played out the dead rubber and despite being ahead yet again in the second game failed to take the rubber to three losing out 15-3, 15-13.

Well played all the super subs and special thanks to Matt for hobbling off his sofa to anchor the team to victory.

The Match

At last a home match but with Mens 3 also playing we were once again obliged to borrow from Mens 1 to make up the numbers, this time Steve B was persuaded to forgo his Friday night out.

With both Mens 2 & 3 at home the hall was awash with players, selection of courts needed an element of negotiation as the early birds from 3 were encouraged to move to the dark side, "we can't possibly see down there" was the cry from the geriatric Mens 2 contingent. That sorted we got the match underway mindful of the newly reinforced finish by 10pm ruling....

All started very smoothly with G&R cruising to an easy 15-8, 15-5 win whilst the opposition first pair were getting used to feathers, on the other court S&J rather outplayed their opponents with the benefit of Steve's superior net play, what a show off .... to win 15-5, 15-1.

Cue new pairing of H&P to push home the advantage, they duly did the necessary winning comfortably 15-9, 15-6 with Phil clattering the shuttle to the four corners despite having just clambered off his death bed, another case of man flu ...

Meanwhile on the other court S&J were enjoying another rather one sided match courtesy of Steve's nonchalant positional play, winning 15-4, 15-9.

Score now 4-0 ...... is this really a Mens 2 match ?

Buoyed up by this overwhelming start we clearly decided it was time to be generous to our opponents, H&P went on against the WBC second pair and quickly found themselves on the wrong end of a 5-15 score. Regrouping they came back strongly in the second game and were within a shot of forcing it to three with a combination of "style and substance" but just missed out losing 16-17. No need to worry as our "senior pair" G&R were already one game up having beaten the WBC third pair 15-11, for some reason this success bred even more generosity as Roy forgot how to play and promptly hit everything out of court or into the net. Much muttering followed the 6-15, 8-15 loss as leg weary Roy stumbled about kicking everything in range.

Score now 4-2 ...... much more what we expect

H&P back on court against the WBC first pair who by now had unfortunately adjusted to feathers, a good effort in the first game with Harry playing in his normal "goalkeeper" style but minus the elbow pads...ouch!..sadly they lost out 11-15 despite the blood spilt in the cause. The second game rather drifted away from them as Phil's lack of match fitness following the flu limited his power play ( I think that was the gist of his heartfelt post match summary) saw them lose out 4-15.

Score now 4-3 and time for those old self doubts ....

Time for "flair and experience" that old music hall double act to show they really could still play as G&R took on the second pair and recorded a very convincing 15-5, 15-9 win and the match was finally won, relief all round. It left S&J with the dead rubber to play out and despite Steve only playing at half pace and leaving all the work to his partner the final score of 15-7, 15-2 rounded off a very successful week for the Mens 2 + 1 team.

Final score 6-3

Thanks once again to Steve for making up the numbers and well played all.

The Match in brief ....

With the record of events removed for forensic examination this weeks resume will be mercifully short and to the point ....

As a result of injury, holidays and general unavailability the team that stood on court bore little resemblance to Mens 2 so thanks to Jonathan, Adam , Ben and Steve B for giving up their Friday night.

Following rave reviews of their deeds in the Uni League and Mens 3 J&A were sent on as first pair and soon found they actually needed to play if they expected to win, a long battle ensued that inevitably went to three but with much scampering and even an element of skill they eventually wore down their opponents to set the team on their way.

Meanwhile S&J were finding that their very junior opponent was both spring heeled and "not bad for his age" as they promptly lost the opening game to 13. Steve's tactic of leaving his partner to cover the court was always a dubious move and not repeated as he claimed more than his share of the shots in the next games to record a 15-11, 15-7 win.

On with the third pair as the new team of G&B suitably dressed in full BCBC SH regalia outplayed the Knowle thirds to win convincingly with Ben running rings around his partner to get to the shuttle whilst the Chairman played his normal controlling role apparently !

Score now 3-0 what a start ...

Back on court for S&J to tackle the Knowle first pair but despite taking the rubber to three were never really in the deciding game losing out fairly conclusively, sorry Steve tried my best .....

Fortunately G&B prevailed against the second pair with the traditional combo of youthful exuberance and age old (or is that old age) cunning proving to be enough to secure a win.

Score now 4-1 ......

J&A now had the job of applying the finish and proved to be well up to the task as they cruised home against the Knowle thirds to give us a winning lead.

Score now 5-1 job done and time to relax .....

The next 2 rubbers went rather as expected with G&B finding the first pair to be exactly that and despite Ben frantically trying to push his partner out of the way they failed to gain the upper hand. At the same time S&J were on court against the third pair and with the game already won eased to a 15-9 win, buoyed by confidence they raced to a 14-1 lead only for Steve to decide his contract for the night was up and he promptly stopped playing, over to you partner was the cry. Well eventually we won 15-9 much to the relief of the bored looking onlookers !!

The final game was quite a clash given that the match was already won but clearly J&A had no intention of relinquishing their 100% record for the season, roared on by a partisan crowd they eventually forced the game to three and won within a stroke of the 10pm deadline to loud acclaim.

Final score 7-2

Well played everyone particularly the 50% contingent from Mens 3, a couple more wins and we can be confident in avoiding relegation, played 4 won 3 .... who would have believed that

Next match away to Whitestone on 7 November and without much help as Mens 3 also play that night ......

The Match

With only half the team clad in the lucky sponsored shirts we knew this was going to be a difficult match not helped by the plastic shuttles and yellow lighting.

Fresh from recent success J&A went on as first pair and soon found that old plastics really don't fly well and finesse is pointless, but managed to struggle to a 15-13 win. As befits their academic status they are quick learners and soon realised a change of tactics was needed, more power and less subtlety brought its rewards as they eased to a 15-5 win.

Meanwhile on the other court B&J were struggling with the conditions and wafting at shadows rather than actually hitting the shuttle in a downward motion as required, end result a very unsatisfactory 7-15, 4-15 loss  and much muttering in corners. Time for new pairing R&B to take on the third pair but they also found the shuttle hard to cope with making far too many mistakes and despite being in the rubber never looked like winning finally losing 10-15, 13-15.

Score now 1-2 not really the start we needed away from home...

J&A now back on court only to discover that the second pair was probably the best of the Whitestone pairings and promptly lost 15-8. cue a spot of racquet abuse as Jonathan hurled his modified home painted model aside and snatched up a new weapon. Clearly this vitriolic moment did the trick as they eased to a 15-10, 15-10 win to level the match score. Not to be outdone B&J also gave away their opening game against the third pair 15-5 before Bharat decided that aggression was the order of the day, with much motivational shouting at his partner we finally stopped all the mid court lift shots and went for all out attack. Buoyed up by this new noisy but competitive approach B&J finally started to play properly to win the rubber 15-3, 15-8.

Score now 3-2 and time for renewed optimism..

R&B's turn to take on the first pair and with unaccustomed speed they rushed to a 15-8 win in the opening game, clearly this unusual exertion had a biological impact on Roy as he sped from the court and disappeared into the changing room. As moments turned to minutes there was no sign of a return to court and with the opposition checking the rule book we were ready to launch a full air sea rescue as Roy finally staggered back looking rather pale and wan. A case of the dodgy German sausage apparently. Anyway on with the match on wobbly legs with Ben keeping his distance, not surprisingly they failed to repeat the performance of the opening game losing out 14-17. The decider was equally close and despite being ahead throughout and even 14-10 up it all came down to the final tense points before they eventually wrapped up the win 17-14.

At the same time as all this drama J&A were easing to a 15-8, 15-9 win over the third pair without any timeouts or search parties.

Score now 5-2 and relax .....

B&J continued with their new confrontational style to win the opening game versus the first pair 15-7 and then lapsed back into mediocrity and a 6-15 loss, so much for confidence. Fortunately Bharat knew a few more motivational words and convinced his partner to stop giving the opposition easy shots, or words to that effect, and we won 15-10.

Sadly R&B were not able to add a final flourish losing out 15-13, 12-15, 6-15 to the strongest of the Whitestone pairs with Roy continuing to looked decidedly off colour ......

Final score 6-3

A rare away win with plastics, well played all.

The Match

Writing this with a broken knee, hopefully only temporary but stairs are suddenly a real mountain to climb ..... that's enough pathos on with the report and for once not a Greek tragedy.

For once we all arrived early only to find no opposition and a hall that might easily have doubled as a food storage facility, cool .....  you can say that again ! I suppose we could have done some warm up exercises but there was no sign of any activity apart from expletives as blue as the air temperature and much shivering. Eventually the opposition arrived suitably dressed for the sub arctic conditions, yes the hall can be a little cool they advised ....

Anyway on with the match details , R&G went on as first pair resplendent in their all black SH tops and with the benefit of the acclimatisation period quickly beat the "Central Sports" sponsored pair 15-6, sadly this was only a temporary victory as Ash Green went on the claim the rubber 15-6, 15-6 in a dramatic turn round, cue the sight of Roy banging his head against the wall in a frantic effort to locate his badminton brains.

Fortunately on the other court Harry "Bok" Turnbull complete with permatan was cajoling Phil to remove his puffa jacket and pink Heidi hat in the interest of more speed around the court, not sure if this tactic really worked but at least they managed to overcome the young Ash Green third pair in a closely fought 15-13, 15-13 win. Meanwhile B&J were not at all warmed up and 3-14 down to the second pair in their opening game, time for the classic "I know we are going to lose this one but lets just try to win a few points" somehow we managed to start hitting the shuttle in a downward direction and recorded a very unlikely 17-14 win followed by an altogether more satisfactory 15-8.

Score now 2-1

R&G back on court, against the rather demoralised AG second pair, but still playing as if they had ice in their veins. Somehow they struggled through the opening game to win 15-13 and then at last remembered how to win with even a rare glimpse of the Chairman actually reaching the net to apply the flashing blade finish .... 15-5 and time for optimism. B&J were once again doing their level best to give the opposition every chance by handing out a 6 point start before Bharat not content with shouting at his partner this week decided that his racquet was a lethal weapon designed for "encouragement" well it worked as we pulled away to win 15-9, 15-6 but left me hobbling from an inexplicable knee injury. Do we have a club compensation scheme .... not Bharat's fault at all just old age getting to the joints I expect

Score now 4-1

Bok and Heidi now tackled the AG first pair but came off second best in a rather one sided rubber, fortunately R&G were finally fully thawed out and following a rather tentative 15-13 win in the opening game sealed the match victory with a convincing 15-1 flourish

B&J now had their chance to spoil the evening for the AG first pair but found it far from easy losing the opening game 6-15, this merely encouraged Bharat's competitive nature and despite the match being won he was not for giving in but eventually we lost out 14-17.

The final rubber gave H&P the chance to redeem themselves and with concerted effort all round they duly won 15-13, 17-14 to give the result a bit of gloss

Final score 6-3

Another away win certainly helped by Ash Green now playing with feathers.

The Match

The pre-Christmas rush was put aside as we headed for the backstreets of Nuneaton and the delights of playing on the school playground even if it does now have a roof. All the elements of the panto season were on show although the "Dream Team" that is Roy and Phil G were in serious need of psycho analysing if their team tactics were to be believed.

R&P took on the first pair and having realised that this was a power over finesse venue eventually ground out a 15-10 win in a long drawn out first game before easing to a 15-6 win. Meanwhile G&M were clearly in a festive charitable mood as they gave away a winning 14-9 lead to lose 17-14 Oh no they didn't ! Oh yes they did .... fortunately this roused them from their torpor and boosted by the power of fruit pastilles climbed back onto the pantomime horse to record a rather nervy win 15-8, 15-12.

At last H&P were able to get onto court after a cold wait in the wings but the lack of action seemed to have dulled their instincts as they both forgot how to play and lost out in a rather one sided 4-15, 6-15.

Score now 2-1

R&P now back on court and although Roy seemed to be starring as the back end of a famous panto character they somehow galloped over the finish line to win 15-5. 15-10.

G&M were now in the groove with Matt playing some sublime cross court net shots much to the delight of the baying crowd who were in full "we are not worthy" mode orchestrated by head cheerleader Roy, really not sure about those pink pom-poms, to record a 15-5, 15-2 win to set up a winning match position.

Score now 4-1

Next on court H&P were finding the first pair far from easy and with Phil seemingly having one eye on his Christmas shopping instead of the shuttle they lost, I will gloss over the actual score as it didn't reflect the effort made.

Cue R&P to finish with a flourish, well Phil was playing ok not sure about Roy's tactic of allowing the shuttle to drop all the way the  floor and then picking it up.... Never mind his net play was better and they won the rubber and the match 15-6. 15-7

Score now 5-2

G&M with the pressure now off played to their full potential to seal a good away victory winning 15-5, 15-12. The final rubber saw H&P beginning to get their act together but despite a desperate "festive dive" by Harry they were not awarded a penalty and with the curtain coming down lost out 5-15, 6-15

Final score 6-3

Now played 6 won 5 so all to play for in the new year
 
Well played everyone and a Merry Christmas to all our readers

The Match

With Christmas now a distant blur we arrived at Knowle to discover they had converted the hall into a giant sauna but unfortunately without any birch twigs or Scandinavian maidens, even sitting on the bench was a steamy affair.

J&A were first on with Jonathan showing that a diet rich in mince pies can indeed increase your racquet speed, good scampering support from Adam ensured they powered past the first pair in a very convincing 15-8, 15-7.

Not so lucky for G&B who certainly scampered a lot but were always playing catch up against a strong second pair before eventually losing out 9-15, 6-15 cue hurling of racquets and muttering in corners.

Now it was time for H&R, both suffering from bad backs to do their bit against the third pair, well it started well enough as they held on in the opening game to win 15-13. After that they just couldn't get their game going and despite the usual exchange of views over the net with Roy as ever being particularly forthright as to the correct score they rather faded away losing out 6-15, 9-15.

Time for J&A to restore the balance but even they found the Knowle second pair to be a difficult proposition, the score rather failed to reflect the actual closeness of the rubber with some quality shots being played on both sides of the net, the final score of 4-15, 8-15 in Knowle's favour was somewhat unkind

Score now 1-3

G&B now on court against the third pair and seemingly looking set to redress the balance but several missed opportunities left then floundering and bemused. You had no need to ask the Chairman what he thought of the outcome, in fact you dare not look in his direction as he tested his racquet strength against solid objects ..... final score 13-15, 12-15.

Tone of the match was now set with H&R tackling the first pair but never in the hunt in a rather one sided encounter, cue a depressed bench as our thus far good season was unravelling fast. I wont even mention the score, we just came second ....

Score now 1-5

J&A put some balance back into the match as they easily outplayed the third pair Score 15-5, 15-8

G&B rumbled & bounced around the court respectively to produce an entertaining final appearance with Ben spending half the match lying down for some reason, you could almost hear the immortal words "you stupid boy" echoing from the direction of his partner. They lost the rubber 9-15, 7-15 but the crowd were suitably entertained.

The final rubber, with the result fully confirmed, saw H&R adopt probably the wrong tactics against the best of the Knowle pairs as they tried to defend their way out of trouble, as a result I will draw a large veil over the actual score suffice to say we lost.

Final Score 2-7

Not the start to the new year we wanted but we have still won 5 out of 7 and with all our remaining games at home we could still end up in the mix come the end of season.

Well played all, hope you enjoyed the free sauna

Next match v Whitestone on 30 January

The Match

Already beaten them away with plastics so should be a regulation home win with feathers .... a good theory until Whitestone turned up with half their first team

We started well enough with J&A outplaying their first pair to win 15-6, 15-9, meanwhile H&R were involved in a lengthy battle coming back from losing the opening game 9-15 to scrap their way to a tight 17-15, 15-12 victory. By now Bharat had arrived direct from London to complete the team but despite taking the rubber to three B&J were never going to win the decider as they gave the Whitestone third pair an 8-0 start before trying and failing to recover, eventual score 7-15.

Score now 2-1

H&R back on against the first pair and showing plenty of effort but even Harry remembering his right glasses was not enough to prevent a loss 8-15, 12-15.

B&Js turn to try and reverse the result in the away fixture where they lost closely to the same Whitestone second pair. A very close opening game but far too many errors and hitting the shuttle over the dead ball line with monotonous regularity left us just short at 13-15. The next game was more like it with constant attack and hitting the shuttle in rather than out lead to a 15-8 win, The decider was always going to be close but despite having 2 serves at 14-13 up we just couldn't find the winning shot, at least not one that landed in the court eventually losing 17-14

Score now 2-3

J&A back on to find an improving 3rd pair but showed again that losing is not in their curriculum as they gained the upper hand easing through the first game 15-13 before winning the second conclusively 15-8.

H&R followed straight on playing the last rubber out of order and hoping the Whitestone 3rd pair might have now lost confidence, no chance of that, the usual swallow dives from Harry and vocal encouragement from Roy were just not enough to gain any advantage as they lost out 8-15, 11-15.

J&A unceremoniously despatched the 2nd pair to 4 & 7 to prove once again their status as the most consistent pairing having only lost 1 rubber this season, well played both !

Score now 4-4 and all left to B&J to somehow overcome the 1st pair..... looked very unlikely as they lost the opening game to 7 but with a complete change of tactics to all out attack they forced the match into overtime by winning 15-9. Roy's team huddle clearly had a few cogs missing as they gave the opposition another 8-0 lead and with it all chance of snatching an unlikely victory.

Final score showed that games were 11 apiece, we had won on points 272 to 270 but the fateful rubbers column was 5-4 in favour of Whitestone, very disappointing given the opportunities we had to win.

The Match

With the call to arms for better replacements totally unsuccessful it was left to the only 6 fit and available men to take on the previously unbeaten Windy Arbour. Hopes were not exactly high but at least everyone had managed to find the official sponsors team shirts so we actually looked like a team.

First on were J&A who quickly found that this was not going to be an easy night losing the opening game to 12, fortunately this spurred them on as they turned the rubber round to win the next two games convincingly 15-8, 15-6. Meanwhile on the adjoining court H&G were difficult to individually identify in their fully matching outfits complete with identical tops and shorts with little white flashes, if not for the regional accents you would never be able to tell them apart. Luckily despite their dress sense they were up for the task as they quickly found that the Windy Arbour second pair were clearly the thirds in disguise, cue a very satisfactory 15-4, 15-9 win.

By this time the final opposition pair had arrived and with Roy's advice about line calls ringing in everyone's' ears R&J set about trying to give us a three love lead. It was quickly apparent that the opposition pairs were playing out of order, the first game was a close affair that could easily have gone our way although calling a "no shot" at 13 all was not Roy's best move of the night, cue a 13-15 loss followed by a complete loss of focus as we stumbled to a 0-15 disaster being completely unable to get a point on our own serve.

Score now 2-1

The terrible twins were now taking on the first pair in a rubber that could easily be the match decider, to say it was close is a distinct understatement. On any other night they would have won but not on this occasion as they lost out 14-17, 15-17 much to the disbelief of the huge crowd of 1, thanks to Louise T for managing to hang around for half the match as the only encouragement, even the opposition had more spectators ! R&J now back on court and finding the second pair much more to their liking winning 15-3, 15-9 despite Roy not playing for half the second game.

Score now 3-2

J&A turn to try and outplay the best of the opposition pairs but even they found the combination of guile and power difficult losing the first game to 7. With youthful exuberance they refused to give in and forced the rubber to three by winning the next 15-13, unfortunately it was not quite enough as despite a succession of quality rallies they finally lost out 11-15.

With all three courts now in action J&A were straight back on to win their final rubber with ease 15-4, 15-2

Score now 4-3

H&G's turn to try to gain some advantage over the strong WA third pair, but with an opening loss of 3-15 it was not looking at all likely. But with their usual inability to see sense they dug deep into years of resolve and battled their way to a 15-10 win to force the decider.

At the same time R&J were seemingly gaining the upper hand against the first pair winning the opening game to 11 but then throwing away all elements of this advantage by poor play in the second game to lose 6-15.

Meanwhile H&G were straining every sinew of their matching apparel but it was not to be as they lost out 7-15 to make the match score 4-4.

The final throw of the dice was left to R&J in a close final game punctuated by Roy "bully boy" Brighton politely asking his partner to stop lifting the shuttle to mid court. "Sorry Roy" was the meek reply, luckily this ear pounding seemed to do the trick as a succession of tight serves by his partner left Roy with the simple task of serving for the match at 14-9, well it would have been if not for the fateful serve going straight into the net. Luckily for him we held on to win 15-11 and the match was won !!

Final score 5-4

Probably too late to prevent Windy Arbour from winning the division but a good result nonetheless well played all .

The Match

The usual attempt to get a team out led to the inevitable with us fielding the only 5 available plus a very welcome addition in Leigh but with the Jon and Adam missing due to having undertake the rare students occupation of studying for exams !!

The match was late starting as neither team had a full complement until 7:30, I think Graham said he was in Bermuda as his excuse for being late, how very inventive. With the opposition putting out a team rather different from the away match we had visions of a difficult night but with R&L showing off their old form we got off to safe start as they beat the first pair 9 and 9, B&J started equally well winning their opening game to 6 before coming over all beneficial to allow the second pair to reach 14-8 before switching off the "nice" button and returning to normal aggression to  win 17-14. Meanwhile H&G were finding the so called third pair a tricky proposition losing the opening game to 5 before waking up and playing with the skill, aplomb and skulduggery expected of them to somehow turn the rubber round winning 15-11, 15-3.

With the score already 3-0 B&J were back on against the first pair, the game was looking to be close in the early stages until a driven backhand drive return rather than going over the net struck one of the Ash Green pair squarely in the back of the neck from very close range. He went down heavily and stayed there for fully 5 minutes but gamely got up and carried on, as a contest the rubber was rather over from that point with B&J winning to 9 and 4. H&G once again decided to get their money's worth by going to three but won eventually 15-10, 15-17, 15-8 in a rubber rather characterised by Harry somehow winning a point whilst sitting on the floor after yet another of his goalkeeping dives...

Match now won and with the Ash Green first pair conceding their final rubber as a consequence of the earlier impact it was suddenly 6-0.

All the remaining rubbers were won with comparative ease to give us a rare 9-0 win

Only two matches to go but despite this latest victory we are still unlikely to make the top two unless some strange results happen.

The Match

With the Captain still recovering from an afternoon at the local beer festival all decisions over pairings were made by "committee" well Roy and Graham if you want the real truth. So out went the usual logic of playing your best players together, as a result R&G went on as first pair to comfortably win the opening game 15-8. At that point their "coup d'etat" in relieving the Captain of choosing the pairs seemed a sound choice, cue the inevitable as they tumbled to defeat 8-15, 10-15 in a display not worthy of description or words to that effect uttered by Graham on leaving the court. Over to H&L who comprehensively beat the 2nd (3rd?) pair 15-12, 15-6 to counteract the opening loss.

By this time Bharat had finally arrived looking as unflustered as ever despite the concerns of those around him that he had forgotten he was playing. After the briefest of knock ups B&J were underway against the 3rd (1st?)pair and quickly spotted the EG ruse of playing in reverse order, we were never really in the hunt and lost out 9-15, 6-15

Not a good start already 1-2 down

H&L back on court to easily beat the 1st pair 15-6, 15-6 and put us back in the hunt, next up were B&J to win their opening game 15-9 only to lapse into generosity and gift the second game 10-15; fortunately this aberration was not repeated as they went into full attack mode to win the rubber 15-7.

Score now 3-2 and over to R&G to press home the advantage, clearly smarting over their opening loss they stormed through the first game to lose 3-15 .... not really what was required. This really woke them up as they finally played properly to record a 15-7 win and force the decider against the best of the EG pairs, the final game was close throughout but despite the Chairman's inside knowledge of the opposition they were just unable to scramble home losing in a creditable 12-15. Over to B&J with us needing to win 2 of the last 3 rubbers, in a very close encounter they won the opener 15-13, the second game was equally close but looked to be a losing cause as we slumped to 10-14 down. Cue a succession of serves with no points won by either side before we eventually clawed our way back to 14 all amidst an inevitable but brief debate over a line call, a flurry of attacking points later and we had won 17-14.

Score now 4-3 and over to R&G to secure the victory against the effectual 3rd pair, they duly did the needful but it was never a foregone conclusion as they ground out a 15-12, 15-10 win. Graham's critique of their performance was colourful but a win is a win ....

The final rites were left to H&L who had endured a sit off of probably an hour as we only had two courts, it showed as Harry was unable to bend his arm (until much later in the pub) and Leigh seemed to have one eye on packing his suitcase for holidays. Suffice to say they lost ....

Final score 5-4

Only one match left v Stockingford on Friday 3 April but with half the team unavailable due to holidays and "run out of games" we will need to beg steal or borrow to make up the numbers. Still an outside chance of finishing as runners up in the division.

The Match

With Roy unavailable having played too many games, Leigh and Bharat both on holiday and Mens 3 also playing on the same night we were down to the only 6 men who could turn up. Known injuries to Harry (elbow) Steve (shoulder) and Phil (knee) were not exactly the best of omens but once the match started you would have trouble spotting the lame from the fit.

The Captain actually made a few decisions this week and even chose the pairs, not exactly difficult given the relative skills of those on display. S&A were sent on as first pair and almost too quickly they had recorded an overwhelming win 15-3, 15-1 whilst the other pairs were just getting underway.

Next up were P&G, they took a while to get going having not played together for some time but after realising you can only score when you are serving they eventually won 15-5, 15-6. On the adjacent court H&J were making a game of it by allowing the 3rd pair to play just as they liked before realising we were at home and expected to win, that's more like it as they drew away to win 15-6, 15-3.

3-0 up and the time only 19:45.

With 3 courts at our disposal we were all straight back on, P&G still not quite at full speed but did enough to pull away for a 15-8 win to then finally play properly to settle the rubber 15-1. Next to finish were S&A, they won 15-4, 15-4 and as is the wont of the confidence of youth proceeded to play singles "to keep warm" apparently.  With the match already won H&J kept pace with the occasion to record a very satisfactory 15-1, 15-5 win over the second pair.

Score now 6-0, time 20:10

With one eye on the record books we were all back on again to finish the match, predictably S&A were again first to finish in a very generous 15-4, 15-6 before resuming their singles battle, well what can you say.... P&G in full flow now as Phil (koa) and his apparently dodgy joint finally settled to the slower pace of life in Mens 2 but in no mood to offer any chances to the opposition as they crossed the line 15-2, 15-1. All now left for H&J to complete the clean sweep against the 1st pair, benefiting from the state of the match they almost too quickly won 15-3 before getting off to a slow start in the second game. With the clock ticking ever closer to 20:30 and Harry getting thirsty, they finally won 15-8.

Final score 9-0 and all over before 20:30 

Aftermath

Season finished and as per usual we are probably third having won 9 out of 12 matches but missed out on promotion by rubbers won and lost. Thanks to the many and varied who played for Mens 2 this season, time for a rest and rebuild in some cases.

Note to diary....getting to the pub at 9:15 pm has consequences to wallet and health.