Team: Penny & Matt (3-0) Louise T & Jez (0-3) Julie Jones & Leigh (2-1)

Penny and Matt played as the first pairing and got off to a blistering start taking their first pair to a 15-7, 15-13 win, fab start.  Lou T and Jez unfortunately didn’t fare so well against their second pairing and were not helped by consistently hitting the shuttle outside the lines!  After a tough game we lost 11-15, 13-15.  Julie Jones and Leigh introduced themselves to each other and went on court to play as the thirds!  They had a hard start getting used to each other but took the game 17-15, they then went on to lose the second game 3-15, but regained their composure and took the decided 15-7.  After the first round we are 2-1 up!

P & M took on their 3rds and although narrowly missed out on the first game 11-15, they took the other two in fine form with excellent play from both Penny and Matt 15-3, 15-9.  L & J took on their 1sts and after taking the first game 15-13, we gave too many easy points away in the second and lost out 11-15, the decider however was really really close, but unfortunately the luck was on their side and we lost out 16-17 !!!  Pants!  J & L played their 2nds and after finding out that during their first rubber against J & L the man had injured his back they stormed through convincingly to take the rubber 15-13, 15-9.  Fantastic, we’re 4-2 up now…

Onto the final round of rubbers and we need 1 to take the game…. 

J & L were on against the first pairing and in what was a long and hard game they fought hard against them but were unfortunate in losing out at 12-15, 10-15.  P & M took on the injured 2^nd pair and in what seemed a tight match they took the victory, with much whooping from the bench, 15-7, 15-10 !  Yay!...  L & J went on to try an redeem themselves, but unfortunately it all fell apart and we played straight into their hands and ended up losing a dismal 7-15, 7-15 after not playing well at all, sorry Jez !

I’d like to say thanks to Jez for standing in for Barry and to Penny for standing in for Debbie (C).  A tough match.

Team: Deb & Leigh (2-1) Julie Jones & Matt (2-1) Louise T & Jon (1-2)

I was slightly nervous when Leigh mentioned that AT71 were top of the division having won all their games so far this season, beating Barker Butts 2 9-0 at their place (they obviously don’t have the same issues with ‘the walls’ as we do!) and dropping only 5 rubbers in total so far… gulp… I didn’t pass this information on to the rest of the team!!

Leigh and Debbie took on the first pair and were pleasantly surprised to find that the girl couldn’t really hit the shuttle! Probably something to do with the bandage on her hand (we later discovered she had cut her hand washing up, been to A&E, had it sewn back together, couldn’t find anyone to fill in so was serving with her right hand then swapping and playing with her left hand!!), the games were still close though as anything not hit to her was swiftly mullered by her partner! We won the games to 7 & 11.

Julie & Matt took on the strong second pair, they just managed to win their first game to 16 then stormed the second game beating them to 6!

Lou and Jon went on to play the excellent ‘third pair’ (who were clearly the 1^st pair by miles!). They were adjusting to the shuttles (Jon’s favourite – plastics!) in the first game loosing to 7 but were much closer in the second narrowly missing out on taking it to 3 loosing to 13.

Current score 2-1

Debbie & Leigh beat the 2^nd pair to 12 and 8, Leigh playing some excellent deceptive shots and return of serves. Julie & Matt took on the third pair loosing to 6 in the first and playing brilliantly in the second game just loosing out 17-14. Lou and Jon took on the 1^st pair and won to 8 and 14.

Current score 4-2… only one more game needed!

Debbie & Leigh took on the 3^rd pair, the advice from the rest of the team was don’t hit anything up or to the man… that was more difficult than it sounded… he was so tall he could reach everything! We lost the first game to 13, managed to win the second game to 10 (despite being 8-4 down!) and then lost the third to 10. Very disappointing but great games.

Matt & Julie got off to a great start against the first pair beating them to 3, fell asleep in the second game loosing to 8 but got it together again in the last game beating them to 10 and taking the rubber. Hooray, match won!!

Lou & Jon had great games against the 2^nd pair (with some excellent smashing from Lou T) winning the first game 15-10, unfortunately Jon’s dislike of plastics got to him and they lost the next games 15-13, 15-8, also not helped by Lou’s face being on the receiving end of a very hard smash… ouch!

Final score 5-4 Well played everyone!

This takes us to Joint 2^nd with Whitestone who have played one more match than us. Matt wants to win a trophy so no pressure but we need to win the rest of our games!!

Team: Deb & Leigh (2-1) Louise T & Jez (2-1) Julie Jones & Matt (0-3)

After what seemed like 10 years not 10 weeks I finally got to play my first mixed match. We still didn’t have a full team though with Barry (whom I have still not met and am wondering if he actually exists?!) suffering from a shoulder injury. Jez agreed to fill in to maintain his reputation as playing the most matches in a season despite not being in a team.

The night started well with Lou & Jez beating the 2^nd pair to 12 and 7. Deb & Leigh made hard work of it against the 1^st pair, taking it to 3 and winning 17 - 14 in the 3^rd. Julie & Matt took the 3^rd pair to 3 games but didn’t manage to take the rubber. Current score 2 –1.

Debbie & Leigh made hard work of their next game too, against the 2^nd pair, again taking it to 3. They won the rubber after two disputed line calls, Leigh hitting the wall with his racket (don’t get me started on how close the wall is to the back of the court!) and bouncing off it several times! In the meantime Lou and Jez had gone on and thrashed their 3^rd pair quite convincingly to 5 and 4. Julie & Matt played really well against their 1^st pair, just loosing out in the 3^rd game. Current score 4 – 2. Only 1 more game needed…

Debbie & Leigh struggled against the third pair, just missing out on taking it to 3 by 1 point. Gutting! Julie & Matt lost to their 2^nd pair…. So it was all down to Lou and Jez’s game… no pressure! They lost the first game to 7 but came back strong in the 2^nd game playing some amazing shots. The score was 14 all when Jez went down clutching his ankle (noooooooooo!). They had to concede the game and Jez was rapidly whisked off to A&E by Lou (where they spent the next 4 hours!).

Final result 5-4 loss, 1 ruptured Achilles tendon and 1 deflated team.

Thanks to Lou for being stand in captain whilst I couldn’t play and thanks to Jez for standing in and best wishes from everyone for a speedy recovery.

Team: Deb & Leigh (3-0) Julie Jones & Matt (3-0) Louise T & Chris (2-1)

Chris kindly offered to fill in for Jez who was filling in for Barry… no one else was brave enough to play with Lou after they heard what happened to Jez on Monday night!

Debbie & Leigh and Julie & Matt both got off to a great start winning to 8 & 7 and 6 & 7 respectively. Julie & Matt informed me after the match on Monday that they had never played together before then… those 3 games on Monday were obviously more than enough practice for them! Lou and Chris just missed out in the 2^nd game after taking a game to get used to playing with each other having only played together about once before! Current score 2 –1.

The next 3 rubbers were won easily in 2 games by all pairs, Deb & Leigh winning to 4 & 10, Julie & Matt to 3 & 5 and Lou & Chris to 6 & 1! Match won already!

The final 3 rubbers were closer but again all won in 2 games, Deb & Leigh winning to 6 & 9, Matt & Julie to 13 & 13 and Lou & Chris to 15 & 5.

Final result 8-1 win, a happy team and a very happy Captain!

Well played everyone and thanks to Chris for filling in at such short notice!

Team: Penny & Matt (3-0) Louise T & Jon (1-2) Debbie J & Leigh (3-0)

The first match of the new year (rearranged after the snow earlier in the month) went well with another good win securing our position at the top of the table along with AT7 (not quite got our hands on that trophy yet Matt!).

Penny & Matt went on as first pair (the captain had a cough so decided to take it easy as 3^rd pairing this time!) ensuring they got their monies worth by taking all pairs to 3 games but more importantly winning them all!

Lou and Jonathan went on as second pair. They too wanted their monies worth and took 2 of the pairs to 3, narrowly missing out on taking the other game to three by one point loosing 17 16 after a nail biting rubber!

Debbie and Leigh didn’t mess around and took all theirs in 2 rubbers, conceding only 45 points all night! Two of the pairs seeming to give up against them in the end after countless winning cross court drop shots from Leigh!

Thanks to Penny for standing in for Julie and special thanks to Jez for lending Lou his badminton trainers for the evening (she left hers in the airing cupboard!) and supporting us wearing her lovely pink flowery ones! Very fetching, think you should get a pair!!

Team: Deb & Leigh (1-2) Julie Jones & Matt (0-3) Louise T & Jon (0-3)

Not a lot to say about this match! Disappointing result considering we beat them 5-4 at home (I didn’t play that match unfortunately.... they did better without me!) but they are now second in the division so was going to be a tough game.

Some great rallies and all pairs fought hard for every point but the fast shuttles were just too quick for us!

This puts us third in the division, still in with a chance of promotion if we win the rest of our games but sadly no trophy.

Team: Deb & Leigh (2-1) Julie Jones & Matt (2-1) Louise T & Mike (2-1)

It was expected to be a tough night, AT7 had only lost 1 match all season (to us! But we did have an advantage in that one of the girls had hurt her hand and was playing with her left hand instead!).

Leigh and Debbie went on against the first pair... Debbie had one very consistent shot... hitting it in the net and Leigh had a couple of serving issues.. they lost 15-4, 15-12. They came off court highly annoyed with themselves (I can’t repeat what we actually said!) to find Matt and Julie had already finished their game against the second pair losing to 2 and 4. They too were slightly demoralised and talk of conceding and going to the pub ensued! It was only the awesome play from the new pairing of Mike and Lou T against the third pair (winning the rubber 15-9, 13-15, 15-7) that convinced us we had a chance of winning if they could get all 3 games and we could pick ourselves up and get 1 each. The pub would have to wait!

Matt and Julie picked themselves up and took on the first pair winning comfortably to 8 and 7 (oh so that’s how you’re supposed to do it!). Mike and Louise missed out narrowly to the 2^nd pair loosing the first game 17-14 and then 15-7. Debbie and Leigh (realising they were the only pair not to win anything yet!) stepped up their game and managed to beat the third pair 15-7, 16-17, 15-7. Score now 3 all....

Mike and Lou took on the first pair and kept us all on the edge of our seats taking the rubbers 15-12, 8-15 and wining the last 17-16! Couldn’t have got any closer than that! Well done guys! Leigh and Debbie took on the second pair and beat them to 10 and 3! Well done Leigh! Matt and Julie sealed the last rubber with a convincing 15-5, 15-4 win against the third pair.

Final score 6-3. Great result considering the shaky start we got off to! And the moral of the story is never give up and go to the pub... no matter how much you want to... and always eat your jelly snake before the first game... don’t save it for the second!

Team: Deb & Leigh (3-0) Julie Jones & Matt B (3-0) Louise T & Matt S (3-0)

We all turned up wanting revenge for the 5:4 loss at BB earlier in the season where Jez injured himself... and revenge is what we got!!

Debbie & Leigh went on court first, still on cloud 9 after playing their best ever badminton on Monday filling in for the first team, only to be brought back to earth with a bump! They struggled against the first pair managing to win the first game to 12 but then loosing the second to 12, finally winning the third to 11 but making very hard work of it!

Meanwhile Julie & Matt B took on the second pair, taking a while to warm up they won the first game to 13 then got into the swing of it winning to a comfortable 5 in the second.

Lou went on with another new partner, Matt S, (she has more mixed partners than I have hot dinners!) and despite never playing in a match together won the first game to 13! They fell asleep in the second losing to 6 but woke back up again in the third to win to 10.

3 nil up already...

Julie and Matt took on the first pairing, beating them to an impressive 6 and 5 (we must have worn them out for you guys ;-). Lou and Matt took on the second pair, again wanting their monies worth (well you know what students are like!) they took it to 3 after narrowly missing out in a nail biting game losing 15-13! Debbie & Leigh played the third pair and managed to win to 8 and 12 despite still not playing anywhere near their best badminton.

Now 6 nil up... match won... but every rubber counts!

Lou T and Matt had decided they had got their monies worth now and beat the first pair to 8 and 11. Debbie & Leigh somehow managed to beat the second pair to 3 and 5 despite Debbie’s total inability to serve or hit anything. Julie and Matt once again showed the rest of us how to do it by beating the third pair to 6 and 7 (you can stop showing off now guys, we get the idea!).

Final result 9-0.

Moral of this weeks match is that it doesn’t matter how badly you play as long as you win (sorry Leigh, I can’t get any worse than that match... the only way is up!!)