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Opposition |
Home/Away |
Score |
Match Report |
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WBC 1 |
Home |
Won 7-2 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (3-0), Bharat & Nikki (3-0), JJ & John (1-2)
New season, new division having been promoted, half a new
team following the Chairman's deliberations, everything rosy in the garden
until the first match arrives earlier than expected ..... Mary unable to
play as going North of the Border for Glaswegian elocution lessons,
apparently she is very concerned that we can all nearly understand her now
so needed to get back to her roots; lets hope it wasn't "stoatin aff the
grun" during her visit. Fiona our favourite born again teenager was also
not available despite receiving a new badminton racquet as an unusual love
token from one of her many admirers, see her personal website for full
details of her latest conquest and possibly a review of the racquets
performance......
Fortunately the ever reliable JJ and "new girl" Nikki were
able to stand in and get the season off to a winning start.
Captain elect Debbie made her usual pre season speech
which certainly put Leigh at ease as she reminded him of Tim's exploits the
previous season and her expectations of another loss free campaign !!
luckily Leigh is made of stern stuff and even the attempts of the opposition
to play the "its my call and that shot was out game" failed to disrupt with
L&D cruising to a 15-2, 15-10 victory in the opening rubber. Meanwhile with
Bharat arriving late J&JJ were pressed into being second pair and aided by
the oppositions' problem with hitting our feathers anywhere near the court
quickly won the encounter 15-6, 15-12 before they acclimatised. By now B&N
were on court as a new untried pair but with both striking the shuttle
powerfully they soon overcame the WBC third pair to put us 3-0 up and well
on the way.
The rest of the match went as expected with J&JJ not quite
managing to win their remaining rubbers despite taking both to three,
luckily the rest of the team made the most of home advantage to record a
solid 7-2 victory, well played all.
"Ah'venogoteanymerrthenoomibbyefter"
or words to that effect, see Mary for a translation.
John
Mixed 3 Scribe |
|
BW 2 |
Home |
Won 9-0 |
Opposition conceded match |
|
Ash Green 1 |
Home |
Won 5-4 |
Team:
Mary & Leigh (3-0), Nikki & Bharat (1-2), Debbie & John (1-2)
Newspaper Headlines
Grandstand finish keeps
Mixed 3 on top
Feather finesse wins out
Huge crowd gripped by late night finale
Vertically challenged pairing scales the heights
So nearly a Shakespearian tragedy
Pre Match Rituals
Debbie's pre match rouser
seemed to be an incongruous blend of Shakespeare's "Cry
God for Harry England and Saint George and
Robbie Burns..Now's the day
and now's the hour Liberty's in every blow Let us do or die !"
Team selection was particularly arcane with the captain
taking the ladies off for an around the cauldron huddle Macbeth style
before announcing the pairings. The resultant pairs seemed to owe more to
relative stature than anything else, we had the minimalist 5 foot and
under Mary & Leigh, the maximus 6 foot and over Bharat plus Nikki in very
high heels and finally the indeterminate neither one nor the other Debbie
& John
The Match Report
Early confusion with the Ash
Green first and second pairs being on the wrong courts, so instead of
rubbers 1 and 2 we actually played 8 and 4 !! Both went to three with L&M
recovering from a slow start to take the opening rubber 11-15, 15-3, 15-2.
Meanwhile B&N came off court having lost 11-15, 10-15 only to be advised
by the spectators that the score in the second game was actually
14-10, following the ensuing
debate they went back on and took the game 17-14 to force the decider.
Sadly despite staying in the game all the way they eventually lost 12-15
in the third.
With the time already beyond
8pm J&D finally entered the fray and making the most of the "feather
advantage" won the opening game 15-9. Clearly over confident and with the
opposition getting used to the shuttles they promptly went down 2-15, the
final game went on for ever but the end result saw us lose 9-15. Meanwhile
on the other court L&M were finding the Ash Green first pair to their
liking winning easily 15-7, 15-5
Score now 2-2
Rubbers 5 & 6 both went to
three with B&N just prevailing to take their decider 15-11 whilst J&D
battled on and on but eventually ended up as losers 10-15 in the third. By
this time B&N were back on court but finding out that the Ash Green thirds
were probably their best pairing and despite rallying in the second game
came a gallant second 7-15, 13-15.
Score now Ash Green 4 BCBC
3 Time now 9-45pm
Time for the "do or die"
with the clock not in our favour and the imminent danger of having to
concede. L&M having sat off for ages found the AG 3rd pair more than ready
but following a real scrap secured the first game 17-16. On the other
court J&D with one eye on the clock chose speed over finesse to bludgeon
their way to a 15-9 win in the opening game. Time now
10-00 pm
Fortunately no sign of an
agitated caretaker so on with the match, the crowd played its part with
helpful advice from the sidelines and buoyed up by this encouragement L&M
pressed home their advantage to win the rubber 17-16, 15-9. Almost
simultaneously J&D avoided having to concede by scrabbling a 15-13 win to
seal an unlikely victory in time added on. High fives all round and the
crowd went home happy with Mixed 1 having also won.
Well played all and thanks
again to Nikki for standing in for Fiona
Next match away v Barkers
Butts on Wednesday 14 November
Mixed 3
Scribe and Biographer |
|
Barkers Butts 3 |
Away |
Won 5-4 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (3-0), Mary & Bharat (1-2), Fiona & John (1-2)
Despite being advertised as a 7:30 start the match finally
got underway at ten to eight but these delaying tactics failed to help
Barkers as the first two rubbers both went to us with L&D winning 15-7,
15-11 and B&M 15-9, 15-7. Easy game this, but then J&F went on court to
discover the awful truth that the BB third pair were obviously not and
promptly lost barely troubling the scorer in the process. The momentum was
quickly restored by L&D as they cruised to another victory 15-12, 15-6 but
B&M despite much effort and taking their rubber to three ended up losing
the decider 15-8. Match score now 3-2 to us
J&F take to the floor again
against their first pair, and despite trailing 14-10 somehow manage to
pinch the opening game 17-16, buoyed with renewed confidence they race to
a 7-0 lead in the second game. Short-lived success as they lose the game
15-12, all down to the decider which proves to be a close encounter with
the opposition resorting to dubious gamesmanship at 14-10 down, apparently
the shuttle was wobbling. After a lengthy pause whilst the shuttle was
knocked backwards and forwards we resumed and despite losing the next
point held on to win 15-11. Match score now 4-2
L&D and B&M back on court to
try and close out the match, tense atmosphere in the crowd as they both
lose their opening games 15-9 and 15-5. With confidence low and the time
now 09:30 the crowd wonder loudly whether the final rubber will get on
court, maybe we can claim it ... but our team is made of sterner stuff and
both pairs win their games to take it to three. B&M battle on but despite
straining every sinew (their words !!) they slip behind the pace and lose
out to the BB first pair 15-4. Match score now 4-3 to us.
All now rests on L&D and
with Leigh exhorting himself into turbo drive they turn 8-6 up and with
the opposition finally wilting ease away to win 15-8 and the match is
ours.
The time is now past 10:00
but surprisingly the final dead rubber is able to be played with J&F just
losing out 16-17, 10-15.
Match finally finishes at
10:30, well past our bedtimes and no chance of reaching the pub !!
Well played all especially
Leigh and Debbie, next match is AT7 away on 27 November. |
|
AT7 3 |
Away |
Won 7-2 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (3-0), Fiona & Harry (2-1), Mary & John (2-1)
The Match
First on court were L&D who found the first AT7 pair to be
very much to their liking and quickly won the opening rubber 15-6, 15-0.
At the same time Harry and Fiona were tackling the second pair and despite
giving away an opening game lead of 14-9 to lose 17-14 came back strongly
to win in three 15-9, 15-10. Watching from the sidelines J&M were hoping
for an easy encounter with the third pair, especially as Mary had not hit
a plastic in over 2 years, a good theory but undone by discovering that
AT7 were playing in reverse formation. Shortly afterwards they trooped off
as sorry losers 6-15, 6-15, best laid plans and all that.
L&D back on court and
completely outplaying the second pair to win 15-7, 15-3. H&F started well
against the stronger 3rd pair winning 15-12 but were unable to maintain
the advantage eventually losing out 6-15, 7-15.
Match score now 3-2
Back on court for J&M but this time against the real third
pair and despite efforts to re-enact Bannockburn on our side of the net
(sorry Mary how's the bruising) won comfortably 15-9, 15-8. This left L&D
to raise their game against the unbeaten "third/first pair" and with Leigh
pulling off a series of drives to the backhand corner whilst Debbie
covered the net they eased away to effectively win the match 15-6, 15-11.
With the match already won
the remaining dead rubbers both went our way to record a very satisfactory
7-2 away win with plastics, well played all especially the old Professor
..... Next match not until 21 January 2008 v WBC1 away |
|
Ernsford Grange 2 |
Away |
Lost 4-5 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (3-0), Mary & Bharat (1-2), Fiona & Harry (0-3)
The match was late starting
due to some unexplained road works on the roundabout at Whitley which
delayed most of the team (except Fiona!!!).
With our resident scribe and
practiser of the occult missing due to a heavy weekend, Harry stepped in
at the eleventh hour to make up the pairings.
L & D won their opening rubber
to give us a great start. B & M went on against their 2nd pair and were
narrowly edged out in 3. H & F struggled to find their form with H having
played the previous night.
L & D won their second rubber
and B & M also won and with H & F still not firing on all cylinders the
match was level at 3 all.
The final rubbers saw L & D
win and B & M were just edged out to leave it all down to the last rubber.
H & F rallied a bit but it was all too late and the match was lost.
With Ernsford having already
lost one match, this sets up the return game
at home on 28th March as a possible title decider.
Hurry back John, we need you
to cast your spells to ensure that we get back on track. |
|
WBC 1 |
Away |
Won 5-4 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (2-0), Fiona & Bharat (0-2), Mary & John (0-2)
The match got under way eventually after waiting patiently
for the WBC third man, still no sign by 7:30 so play commenced in his
absence.
Once on court L&D quickly
won their opening rubber 15-6, 15-11 despite Leigh being hampered by the
continued injury (caused by running round Roy in the recent Men's 1
victory apparently), on the other court J&M started well winning their
opening game 15-11. Buoyed by confidence they duly lost the next game 15-6
to set up the decider, all was going well as they turned 8-6 up but the
change of ends proved decisive as the WBC second pair attuned to our
courts with their plastics winning the game 15-11.
The welcome news that WBC
were down to two pairs was greeted with some relief and we were suddenly
4-1 up!! Graham stepped in to nobly play for the opposition and with all 3
courts free for the match we pressed on. B&F having sat off for an age
finally ventured onto court but despite straining every sinew and even
Fiona feigning a "line dancing injury"* were not able to conjure up the
required winning rubber losing out 9-15, 8-15.
Meanwhile J&M played out the
already claimed rubber against Graham and his WBC partner to leave us 4-2
ahead in the match. At the same time the decisive rubber was unfolding
with L&D not finding plastics their "weapon of choice" but narrowly won
the opening game 17-14. This seemed to dent the WBC confidence as L&D went
on the win the crucial rubber 15-8 and effectively seal the match victory.
With the match won the final
two rubbers both went to WBC all too easily, a rather unsatisfactory end
but a win nevertheless, well played Debbie and Leigh as the only real
winners on the night. |
|
Barkers Butts 3 |
Home |
Won 6-3 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (3-0), Fiona & Bharat (2-1), Mary & John (1-2)
The Match
The recent loss to Ernsford
fresh in everyone's mind led to calls for a virgin sacrifice to bring good
luck, but despite offering herself Fiona just did not have the necessary
credentials, so we made do with a old goose feather in a symbolic gesture.
L&D got us off to a rapid
start winning easily 15-5, 15-5; meanwhile B&F found that Barkers were
playing in reverse order as the 3rd pair were clearly their best pairing
and lost the opening game 7-15. Spurred on they rallied to snatch the
second game 17-15 but sadly despite leading 13 to not very many in the
third were unable to press on for victory eventually losing out 17-16 !!!
At the same time J&M were
failing to get off to a winning start and despite being in the rubber
throughout never got to grips with the opponents "slow style" losing
12-15, 12-15.
Score now BCBC 1 BB 2
J&M went straight back on
court and immediately had a minor altercation over the very first point,
"I only asked whether it was out" was the retort as the opposition man
grumbled that it was miles long. This seemed to do the trick for J&M and
they steadily got their attacking game together to win the rubber 17-14,
15-8.
B&F again found the first
game difficult losing out 6-15 before recovering to drive home their all
out attack and claim the rubber 15-9, 15-5.
Score now BCBC 3 BB 2
Time for L&D to play the
crucial 6th rubber against the best BB pairing ...... drum roll, action,
lights .......For once this was not a simple win in fact the opening game
became quite a struggle before Leigh finally got his power game going to
ease out a 17-14 win. This rather deflated the efforts of BB as they
lamely lost the second game 15-6
Stage now set for the
unlikely heroes B&F to seal the match, with a small but vociferous crowd
baying "play down his backhand" they won the opening game 15-10. Fiona was
clearly in no mood to let the opposition back into the match as she
"unleashed the full fury of her pent up emotions raining down unstoppable
drives and drop shots to force a victory" (At least I think that's what
she said as she came off the court ) Anyway the book says they won 15-11.
Match score now showed
BCBC 5 BB 2 and another victory
for Mixed 3
The final two rubbers went
rather as expected with L&D maintaining their unbeaten all season status
but J&M not making much impact against the best BB pairing
Final Score BCBC 6 BB 3 |
|
BW 2 |
Away |
Won 7-2 |
Team:
Debbie & Leigh (3-0), Fiona & Harry (1-2), Mary & John (3-0)
The Match
The team left early mostly
in the BCBC charabanc, a rare early example fitted with Pirelli tyres and
driven by the "tamashanta kid" with great finesse and lack of speed along
the traffic jam that was the A45. We arrived only just late at the
impressive new edifice that is Avon Valley School to find we were in the
only old building left after the fire, a wonderful example of a school
hall featuring hanging lights, suspended basketball nets and other
paraphernalia neatly finished off with freshly painted white walls !! Joy
of joys at least we were using feathers albeit made by Head with a flight
pattern resembling a demented woodcock, at one stage Harry almost decided
to pick it up and run with it. A battle weary Leigh arrived even later
singing that old Proclaimers classic "I would drive 500 miles" having
suffered satnav induced dementia.
Due to Leigh's late arrival
Captain D decided on the bold plan to play in reverse order so J&M went on
as first pair to discover that no one could actually see the shuttle, not
even the opposition, but battled on to win the opening game 17-15 and then
somehow repeated the feat to take the opening rubber 15-12. Meanwhile H&F
were struggling to spot the flying bird and despite making a game of it
lost out 10-15, 11-15.
Time for L&D to take the
floor and show that all was possible, with the benefit of x-ray vision
they quickly cruised to a convincing win 15-5, 15-6.
J&M now decided on the novel
tactic of hitting anything that moved and recorded an amazing 15-1 win
followed up by 15-8 to take the match score to 3-1. Meanwhile H&F were
taking on the BW third pair and still finding the conditions far from
ideal lost the opening game to 9, this affront seemed to spur them on as
they came back strongly to win the rubber 15-6, 15-9. By this time L&D
were back on court easily outplaying the first pair to seal victory 15-8,
15-5 and the match was ours !!!
J&M finished off their
evening by winning a seesaw rubber 15-1, 11-15, 15-8 whilst H&F were still
finding the hall conditions difficult and despite coming close in the
opening game lost out. To round things off L&D made quick work of the
final rubber winning 15-6, 15-4.
Final result a 7-2 win,
well played everyone
Exertion over we were
looking forward to a reviving shower in the new school facilities, wrong,
all locked up for the night..... just about summed up the facilities,
promised a lot delivered rather less. Oh well at least we won.
The journey home was equally
interesting with the charabanc driver deciding on the M6 rather than risk
the A45 only to discover it resembled the rush hour in the Solent with
ocean going yachts aboard low loaders, not so much the Bermuda Triangle
but perhaps the Blue Circle effect !!
Next match is away to Ash
Green on Friday 7 March, three matches to go and the silverware glimmering
in the distance... you just never know. |
|
Ash Green 1 |
Away |
Lost 2-7 |
Team: Debbie & Leigh (1-2), Liz & Roy (1-2), Mary & John (0-3)
The Match
Always likely to be the key
match of the season, so in readiness we had recruited some reinforcements
from Mixed 2, the theory was sound unfortunately the venue and use of "all
weather" yellow plastics completely undid our attempts at securing a win.
With only two courts
available the Captain sent on R&L as first pair full of expectation whilst
L&D set off well against the AG second pair winning the opening game to
13. This proved to be the only success in the opening rubbers as R&L
discovered the joys of playing in the lower leagues where normal badminton
standards are the cross court drop shot executed with limited finesse.
Suffice to say that R&L having not played together for some years were
finding the yellow plastics far from helpful especially against the cream
walls !!. Meanwhile L&D lost their first rubber of the season much to
Leigh's annoyance as they were clearly the better pair but just couldn't
get to grips with the conditions and the lack of speed of the scrawny
yellow birds.
J&M then produced a
reasonable effort against the third pair taking it to three but were never
really in control and eventually lost out 15-9 in the third. Score now
0-3 and team looking decidedly
ragged.
L&D gave us a small ray of
hope by despatching the third pair to 11 and 3 but J&M found the first
pair difficult losing the opening game to 3 before making a real fight of
the second being 10-6 up at one stage but eventually losing 15-11. Score
now 1-4 and with R&L
getting used to conditions there was a brief period of anticipation when
it looked as if there may be a way back, but sadly the miracle recovery
never came as Ash Green made full use of their massive home advantage to
seal our fate.
Score now
1-5 and at last something to show
for their efforts as R&L easily outplayed the AG third pair winning 15-8,
15-7. On the other court L&D came oh so close to snatching another rubber
before slipping to a 14-17. 10-15 loss against the first pair. J&M
finished the match off with a lacklustre effort only highlighted by John's
attempts at "net macramé" following yet another opposition cross court
drop that bounced off the net, such frustration !!!
Final score
2-7 and a disappointing loss.
The division title is now
very much out of our hands all we can do is win the final two matches and
hope that Ash Green slip up in their away match against WBC1. Promotion is
still a real possibility but all those 5-4 wins won't help if it comes
down to points difference.
Thanks again to Roy and Liz
for their valiant efforts in a losing cause, sorry about the venue and the
wondrous flight pattern of "back garden" yellow plastics, such is life in
the lower divisions ..... |
|
AT7 3 |
Home |
Won 8-1 |
Team: Debbie & Leigh (3-0),
Fiona & Bharat (3-0), Mary & John (2-1)
The Match
Most of the team was ready
to start but where was Bharat ? not to worry the Captain's phone call soon
awakened him and his memory and he duly arrived only slightly late. Just
as well we don't have a dress code these days, was that really a badminton
top!
By this time we were already
2-0 up as the opposition struggled to adjust to feathers; making up for
his lack of organisational skills Bharat quickly dragged Fiona on to court
and set about easily beating the third pair 15-5, 15-7.
On the other court J&M were
finding the first pair rather too young for their liking with "winning"
shots coming back whilst they were still admiring their own handiwork,
result ... lost opening game 15-11. The second game was another matter
entirely punctuated by an ongoing debate over a disputed line call by AT7,
not sure why we offered to let them play the serve again but the proffered
olive branch was well and truly dismissed .... (note to self, leave the
wooden spoon at home next time). Suffice to say we won the game 15-10. I
will draw a veil over the decider, shall we say age and experience over
youth is not always a recipe for success !!
Match Score now 3-1
The remaining rubbers all
went to us with L&D barely into second gear and only conceding 31 points
all evening, well played both.
B&F had some difficulty in
overcoming the young first pair but with Bharat applying the power they
eventually won in three 15-12, 7-15, 15-11.
Final score 8-1 and on to
the final promotion deciding match at home v Ernesford on Friday 28 March
minus half the team, and with no ladies from Mixed 2 available either we
are indebted to JJ for rescheduling her Friday night of passion to play.
(Easter pun... possibly or maybe not)
Where is the captain when
you really need her to rouse the spirits and give the pre battle address,
gone "of her own accord" that's where ..... we will just have to win
without her !!
Still the rest of the
evening was very convivial with Harry producing a rather large cake for
Mary's somewhat special birthday **, you can't possibly be that old they
all lied, followed by drinks and carousing at a local hostelry. |
|
Ernsford Grange 2 |
Home |
Won 8-1 |
Team:
Mary & Leigh (3-0), Fiona & Steve B (3-0), JJ & Roy (2-1)
The Match
Captain Calypso was still on
the set of the latest remake of Pirates of the Caribbean with Cap'n Jim
the unlikely stand in for Jack "Dai Hard" Sparrow, although I must say
that welsh red bandana is really not his colour. so without her safe
guiding hand the acting captain took the helm. The first decision
apparently made in the best interest of the team was to rest himself and
give Roy another taste of life in the nether regions of the league, and
what an inspired move it proved to be.
The match got underway with
a real air of tension watched by the smallest crowd of the season (just 4
of us) all three rubbers were close affairs with only S & F managing to
avoid going to three winning 15-13, 17-14 thanks to Steve's superior
positional play. Meanwhile L&M were finding the EG first pair a real test
winning the opening game to 13 but then losing 9-15, the decider went on
for an age but eventually Leigh's belligerent will to win proved decisive
and with Mary hitting some good net kills they won through 15-10. At the
same time R & JJ scrambled a win in the opening game 17-15 but were unable
to repeat the feat losing out 9-15 to send the rubber into overtime, the
decider was close all the way but to great relief all round they won
15-13.
Score now an amazing 3-0,
what a start ! (points total BCBC 112 - EG 108 shows just how close it
was)
S&F went back on court and
with relentless pressure they cruised home against the EG first pair in a
very impressive 15-3, 15-5 to all but seal the match. With the fairy tale
pairing of R&JJ (I will leave their characters to your imagination,
answers on a postcard to ....) just failing to clinch victory it was left
rather appropriately to L&M who comprehensively beat the third pair to 11
and 4 and the match was won.
Score now 5-1 and promotion
secured.
The remaining rubbers all
went to us despite a spirited final flurry by EG that ensured that L&M
went to three before winning out 15-9.
Many thanks to Steve and JJ
for rearranging their various Friday night passions to bail us out, and to
Roy for his last minute efforts well played everyone.
The final league standings
will depend on tonight's match (WBC1 v Ash Green) Ash Green will have the
same number of points (10)as us but will be division winners on points for
and against difference assuming they win otherwise the cup could still be
ours ..... |
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