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

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

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.

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

Hurry back John, we need you to cast your spells to ensure that we get back on track.

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.

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

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.

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 .....

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.

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 .....