After an opening defeat away to
Graves, Mens 2 picked up their campaign with a tough road trip to Beaver
Hill at Springs Leisure Centre. The opponents finishing in mid table
last season but with wins at home against everybody apart from the two
sides who were eventually to be promoted. The scouting report had come
back from Mens 1, advising us to expect a team with three pairs of
varying standards, including a father and son pair who last season took
unbeaten Mens 1 stalwarts Sam and Ferg to 3 ends before ultimately
succumbing. The captain told us they are a side who can struggle to put
out three pairs so their performances last season were likely to be
better than results indicated. Beaver Hill had already two nine-nil
victories to their name this season, though had lost away to Phoenix, so
this would no doubt be a tough encounter.
Captain
Steve had returned from his sabbatical in the Canadian Wilderness and
recalled himself to the team along with Alastair who also missed the
first game, with Ranmoor reverting back to six of the players who did so
well last season. Trying to put a mixture of power, craft and
experience in each pair, Ranmoor went with Richard & Jamie, Alastair
& Jethron, Steve & Deepak.
Despite
the website advising that 2 courts would be in use, dropping to 1, it
turns out all 3 courts were available for the match all night long, so
there was no time to watch other pairs, nor to pick up little stories
for the match report!! The author was also last one off in each set of
games so didn’t see one minute of the other games – as a result this
report has to feature more on the score and less on the anecdotes, so
sorry for that team!
Captain
Steve put himself and Deepak straight out against the strongest father
and son pair, but this backfired as they were cold, nervous and were far
off their best. In the first game, they were blown away 21-7. Steve was
playing “like a mongoose” according to himself (how does a mongoose
play badminton anyway?), and the second game improved, but were still
way behind facing 8 game points until a late rally on Deepak’s serve
secured 7 straight points before a flick serve saw a smash winner for a
21-19 win for Beaver Hill’s top pair. This pair did not take their foot
off the gas, and secured a 3-0 straight ends evening with wins over Rich
& Jamie to 11 and 14, then finally to Jethron & Alastair to 10
and 13. Sometimes, to use a tennis expression, you have to say “too
good”, and this pair were just that, with the young star looking to have
a decent future in the game.
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| Captain Steve playing in the Mongoose league over the summer... |
The
oppositions second pair proved to be the weakest of the three, and
started against Jethron & Alastair with Ranmoor’s placement and
power proving too much and we secured a win to 10 and 7. Steve &
Deepak were next up, and started in the slow and cold manner of their
first game, struggling to find rhythm and having to dig deep, but we
edged a 24-22 victory with a few “come ons” from Steve yelled at himself
in true tennis fashion. This released the pressure valve and for the
first time in the night they were more like their old selves, winning
the second end easily 21-12. Rich & Jamie then played this pair
last, and matched their team mates with a stronger second game, winning
to 16 and 10.
The
match was therefore to be decided by performances against the middle
pair of Beaver Hill, with the top pair proving too good, and the other
pair facing 3 defeats. The middle pair were the wily captain and a
younger man possessing a nice combination of power, touch, mobility and
deception.
Rich
& Jamie played this pair first, and the first end was a tight
affair, and could have gone either way, but Beaver Hill edged it 21-18
and then won the second end much more easily 21-9. Jethron &
Alastair played this pair next but also struggled to find too many
weaknesses and were eased aside 21-10 and 21-11. Finally Steve &
Deepak took on this pair knowing the match was Ranmoors if they won the
last round of games. This game proved a huge tussle and by the end all
other players were huddled around with their coats on ready to go! We
were playing much more like our normal selves now with far fewer errors,
and were edged in the first game 21-17 but fought back and took the
second end 21-15. The third end was the only third end of the night for
any pair, and this was a seesaw back and forth with good rapport and two
lets permitted by the opposition without argument, which we
appreciated. With Alastair coming to keep score to keep himself awake as
the shadows lengthened, Beaver Hill played some majestic stuff at the
death to edge it 21-18.
The final result was a 6-3 win for Beaver Hill. Well done to them, and thanks for being so friendly and accommodating.
Man
of the Match? Probably a guilty vote this one, but goes to Deepak for
getting to at least 17 points in all games apart from one, and for
taking the middle pair to three ends. He must have a sore ear from
Captain Steve’s voice in it all night trying to insist on short serves,
so well done our little magic man for sticking at it and nearly getting
that second point!!
Reflections
on the night? This level is a big step up from the Division below with
few of us having played much in Div 3, and the noticeable difference is
the experience of some of the players who may have played at this level
for 20+ years, and the much lower unforced error count. Patience proves
quite rewarding with the opposition trying to tease the other players
into the wrong shot at the wrong time. Mid court lifts are swiftly
punished and trying to hit a quick winner often doesn’t work as the
shuttle comes back more often, so the side that keeps their head and
plays calmly under pressure are likely to come out on top. The cold hall
and fast court was a factor too in this instance. As a result, we can’t
be hard on ourselves for the defeat, we just need to find a way to rise
to this new standard, which we will! Just wait till we get these sides
back to Ecclesfield!