Mens 2 played their 11th game of a 14 game
season against the promotion chasing Drone with yet more availability problems
resulting in only 5 out of the 12 man squad being able to play! With Clive
failing a late fitness test after being begged to come in, Captain Steve was forced
to play himself to avoid disappointing one of the five, despite having been
diagnosed with torn ankle ligaments two weeks ago and facing his allergic
nightmare of flourescent lights (being adamant he would never play under them
again).
The difficulty for Mens 2 is that every side in the Division is a first team (like the Combined 2 team with the exception of Abbeydale). First teams tend to play their strongest six every week, whereas second teams like us rotate it to give the whole squad experience. This is what our opponents second team do too in the Chesterfield league. It leaves us up against it every week, but that is better than having half the number of members!
With more strapping than a typical bondage
party, and the same ankle brace Andy Murray has worn for the last decade, Steve
played with Arun in the third pair, with Arun playing his second game for
Ranmoor. Nathan and Rob took the lead as top pair. Rich played with Matt as
second pair, who was making his debut for the season. Drone are a friendly club
who we lost 6-3 to at home but they were missing two players and had pulled two
in from their 2nd team who play in the Chesterfield league. At full
strength tonight, they needed a 9-0 win to help with their fight with Phoenix
for the second promotion spot.
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| Man of the Match Arun - A crutch for the night |
The Drone top pair had won all 3 games very
easily in the first fixture, but turned out to be ever so slightly the weakest
on the night tonight. Nathan / Rob and Rich / Matt got into the 'teens' on each
end, but just came up short. Arun and Steve lost the first end, but seized the
second as the whole hall could tell based on Arun's whoops and fist pumps. At
this rate Arun will get the award on Captain’s Night for the biggest
celebration of a normal non critical point! The third end was close up to 14-16
until a slightly contentious incident rattled Ranmoor and the Drone grabbed the
rubber.
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| Rob and Nathan take the defeat hard |
The second Drone pair and the third were
both as strong as the top pair this time around, with no obvious weaknesses.
They both eased through the ends without dropping one, although Ranmoor can be
proud of getting to at least 18 on four separate occasions. It was a 9-0 win
for the Drone and a similar result as Phoenix away, playing a very classy side,
though at least we won one end this time! Away matches are proving very
different to home with alien court conditions and superior opposition proving
an unbeatable combination at this new level.
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| Rich and Matt - City slickers |
For Ranmoor, Nathan and Rob played superb
defensive badminton, some great blocks with Rob hitting a phenomenal backhand
clear which is beginning to increase in length. This style got them the best
record against the 2nd pair, as it did in the home match. Rich and
Matt were more attacking, with Matt dominating the net a lot, playing some
tremendous drops and flicks, putting the opponents in trouble on their
backhand, and setting up Rich's smash. Steve played his usual game of
dominating serve and then putting the opponents to the front or very rear of
the court, and Arun raced around the court smashing at will. It was a good
performance by all, especially the more inexperienced team members who all
played very well and will benefit from the games. It wouldn't be Ranmoor if we
didn't throw in a few mid court lifts, unforced errors, and difficulties
closing out tight ends - so a few things
to work on!
Man of the match as usual goes to the
statistically best pair, so tonight this goes to Arun, who had to cover Steve
limping around court, and cope with him trying to tell him what to do every
other point! All three pairs were close though so well done to all!
Next up is Phoenix, a match the Drone desperately
want us to win. With 3 changes to the team planned, we don't know how that will
affect us, but we shall do our best!