Combined
2 started off their season with a much changed team against old rivals
Wisewood 1, who were pipped to promotion by ourselves two years ago but
secured it at the expense of Sheffield Forum last season. Wisewood
included their club’s top three male players, currently top of Mens
Division 2, so were an incredibly tough challenge, and to compound the
problem have an average age of (we are guessing) 22 years compared to
the more likely 42 years of Ranmoor (reduced somewhat by the puppy fat
of Ben, our only sub-40 candidate!).
We
were hopeful given the skill of their men that our ladies would counter
it by having the edge in that category, but as it turned out the ladies
were also decent players and on a level with ours.
The
level doubles kicked off the evening, beginning with Ravi and Ben
taking on Wisewood’s most experienced man alongside his young colleague
who next year will be playing for Yorkshire. Our boys battled hard but
lost to 11 in each end. Cat and Jane took on the ladies equivalent pair,
and despite taking the first end to a tie break lost to 19 and 14. The
second set of levels saw normal league partnerships resumed as Mens 2
captain Steve and his normal league partner Ben took on Wisewood’s top
league pair, the two young gents who have beaten Ranmoor on a number of
occasions. Our boys started well but again couldn’t get past 11, before
pushing much closer in the second end before a late rally saw Wisewood
win to 17. The ladies saw stand in captain Lesley begin her campaign
with Cat, playing against probably the two strongest Wisewood ladies. On
this occasion though, our ladies had too much power and craft, winning
to 19 and 16. It was therefore 3-1 to Wisewood after the level doubles
and we were starting to feel pessimistic.
If
the levels were the starter, the mixed turned out to be the main
course, with 5 classic rubbers in which the losing team got to 19 at
least once in each rubber. This six from Ranmoor all possess grit, nerve
and a hatred of losing, and this was epitomised in all 5 rubbers with
titanic battles against classy opposition, many of whom could hold their
own in Division 1.
Ravi
and Jane started in a new pairing at the same time as Steve and Lesley
played together in a match for the first time, 12 years after joining
Ranmoor and 11 years after their marriage! Despite the dire premonition
of the level doubles, both games were nip and tuck classic affairs, with
lengthy rallies particularly among the gents, back and forth, corner to
corner. Ravi and Jane came off court just before Steve and Lesley
finished with a despairing floor slide after a Wisewood drop sat on top
of the net at match point, before slowly dropping down the Ranmoor side.
Both matches had identical scores, losing to 18 and 19, that final
lucky drop from Wisewood securing the match and a 5-1 lead.
The
consolation rubbers proved just as tight, with Ben and Cat out first
and fighting bravely before going down to 19 and 17, Ben unluckily
playing the imminent county player in all 3 games. Ravi and Jane
finished next, yet another tie break going against us with a loss to 13
and 19. Finally, Steve and Lesley suffered from post-flapjack fatigue
(thanks to Sam’s mum and to captain Dave for the invisible biscuits!)
with a slow start going 12-1 down before rallying but losing to 9,
before a second end saw us way ahead ourselves from point 1, losing
three game points but still winning to 16. The only third end of the
night then concluded proceedings, with Steve and Lesley again ahead all
the way, following Ravi’s good advice for how to play this pair, but
then a series of Wisewood shots found the line brilliantly before
digging in further to defend 2 match points before turning the tables
and Wisewood winning 23-21.
A
classic evening of badminton and well done to Wisewood for winning 8-1,
and for being a really friendly bunch who are always welcome at
Ranmoor. Definitely not relegation contenders on that showing and
probably happy to consolidate whilst Venturers and the two relegated
sides in all likelihood contest the top 2 places. For Ranmoor, some
fantastic play by all six players with the scoreline not reflecting the
night, and boding really well for the games ahead.