Last night was our Men’s 2 team’s first home fixture of the season. Having already played 3 away games and secured 5 points, it was a pressure situation for the lads to deliver at home.
The line-up for the night was:-
Andy / Ross
Darran / Gary Y
Ahmed / Sohail
First up on court were myself and Andy against the first pair from Wychelm. Thing started off so well and we were cruising at 12-6 up but then we became too relaxed and felt like it was a normal club night. Wychelm’s pair took advantage and slowly clawed it back. It got to 20-20 and I pushed a shot out wide to lose the first game. The next game was closer all of the way through but we just couldn’t get the breakaway needed and our shots just didn’t come off. We ended up slipping to a 18-21 loss.
On the other court, there was no such complacency from Darran and Gary who comfortably won both their games against Wychelm’s second paid, 21-16, 21-14 to make it 1-1 on the night.
Next up were Ahmed and Sohail to take on Wychelm’s third pair. As with Darran and Gary, both Ahmed and Sohail cruised to a 21-11 win in their first game. The next game was a lot closer but they still came out on top, winning 21-18 to make it 2-1 on the night.
It was Darran and Gary on court again, this time against Wychelm’s first pair. Again, Wychelm took the first game 17-21 and looked to be on course to take the win but our lads stepped things up and nicked it 21-20 to take it to a decider. This finished 21-18 to make it 3-1 on the night.
Myself and Andy went on against the second pair from Wychelm as we had a spare court. This was another tough match where we just didn’t click and lost the first game 18-21. After changing ends and having a drink, we changed our game plan to be more attacking and it paid dividends with us taking the second game 21-15 and comfortably winning the decider 21-12 to make it 4-1 on the night and securing a league point.
Darran and Gary were on court again, against the third pair from Wychelm. Yet again, more hard games ensued but our guys stuck with it and played really well to win 21-19, 21-18 to make it 5-1 on the night and secure the second league point.
Ahmed and Sohail were back on again for their game against the first pair from Wychelm. They wasted no time in securing the first game 21-10 and then cruising to a 21-17 win in the second to make it 6-1 on the night and secured the bonus league point.
Myself and Andy were on court against their third pair and again we made it hard for ourselves by taking it to the wire. We nicked the first game 21-20 but then got into the zone by attacking more and took the second one 21-14 to make it 7-1 on the night.
Last up were Ahmed and Sohail against the second pair from Wychelm. Yet again, it was a close run affair with Ahmed and Sohail taking the first game 21-17 but losing the second 19-21 to take it to a decider. No such problems in the deciding game though with Ahmed and Sohail romping to a 21-8 win to make it 8-1 on the night and round off a great victory for our first home match.
Thanks go to Gary for stepping in due to Leo being unwell. Gary and Darran played really well together and that showed in their scores.
Great result guys. We’ve moved up to second place in the league and our next match is at home to the leaders, Emerson Eagles 2.
