Tonight was our last Combi Division 2 match of the season. Going into the match, we were rooted to the bottom of the league having missed out on points a couple of weeks ago away to Wychelm. Tonight we faced top of the table Hunters who’d only lost one match all season.
The line-up for the match was Jess, Paula, Kiran and Me.
First up were the men’s doubles on one court and the ladies on the other. Myself and Kiran managed a bit of practice last week at club and played well together, building a quick understanding of eachother’s game. Unfortunately for Hunters, one of their players damaged his shoulder in the first game so appeared to be struggling. This didn’t change our tactics though as we were still going all out attack. We took the first game comfortably 21-9. The second game was a lot closer but we managed to nick it 21-19 to get the night off to a good start.
At the same time, the ladies were coming off their court with Jess and Paula having won 21-15, 21-16 to give us the ideal start we needed.
Next up, Jess and Kiran took to court. It was a really good match to watch but we were just too strong, taking the match 21-13, 21-13 to make it 3-0 on the night and secure one league point. It was now time for Paula and I to take to the court. We normally play well together and we got off to a great start, taking the first game 21-13. We did even better in the next running away with it 21-12 to make it 4-0 on the night and securing the win and two league points.
It was now time for Kiran and Paula to get on the court and keep the pressure on and go for the whitewash. Keeping the momentum going, they won the first game 21-15 but had a scare in the second, snatching it at the death 21-20 to make it 5-0 on the night.
No pressure for me and Jess then when we took to the court for the final games. Unbelievable we lost the first one 17-21 as most of my shots seemed to want to go out of the court or hit the net. The pressure was back on and we stepped up our game and things started to click. We took the second game 21-15 to set up a decider. Again, we kept the momentum going with Jess pulling off some great shots and we took the decider 21-17 to make it 6-0 on the night and a great result.
We now just have to wait and see what happens in the other matches. The title will be decided at the beginning of next month when Hunters play Wychelm. A win for Hunters will secure the title for them (putting them 3 points clear with Wychelm only able to get 2 in their final match). A win for Wychelm will secure the title for them (putting them 1 point above Hunters with a game still to play). The final match of the season is Emerson Eagles 2 v Wychelm which decides our fate – whether we finish bottom or finish third.
Massive thanks to Paula, Jess and Kiran for the match tonight!
