Leicester Mixed had their first match of the year, and 3rd of the seaon last night, away to Croakers. Unfrtunately it was a far removed game from the one that captain Ben was hoping for... With Becs and Andrea both unable to play, first reserve, Ruth, also unable to attend, and Croakers having no options to re-arrange, we had one lady and a whole lot of space to fill...
Fortunately, Steve was able to get one of the ladies he knew from Earnsford, Sue, to come and make up a second pair, but despite other offers, we were unable to recruit a third lady, so short by one player, thus one pair, we travelled away starting 0-3 down... A good match to win!
Ben and Tracey started slowly against their first pair, taking the first game all the way to a 20-22 loss. The second game brought in more tactics, both pairs trying to control the front of the court, a after slow start going 1-9 down our pair rallied back to 16-19, and stuck to their strategy in the crucial last point to take it 23-21. The last game was less pressured, as the weakness in the opposing pair became easier and easier to exploit, final result of 21-18, and the first rubber on the scoresheet.
Steve and Sue's first rubber was less about the pairs, and more about Sue gradually losing the stiffness from being knocked off her bike that morning (talk a about dedication...). A 16-21 first end showed the pair were in tough and just needed to find a way through, but Croaker's 2nd pair were able to keep the pressure up in the 2nd game and take the rubber with a 14-21 win. 1-4 down, so all hopes of victory relied on a clean sweep for the rest of the match.
Sue and Steve started their 2nd rubber aginst the 3rd pair (whilst the two 1st pairs were in their 3rd game), Sue was moving again and quite determined not to lose another... 30 points later walked off with a 21-9 win. Movement and motivation are apparently very beneficial! a lapse in intensity for the second game, or maybe just reserving some energy for their final rubber, the pair eased to a 21-16 win and brought the score one closer, 2-4 down overall.
Ben and Tracey's rubber against the Croakers 2nd pair was an altogether different entity to their first one... the pair having a completely different style of play, and our side starting with 6 unforced errors, gave themselves a bit of a mountain to climb. Climb they did, and the score again ran past the 20 point mark, this time to be lost 21-23. The second game was a miscalculation in where to play the shuttle, and losing a few too many points trying to play the lady at the front rather than put more pressure on the man with better positional play, and a 16-21 loss unfortunately sealed the match at 2-5...
With only pride to play for, both pairs took the field for their last rubber. Steve and Sue against the Croakers first pair, Ben and Tracey against the 3rds. Fired up by the loss in the last rubber, Ben and Tracey took a more aggressive plan, and penalised anything that was loose from their oppoenent, quickly taking, and then maintaining a lead. The pair just played better badinton than they had previously, and brought home another rubber possibly more comfortably than the scorelines suggested at, 21-18, 21-16.
Sue and Steve found the 1st pair similarly weak to a tactical game, and in Steve's words "We lifted everything ... I just played singles against him." The rubber did go to 3, so whilst Steve might need to work on his singles game a little more, 21-19, 23-21, and a final 10-21 obviously showed the pair knew what they were doing in the long game.
Overall a 4-5 away loss, but considering the difficulties to get a team together, it was a good performance, and quite possibly could have been a victory if we had played their pairs in a different order. The next fixture is home against Oadby, so a little bit of a grudge match, and hopefully the team can return to winning ways.