Match Report 20th March 2019
LM2 vs Croakers II (H)
So this was literally the deciding match. We went into it with 7 wins from 8, Croakers came into in with 8 wins from 9, but both being on 56 rubbers meant that whoever won this game would win the title. They’d brought a few new players in, so we were unsure of the standard that they’d be playing at. Me and Daan had gone into the first game as the 2nd pair (with some nerves it had to be said), which turned out to be a close one. We unfortunately lost the first 21-19, and the second 22-20 (after being 20-19 up). Not a great start for us, but in the meantime Alex and Kwai were smashing their first pair. I hear Alex’s smash unofficially broke a speed record for the Leicestershire Men’s division 5. They got the win in two games. I’d granted Sam’s wish of putting him and Anand as 3rd pair, as he stated this took the pressure off of them as they were able to start out more comfortably, working their way up to the harder opponents... this definitely worked, as they also got the win in their first. The night then followed a pretty similar winning pattern, as we took the rest of the matches in two games, and had only dropped another rubber in the last match due to Sam having an injury. A 7-2 win overall, giving us the trophy for the season, with a game in hand. Special thanks go to Daan, who did a great job subbing into the team two days before the match and handling the pressure like a boss. And another special thanks to Croakers for being such humble opponents, that they were happy to stay around after and play some friendlies with us! Here’s to the last game of the season, where we’ll hopefully go out in style, and to next season, where I’m sure they’ll be some glorious battles against our new 4th division opponents!
Well done to Sam W, Anand, Kwai, Alex, Daan, Sam C, Kirinam, Steve and Rich, you were all brilliant this season 👏👏👏😁 (I think that’s everyone who played this season 😬)
LM2 Captain Nathan