The 2nd game of the season in as many weeks, and Darren spoke to the LM1 Captain about team selection. None of the advice from such was taken on board, i decided to roll the dice and mix up the pairings.
1st pair - Ben & Phil
Ben and Phil took on the 1st pair, and it was clear the opposition were a strong pair from the off.
Considering this is the first time they have played together in a match, they did pretty well narrowly losing to 17 in both games.
Ben and Phil had better success against the 2nd pair. They won the first game to 15, then went all the way to 24-22 to take the rubber. Luckily at this stage, there were still some feathers for the rest of the team to use, as Ben was showcasing the opposition his reverse slice skills to perfection 🪶 🤣
3rd pairing was again won in 2, with games going to 15 & 9
2nd Pair - Alex & Daan
These boys have played together previously with relative success, and for which was shown throughout this match.
They secured a good win against the 3rd pair, winning in 3 ends. (21-15, 16-21, 21-15)
Next up, the 2nd pairing. This was a closer battle, with arguably the 2nd best player playing in the 2nd team. Even so, they were no match for our boys with the pair winning in 3 ends again. (18-21, 21-17, 21-13)
Finally the strong 1st pair.
The first game was lost to 14, but the boys turned it up in the second , narrowly missing out to 19. It was noted that Alex had finally found his smash with a good few points won from such 👀👌
3rd pair - Darren & Neil
After a few phone calls, I was honoured to secure the services of a true Trinity veteran, the back back bone of the club. But after a few hours, I was reconsidering my choices as the chairman advised he needed a “power nap” before the game as he was tired 🥱🙈 - I decided to roll the dice and stick with the chairman 🎲
First up it was the 3rd pair. After a slow start, we rolled over them in 3. (21-15, 16-21, 21-15)
Next up the second pair. This was a wake up call after initially losing the first game to 12. After some good advise from Alex, we changed our game plan and took the 2nd game to 16. Neil and Darren started playing some of the best consistent badminton they have played in a long time, taking the final game to an impressive 5. It was noted at this stage that there were no service faults in the 6 games played so far 🤓(12-21, 21-16, 21-5)
The finally, it’s Darren & Neil against the 1st pair (with everyone watching except Ben as he decided to destroy more shuttles and make more mess on the courts by taking on one of the opposition at singles)
Darren and Neil decided to go all out and give it a go, and boy they did. With brilliant returns that even some of the best wouldn’t expect, some superb shot selection, vocal enthusiasm , cross court smashes against the “weaker” player… we won the first game!! (21-19)
At this point, Neil had played 7 games potentially with another 2 to go 👀👴🏼
We lost the 2nd game due to tiredness and lack of focus. So again, we’re going the distance 😅
Unfortunately with the score line 4-2 in the 3rd, Neil had issues with his ankle and with the match already secured, it really didn’t matter and we conceded the 3rd end.
Brilliant effort by all, against a team you simply couldn’t step off the gas. Proud of you all 🥰
LM2 Captain Darren
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