With 4 games left, the title and promotion to the top division is Trinity's to lose! After students 2 seemed to be handing out walkovers to others in the league by no-showing, we were sceptical that our opponents would show up at all. Hope was fading as we were warming up still at 20:15 still with no sign of them... and finally they walked in. We agreed not to take free rubbers as everyone wanted to play a full match, but that we'd take any leftovers if time ran out at the end. A 5-4 win last time out, so we were expecting tough competition.
Dan & Tom had a fairly uneventful evening, beating their first and third pairs 21-13 21-15 and 21-11 21-17. An end dropped against the second pair, but never too worried, they took it 21-11 18-21 21-14.
Chris & Shaz rolled over their second and third pairs 21-13 21-18 and 21-13 21-13, but between those had a tough battle with the first pair, losing out 15-21 24-22 17-21.
Ian and Ben had a strong start against their thirds but lost focus a bit after the first end, losing it 21-13 15-21 14-21. They almost made the same mistake again but held their nerve in the second end against the second pair to take it 21-10 27-25, and then took the first pair apart in great fashion to win 21-14 21-14.
So, a 7-2 win to Trinity, and with 3 games remaining two more wins are needed to secure the title (or only one win with a good amount of rubbers!). But, with Shaz needing to take paternal leave from LM1, another mix up on the team lineup will be required for the remaining matches...
LM1 Captain Dan
LM1 kicked off the second half of the season against the only team we lost to the first time around, in potentially a title-deciding clash. A mix-up of pairs was forced by Ian's absence in a friendly the week prior that led to good results, so we stuck with the pair arrangement for the match. A great turn out from Trinity as Daz, Neil, Phil, Khalid & Alex all showed up to support.
Dan & Tom played together for the first time, starting strong by beating their first and second pairs 16-21 21-18 21-10 and 21-16 21-16. Against the third pair they fell behind in the first end 4-12, before coming back to take it 22-20 19-21 21-14.
Ian & Ben were also paired up for the first time. They showed promise at times but lacked a bit of consistency, ultimately losing to the third, second then first pairs 21-18 12-21 19-21, 19-21 14-21 and 19-21 12-21.
Chris & Shaz have played together in matches before for Trinity, but not for LM1 this season. They started strong, beating the second pair 21-17 23-25 21-16, doing well to recollect themselves after the narrow loss in the second end. They then had a back-and-forth battle with the first pair, ultimately losing 21-10 11-21 17-21.
At this point all games were done except for Shaz & Chris vs the third pair, the score was 4-4, and all other players and spectators from both sides could only watch on, on tenterhooks. It was clear that their team knew the importance of the game on court.
Chris & Shaz rose to the challenge, took the game by the neck and started to really dominate. Shaz was smooth and in control of the game, and the opponents couldn't handle Chris' aggression and power when he unleashed it. 21-16 21-7 the final score, by far the biggest win of the night.
So a 5-4 win to Trinity, putting us in a very advantageous position regarding promotion, with 4 matches left, including two Loughborough students' teams...
LM1 Captain Dan
Quick check of the opposition, and it was noted that Croakers had strengthened with 2 new players from the last meeting
1st pairing of Ben and Phil, a tricky opening game against the 1sts, taking the win 23-21. 2nd game was more comfortable wining to 17. 👌
Next up 2nds. B/P found this pairing a lot easier, beating them with ease in 2 (10 & 11)🔥
Final game against the 3rds… B/P decided to drag this game out for some reason. 1st end was won to 15, but the 2nd end went all the way to 23-25! (Against the 3rds… 😅 👀)
2nd pairing of Alex & Daan, demolished the 2nds in quick fire fashion (15/8) 😈💥
A/D took a tricky opening game 21-19 against the 3rds, but made the win in 2 with a comfortable final game to 13. 👌
Last up for A/D, was a closely fought game against the 1sts. It could have gone either way in each game, but our boys carried through the momentum taking both to 19! 😅🤩
3rd Pairing of Darren & Neil
1st up, the tricky 3rd pair. D/N made mincemeat out of them, wining both games comfortably (14/13) 🔥
Next up, the 1sts. As you may well be aware, D/N like to get their monies worth re court time. They decided to take this pair to 3. They let the 1st pair win the first game to 17. After a run around the court, and a stretch of the knee for Neil, he was fighting fit and raring to go 💥
After around 30min of endless long rally’s, the score was tied at 25-25.. finally, we won the battle taking it 27-25 😩😅🔥
In the 3rd end, basically we had totally wore this pairing out. We won the 3rd end to 8. (The only pair to take the 1sts to single figures) 👀🔥😈
Last up, D/N took on the 2nds. This was a comfortable match up, winning in 2 👀(15-21,15-22)
Over all, 9-0 to LM2.
6 wins out of 6… and 9 much needed rubbers. Well done all 😎
LM2 Captain Darren
