March began with the Ladies welcoming TP Riley-Norton on Monday night. The first two rubbers were close – one needing a third game, and both games 21-19 in the other – but sadly both were losses. How different the night might have been if a handful of points had gone the other way! And despite their best efforts in the remaining games, their luck didn’t improve a great deal and so the match ended as a 5-1 loss.
Category Archives: badminton
Flurry of matches to end February
With February drawing to a close, there have been three matches in fairly quick succession. Tuesday 21st saw our Mens 1 away at TP Riley-Norton 2. With Matt out injured, Richard stepped in to fill the gap. As usual with matches against TPRN, there were plenty of close games – the usual two-hour match time eventually extending closer to two and three-quarters! However it ended up as a 7-2 win so the long night was well worth it.
Friday 24th brought TPRN to us for a Mixed match. With four of the first eight games needing a decider, the match over-ran and we had to concede the last match due to a lack of time. Unfortunately however there was nothing riding on it, with the result having already been decided, and so it ended as a 7-2 loss.
Then on Monday 27th the Mixed were in action again against Reedswood 2, our closest rivals in the division, but with three changes meaning each pair was different. Once again tight games were the order of the day and another four games went to a decider. Thankfully time was not an issue though and our increasing strength in depth shone through, with the final result a great 7-2 win which probably ensures our place in Division 1!
Newsflash
Trouble struck late on tonight during one of the last games of the evening – and no, Matt didn’t manage to break another racket! However with a Mens 1 match on Tuesday evening and Mixed matches coming up on Friday and next Monday, this wasn’t a great time for him to go over on his ankle.
Apparently someone had commented earlier that it’s always the last game of the night that is most dangerous for injuries. The fact he was playing singles with his Mixed partner Nerissa (and, rumour has it, was losing…) only makes it worse!
By the time the throng of good Samaritans had finally managed to work out how the ice pack worked(!), his ankle was already beginning to balloon. However after a short rest and a few slow, tentative steps on it, he felt he’d be alright to drive home. Alan had gamely offered to drive if anyone had any ‘L’ plates – just before Matt began to feel a bit better strangely…
So the well-worn injury rule of ‘plenty of rest’ is now in force. Try to take things easy and don’t push it. Hopefully it’s not too painful in the morning – no rushing to switch the alarm offfffffffffff…!
Still no joy for the Ladies
The Ladies took on Walsall Wood on Monday night – always a tough proposition. And although they continue to improve as a team, the opposition once again proved too strong. Despite some close games, as in so many of their matches, that little bit of luck that might have seen them take one or two games to three avoided them and they were left with a 6-0 loss. One of these days…
Mens 2 draw games played in 6-3 loss
Sadly our Mens 2 side were unable to get a full team out for the tricky Saturday evening fixture against Three Spires up in Lichfield, and so only two pairs travelled. Effectively starting three games down isn’t a great start, but they persevered and ended up sharing the other six games – something of a moral victory if not an actual result.
Missing racket cover
If anyone has left a black Yonex Armourtec racket cover at the club tonight, fear not, it has been picked up. I’ll bring it down to the club on Friday.
No match for Ladies on Valentine’s
Romance obviously isn’t dead – with a game against TP Riley-Norton set for Valentine’s night, unfortunately our Ladies team were unable to get a team together. With League rules preventing it from being re-arranged, sadly there was little choice but to concede the game.
Mens 2 have the edge in close shave
Last night the Mens 2 took on close rivals Cannock 2. At first it didn’t look promising, with some tight games but only one of the first four going our way. However the tide slowly began to turn as they gradually clawed their way back.
In the end their perseverance paid off, winning the last rubber to seal the comeback win with a 5-4 result.
Mens 2 match re-arranged
The Mens 2 match against TP Riley-Norton due for 7 February has been re-arranged for Tuesday 10 April.
Mixed team still finding no joy in Division 1
Tuesday evening saw the Mixed team travel to local rivals Tiki. Sadly although the clubs are so close geographically, on the night there was rather more distance between the teams. Up against a very strong team we struggled to compete, with only one rubber needing a decider.
On a better night we might have nicked two or three games, but there wasn’t much going our way tonight, resulting in our first 9-0 loss of the season.
Novus Badminton Club 