Vale Highlights
Yesterday we played Vale C in the league, and I was called up.
I'd thought I'd be partnering Dave but at the last minute they told me I was going to play with his dad Steve (who is better!) and whom I played with and won all 3 games the last time.
We got off to a shaky start but consolidated our position by clawing away at their 3rd pair, who were quite good. They had got to 17 before we finally pulled ahead, and closed the game at 21-18. The second set was disappointing however, our early confidence evaporated as we made a lot of unforced errors. I was playing with my fairly newly-strung Gosen + Gosen strings, but I actually played better than I expected, and I put this down to the new overgrip that I had fitted. Anyway we found ourselves in a deep quagmire and were 12-20 down staring at defeat. However, there is no better time to mount a rally and we nearly did. They played it safe by lifting the shuttle, and twice I smashed winners. We pulled back in no time and at 18-20 I made a crucial save by sliding forward and picking the shuttle from millimetres above the ground - and it went just over the net. 19-20! If I hadn't picked it up we'd have lost. Now we had every belief that we could wrap up the match there and then, but I let Steve down when I chose a drop cross-court from the deep right and it went too high over the net (not enough to the left) - easy picking for them. 19-21, third set.
This game we chased once again, but never looked like we could nick it in time. 16-21 we lost.
Their 2nd pair consisted of a rather odd-behaving slim man and a kid not over 13 years old, who was lively and very good in front of the net. We had difficulties containing them (probably psychologically underestimating them as well) and lost the first 12-21. We rallied again in the second, but again too little too late, and bowed out 19-21 despite a very flourishing finish. It's down to consistency and I didn't have that. They also picked out Steve more with their drops and his fitness was slowly going down.
For the final match against their top pair, a youngish couple of teenagers (possibly county/schoo representatives), we had a better game plan - keep the shuttle low, and the back player standing closer to the server to counter any flat, attacking returns. I also asked Steve to try and leave the further shots to me as I could still last the pace. We got a little overawed, and their drop shots were good. Steep and fast. We gave a good account of ourselves though, despite losing 16-21. In the second game we were pretty much down in the dumps - their attack was very good and forced all kinds of desperate defending from us. However, dogged defence and some good fortune meant that we still matched them almost point for point, and in the end (with us chasing them at 19-20) the shorter guy kept playing it down with pace, and I could only barely get the shuttle just back over the net. Luckily for us because of its pace he could only try to force it flat back to me, and with some luck (and reflexes) I managed to keep returning it, 3 more times, the final time being too quick for him to attack the shuttle. 20-20 - that was the turning point. We went a notch up in gear and cruised to 22-20, forcing a rubber. Everyone else had finished their games, and only us were still battling away, which I felt was a good sign - it probably meant that we were the pair giving them the most run for their money.
The third set was more error-prone, I smashed four consecutive times before killing the shuttle, and also missed two clear taps in front of the net. We once again found ourselves giving away cheap points, but this time we were woefully short and ended up losing 12-21.
Still, as Steve remarked, we seem to play well together, and I think that's partly because of his experience and willingness to retrieve shots - for someone his age he is indeed quite fit - and he said he couldn't fault my commitment (esp how I somewhat fortuitously managed to get to the shuttle at 18-20 in the second set).
We went for a drink later (I had VOG - Vale of Glamorgan) although I'd said that I'd only have one if we won a match!! In any case all of us lost -- it was a 9-0 whitewash by the visiting team.
I'd thought I'd be partnering Dave but at the last minute they told me I was going to play with his dad Steve (who is better!) and whom I played with and won all 3 games the last time.
We got off to a shaky start but consolidated our position by clawing away at their 3rd pair, who were quite good. They had got to 17 before we finally pulled ahead, and closed the game at 21-18. The second set was disappointing however, our early confidence evaporated as we made a lot of unforced errors. I was playing with my fairly newly-strung Gosen + Gosen strings, but I actually played better than I expected, and I put this down to the new overgrip that I had fitted. Anyway we found ourselves in a deep quagmire and were 12-20 down staring at defeat. However, there is no better time to mount a rally and we nearly did. They played it safe by lifting the shuttle, and twice I smashed winners. We pulled back in no time and at 18-20 I made a crucial save by sliding forward and picking the shuttle from millimetres above the ground - and it went just over the net. 19-20! If I hadn't picked it up we'd have lost. Now we had every belief that we could wrap up the match there and then, but I let Steve down when I chose a drop cross-court from the deep right and it went too high over the net (not enough to the left) - easy picking for them. 19-21, third set.
This game we chased once again, but never looked like we could nick it in time. 16-21 we lost.
Their 2nd pair consisted of a rather odd-behaving slim man and a kid not over 13 years old, who was lively and very good in front of the net. We had difficulties containing them (probably psychologically underestimating them as well) and lost the first 12-21. We rallied again in the second, but again too little too late, and bowed out 19-21 despite a very flourishing finish. It's down to consistency and I didn't have that. They also picked out Steve more with their drops and his fitness was slowly going down.
For the final match against their top pair, a youngish couple of teenagers (possibly county/schoo representatives), we had a better game plan - keep the shuttle low, and the back player standing closer to the server to counter any flat, attacking returns. I also asked Steve to try and leave the further shots to me as I could still last the pace. We got a little overawed, and their drop shots were good. Steep and fast. We gave a good account of ourselves though, despite losing 16-21. In the second game we were pretty much down in the dumps - their attack was very good and forced all kinds of desperate defending from us. However, dogged defence and some good fortune meant that we still matched them almost point for point, and in the end (with us chasing them at 19-20) the shorter guy kept playing it down with pace, and I could only barely get the shuttle just back over the net. Luckily for us because of its pace he could only try to force it flat back to me, and with some luck (and reflexes) I managed to keep returning it, 3 more times, the final time being too quick for him to attack the shuttle. 20-20 - that was the turning point. We went a notch up in gear and cruised to 22-20, forcing a rubber. Everyone else had finished their games, and only us were still battling away, which I felt was a good sign - it probably meant that we were the pair giving them the most run for their money.
The third set was more error-prone, I smashed four consecutive times before killing the shuttle, and also missed two clear taps in front of the net. We once again found ourselves giving away cheap points, but this time we were woefully short and ended up losing 12-21.
Still, as Steve remarked, we seem to play well together, and I think that's partly because of his experience and willingness to retrieve shots - for someone his age he is indeed quite fit - and he said he couldn't fault my commitment (esp how I somewhat fortuitously managed to get to the shuttle at 18-20 in the second set).
We went for a drink later (I had VOG - Vale of Glamorgan) although I'd said that I'd only have one if we won a match!! In any case all of us lost -- it was a 9-0 whitewash by the visiting team.
posted by cheez~ at
11:43 pm
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