A wet and
windy day brought Somerset to Polkyth Leisure Centre to take on Cornwall’s top
badminton players, who were seeking to bounce back following a chastening
defeat to Dorset a couple of weeks ago.
This time
the Cornish singles players were in no mood to compromise and raced to a 4-0
match lead, with both Shane Maton and James Whetter winning easily, closely
followed by the ladies, Rose Willis and Jo Philp who also won in straight sets,
getting the team off to a fine start.
The men
powered on in the doubles, James and Guy Michell particularly dynamic and
overwhelming the Somerset opposition in both games, although Shane and Ross
Lashbrook were disappointed to lose one of theirs to a pair of young players.
Somerset
fought back in the ladies, taking all 4 games , despite both of our pairs going
close with 3 ends against an experienced duo. Emily James and Vicki Thomas
displayed great fighting spirit to narrowly win the second end after a heavy
defeat in the first, but finally just lost out.
With the
score at 7-5, the match was finally balanced going into the final 3 games of
mixed – would Somerset win all 3 and gain an unlikely victory, or would the
home team edge the one game they needed to clinch the match?
Any doubt
quickly disappeared as number 1’s James and Jo continued their impressive form
and won comfortably in 2 sets, showing great skill and reaction speed to
outclass their opponents.
Shane and
Vicki, followed suit, also winning well in two ends against a father and
daughter pair who had also looked a potential threat.
The final
game, saw Ross and Rose needing to win to give the team maximum points, and
this turned into a nail-biting 3 ends with the Cornish pair losing the first
end heavily. Thankfully they stormed back to take the next two, Ross’s power
and Rose’s steady hand seeing the home side triumph, to win the match 10-5
overall.
The team’s
next home match is on January 12th when Wiltshire come to take on
the 1st team – all spectators welcome.
Team –
Shane Maton,
James Whetter, Guy Michell, Ross Lashbrook, Rose Willis, Jo Philp, Emily James,
Vicki Thomas
