Fairway Sports Complex, Sandown, Sunday 14th December
2014
In their final match before a
Christmas break, Cornwall 2nds made the long trip to take on the Isle of Wight
2nds in Sandown. Despite a rather early start – the worst being an eye-watering
4am for the Penwith contingent – the journey passed without incident and the
team arrived on the Isle of Wight keen to build on their solid start to the
season so far. Having taken two points in all of their fixtures so far, the
team were looking to go one better and take all three points against a team yet
to score a point this season. A few changes were made to the team which took on
Wiltshire two weeks previously – Chris Cooper made a return to the senior teams
for the first time this season and recent CYB graduate Noah Semonin was making
his senior team debut. Lynda Beer also re-joined the team following her recovery
from an injury picked up in the recent match against Dorset.
As usual, proceedings commenced
with the Singles. In the Ladies’ Singles, Cornwall were represented by singles
regular Hester Luke and Vicki Thomas, playing her first singles match this
season. Despite Vicki’s protests that she is not much of a singles player, both
she and Hester made short work of their opponents, both of the Cornish ladies
moving their opponents around the court well and pushing the back corners to
good effect. Hester defeated her opponent, Linda Radcliffe, 21-13, 21-14, with
Vicki beating Emily Boynton 21-13, 21-9 to give Cornwall a great start to the
fixture. The Men’s singles was not quite such plain sailing – having been in
excellent form in recent weeks, Sam Spencer took the first singles slot for
Cornwall. Unfortunately for Sam (and for the team), he sustained an injury
during only the third point of the first end. Unable to reach anything like his
full capabilities, Sam could not better his opponent, Matthew Honnor, and went
down 21-11, 21-14. Noah on the other hand, was taking on the younger Honnor
brother, Jacob, and grew in to the match, becoming very consistent in the final
end to seal a 21-16, 18-21, 21-10 win – an excellent performance in his first
match in a senior county team.
Next up was the Level Doubles,
with Cornwall looking to build on their 3-1 lead after the Singles. The Duchy
were represented in the Ladies Doubles by the pairings of Hester and Vicki and
Lynda and Jan Santillo. On the Men’s side were the relatively untested pairings
of Sam and Rich Townsend and Chris and Noah.
Proceedings in the Ladies’
Doubles were immediately given a positive start, with Cornwall claiming both of
the first round rubbers. Hester and Vicki took on Caroline Pearson and Charlotte
Gray and despite a shaky first end, upped their game considerably to ease to a
19-21, 21-11, 21-3 win. Jan and Lynda did not even require a first end to
become accustomed to the hall in their match against Radcliffe and Rosanna
Riddett, powering through in two ends to a 7-21, 12-21 win.
In the first round of Men’s
Doubles, things were not so straightforward. Rich and Sam took on IoW first
pairing of M. Honnor and George Utteridge. Due to his injury, Sam was unable to
hit with any power and was very limited in the movement of his shoulder, making
life difficult for the Cornish pairing. Despite having numerous game points in
both ends, they went down 23-25, 23-25 to the tenacious IoW pairing. Chris and
Noah also encountered problems in adapting to an unfamiliar hall and each
other’s playing style and were unable to string together enough points to
overcome the young pairing of J. Honnor and Daniel Parsloe, losing 17-21,
13-21.
The second round of Level Doubles
saw improved results for the Cornish team. Continuing their dominance from the
first round of matches, the ladies again took both rubbers. Having adjusted to
the speed of the shuttles and the hall itself, Hester and Vicki did not allow
Radcliffe and Riddett into the game and ran out 21-17, 21-9 winners. Jan and
Lynda performed similarly well, not allowing the IoW pairing of Pearson and
Gray to settle and were never troubled in a 21-13, 21-7 win.
Having been stung into action by
losing both rubbers in the first round of matches, the Men’s Doubles pairings
both produced improved performances in the second round. Chris and Noah, taking
on the first pairing (Honnor/Utteridge), came out of the blocks quickly,
gaining a good lead in the first end. This seemed to demoralise the IoW pair
and, in combination with the Cornish pair’s greater consistency, smoothed the road
to an excellent 21-15, 21-14 win. Rich and the injured Sam also produced a
better performance in their second game against Honnor/Parsloe, having found a
better way of adapting to Sam’s difficulty in playing any shots involving
significant movement of the shoulder. In a close match which ebbed and flowed,
particularly in the final end, Rich and Sam held their nerve and ran out 15-21,
21-15, 23-21 winners to claim the last of the rubbers in the final round of
Level Doubles.
With the match score at 9-3 going
in to the Mixed Doubles, Cornwall needed one more rubber to finally claim the
third league point for winning 10 or more rubbers in a match. Representing the
team were Lynda and Rich (taking on M. Honnor/Gray), Vicki and Noah (taking on
J. Honnor/Pearson) and Jan and Chris (taking on Utteridge/Boynton). Any fears
of being unable to take the final rubber were quickly allayed with the scratch
pairing of Jan and Chris gelling well against the IoW pairing. Jan’s
characteristic consistency and Chris’s good reach and movement proved too much
for their opposition and they ran out comfortable winners, 21-12, 21-13 to
secure the 10th rubber for the team. The first pairing match-up was,
if anything, even more straightforward. Callington BC club mates Lynda and Rich
played well from the off and, with Lynda’s coverage of any weak net returns
allied to Rich’s anticipation and reach, the Cornish pair cruised to a 21-7,
21-9 success. The remaining mixed match-up was a far more close-fought affair,
providing a good contest on which to finish the match. Noah and Vicki again
represented a scratch pairing for the visitors, but this did not deter them
with Vicki’s steady head proving an effective foil to Noah’s youthful speed and
exuberance. Their opposition were very much a pair in the same vein, which made
for an interesting game. With the lead alternating between both pairs,
particularly in the final end, some compelling badminton was enjoyed by the
spectators – thankfully for the Cornish team Vicki and Noah held their nerve to
win 21-18, 18-21, 21-19 and take the third and final mixed rubber.
The match having finished, the
score stood at 12-3 to Cornwall – an excellent result given the arduous journey
and the injury sustained by Sam at the very start of the match. With four out
of eight matches now complete, Cornwall are yet to be defeated and will look to
continue their good form in the new year as they push towards the top of Division
6 South West.
Congratulations go to Chris and
Noah for putting in excellent performances in their first appearances of the
season and helping the team to claim three crucial league points. Thanks also
go to Sue Cooper and Vicki for driving the team mini-bus all the way to Sandown
and back, as well as to the Isle of Wight team for a match played in the right
spirit and for providing some excellent post-match food!
The second team’s next match will
see them take on Dorset 3rds at Polkyth Leisure Centre on 18th
January 2015.
Team:
Ladies – Lynda Beer, Hester Luke,
Jan Santillo, Vicki Thomas.
Men – Chris Cooper, Noah Semonin,
Sam Spencer, Rich Townsend.
