Match 7 - Woodford Wells Away
Thanks again to our Captain Fantastic for doing the write up...
The lead up to this match saw the withdrawal of Clements' No.2 Paul because of an Accountancy exam, and newly promoted No.3 Colin because his darling wife has to go to Aerobics on a Wednesday evening, leaving Colin to look after his other 2 little darlings (while watching Champions League no doubt) ! Substitutes were found in the shape of Daryl Amos and Dan Summers with the latter also not sure about playing up to the last minute because of a heavy cold.
So on arriving promptly at Woodford Wells after speedy journeys round the M25, it was encouraging to see their Captain on his mobile ringing round to finalise his team after one of his team had pulled out at the last moment, unable to get out of London because of problems on the Central Line.
The match got under way with the No.1s (Lee and Chris) renewing their recent rivalry which has seen close matches go either way. This encounter was to be no different with both players cracking hard drives, interspersed with boasts and lobs providing finesse. The first game went narrowly to Clements' Chris 10-8, with Lee nicking the second by the same score. The third proved critical with Chris just upping his desire to chase the game at the right moment, and continued in the same vein to close out a good quality match 3-1.
Meanwhile the No.4s had started and finished a rather one-sided affair which saw Clements' Daryll outplayed by the experienced Mark. The Clements sub struggled with the solid hitting of Mark, and could not force himself infront of his opponent to execute enough of his trademark drops. 3-0 to Woodford Wells
The match which followed this one also proved rather one-sided in favour of the home team. It saw Clements' Marcus being pitched in at No.2, having been moved up the order from 5, against the seasoned and awkward regular No.2 from Woodford Wells, Dave. Marcus did not do himself justice and showed little of the recent form that has seen him record good wins in earlier matches. His opponent was always too strong, and Marcus could not get any rhythm going, playing too loosely. Maybe his mind was distracted with his wife Maria in the bar waiting to take him home. Again 3-0 to Woodford Wells.
Clements then pitched Dan Summers into his debut for the team at No.5 against Dave who was the late substitute for Woodford. Dave proved a useful stop-gap player, normally playing in the 4th team, and with Dan shaking off the effects of his illness, the first game swung in favour of each player at different moments. Dan played his customary free-flowing style, with some stylish winners interspersed with mistakes. The close first game went the way of the Clements player 9/7 though. This seemed to give Dan a boost, and deflated Dave; the second game was won comfortably 9-0 by Dan, and although the third game was again tight, Dan secured a 3-0 win to bring the overall match score to 2 rubbers each.
There was a slight delay in proceedings while we waited for the Woodford No.3 Nick to arrive - also caught up in commuter problems getting out of London. He was up against the Clements skipper Dave in the deciding match. Dave finally seemed to have shaken off his recent poor form, and started to dominate the game with a cool, composed approach which yielded very few mistakes. This frustrated Nick, and although there were some keenly contested rallies during the match, it was always the Clements player that kept the upper hand, winning 3-0.
A strange match therefore went 3-2 to Clements. The effect of both teams having to bring in substitute players lead to 4 out of the 5 matches being won/lost 3-0, with only the No.1s producing an evenly fought encounter.
Despite winning without Paul and Colin in the team, it will probably be necessary to re-instate them for the next matches to reverse the results against the stronger teams to come.
Results:
Chris v Lee 3-1
Marcus v Dave 0-3
Dave v Nick 3-0
Daryll v Mark 0-3
Dan v Dave 3-0
Clements beat Woodford Wells 14-7
The lead up to this match saw the withdrawal of Clements' No.2 Paul because of an Accountancy exam, and newly promoted No.3 Colin because his darling wife has to go to Aerobics on a Wednesday evening, leaving Colin to look after his other 2 little darlings (while watching Champions League no doubt) ! Substitutes were found in the shape of Daryl Amos and Dan Summers with the latter also not sure about playing up to the last minute because of a heavy cold.
So on arriving promptly at Woodford Wells after speedy journeys round the M25, it was encouraging to see their Captain on his mobile ringing round to finalise his team after one of his team had pulled out at the last moment, unable to get out of London because of problems on the Central Line.
The match got under way with the No.1s (Lee and Chris) renewing their recent rivalry which has seen close matches go either way. This encounter was to be no different with both players cracking hard drives, interspersed with boasts and lobs providing finesse. The first game went narrowly to Clements' Chris 10-8, with Lee nicking the second by the same score. The third proved critical with Chris just upping his desire to chase the game at the right moment, and continued in the same vein to close out a good quality match 3-1.
Meanwhile the No.4s had started and finished a rather one-sided affair which saw Clements' Daryll outplayed by the experienced Mark. The Clements sub struggled with the solid hitting of Mark, and could not force himself infront of his opponent to execute enough of his trademark drops. 3-0 to Woodford Wells
The match which followed this one also proved rather one-sided in favour of the home team. It saw Clements' Marcus being pitched in at No.2, having been moved up the order from 5, against the seasoned and awkward regular No.2 from Woodford Wells, Dave. Marcus did not do himself justice and showed little of the recent form that has seen him record good wins in earlier matches. His opponent was always too strong, and Marcus could not get any rhythm going, playing too loosely. Maybe his mind was distracted with his wife Maria in the bar waiting to take him home. Again 3-0 to Woodford Wells.
Clements then pitched Dan Summers into his debut for the team at No.5 against Dave who was the late substitute for Woodford. Dave proved a useful stop-gap player, normally playing in the 4th team, and with Dan shaking off the effects of his illness, the first game swung in favour of each player at different moments. Dan played his customary free-flowing style, with some stylish winners interspersed with mistakes. The close first game went the way of the Clements player 9/7 though. This seemed to give Dan a boost, and deflated Dave; the second game was won comfortably 9-0 by Dan, and although the third game was again tight, Dan secured a 3-0 win to bring the overall match score to 2 rubbers each.
There was a slight delay in proceedings while we waited for the Woodford No.3 Nick to arrive - also caught up in commuter problems getting out of London. He was up against the Clements skipper Dave in the deciding match. Dave finally seemed to have shaken off his recent poor form, and started to dominate the game with a cool, composed approach which yielded very few mistakes. This frustrated Nick, and although there were some keenly contested rallies during the match, it was always the Clements player that kept the upper hand, winning 3-0.
A strange match therefore went 3-2 to Clements. The effect of both teams having to bring in substitute players lead to 4 out of the 5 matches being won/lost 3-0, with only the No.1s producing an evenly fought encounter.
Despite winning without Paul and Colin in the team, it will probably be necessary to re-instate them for the next matches to reverse the results against the stronger teams to come.
Results:
Chris v Lee 3-1
Marcus v Dave 0-3
Dave v Nick 3-0
Daryll v Mark 0-3
Dan v Dave 3-0
Clements beat Woodford Wells 14-7
posted by Hodgey at 11:05 AM
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