26/01/2018
Both clubs teams were in league action again this week. The B team (affectionately known as The 🐝 s) we’re at home to a stubborn and slightly revamped Abingdon D. It seems to be the story of the 🐝’s season, that very close and hard fought battles finish in a very unflattering score line. Sadly the same was true again on Wednesday losing 7-3. Notable achievements were Lawrence, the clubs youngest (and rapidly improving) member who won 2 out of 3 of his games, seeing him steadily move up the league rankings. Joseph had a tough night losing a 5 setter and a 4 setter, but still showing grit by winning one game.
The A’s were away to Marlborough D. I (Dan) kicked off proceedings and got us underway to a terrible start, losing the first set. At the turnaround Matt pulled me to one side and told me to “relax, and keep myself in the point for longer”, as with every piece of advice and coaching I have ever received from him, it was poignant and useful. I won the next 3 games comfortably. Joe went next. Joe has been playing a number league matches this season (playing in the oxford league too) and is becoming a formidable player. He strolled around the table, oozing confidence and took about 8 minutes to finish in straight sets. Picking up the baton, Matt did exactly the same. I struggled throughout the whole night, I found the ball travelled significantly differently than other venues, but others coped better than I, so maybe I was just making excuses. The strangest but arguably most entertaining singles game was Matt against Marlborough’s no. 1. In the first set Matt played sublimely, looping backhands and forehands for fun. This however brought out the very best in his defensive-oriented opponent and after several hugely entertaining rallies, Matt inexplicably found himself 0-1 after the first set. Whilst trying to figure out how it happened he managed to claw himself back into the match, but couldn’t ever get his nose in front, eventually losing in 5 sets. Otherwise, the results went our way despite a severe “wobble” in the doubles when Joe and I threw away a 2-0 lead- for a while we just couldn’t seem to hit the table. In the end we changed tactics -played the less pretty, but more effective, consistency game and breathed a sigh of relief as we comfortably took the 5th. We won 9-1, a convincing scoreline but my own performance was less so.
