Katie Scott reveals the home game action from the latest ladies fixture
With only four pairs in the ladies Division One roster, games have been few and far between so far this season. However, the arrival of February also saw Wychelm gear up to host their home game, back on the official home turf at Frances Bardsley School in Romford. With Kay on the mend from her tennis elbow injury, it was your usual pairing representing the club in this round, against teams from Corinthians and Harold Hill.
Results:
- Against Corinthians A: 21-13 / 21-9
- Against Corinthians B: 21-17 / 21-19
- Against Harold Hill: 17-21 / 16-21
I have to say, I couldn’t be happier with how we played and the scores we received on the evening. Finally chalking up our first full wins of the season in a straight two games apiece, we managed to defeat the two pairings from Corinthians, although we did hit a stumbling block when confronted with Jane and Donna from Harold Hill.
All of the games we played over the course of the evening were brilliant fun and extremely close. Kay and I have really been trying to develop our teamwork and I think this really showed – it made our movements more concise and thought out. My regular yelps and screams echoed embarrassingly around the hall in a rather dictatorial fashion, however it did help us navigate the court and allocate out the shots, proving that clear instructions are the way forward. I think our play in itself was also particularly good, as we stepped it up a notch for the fast drives but we also played to our strengths. I incorporated some drops and net play to help wrong foot our opponents, while Kay’s clears and smashes worked a treat. We also tried to ensure our placement was spot on – when playing teams as good as this lot, you really can’t afford to put a foot wrong or you might as well wave goodbye to the win, which we have done in our other fixtures unfortunately. I would say our teamwork stood out, our durability and our pure stubbornness not to give up on each and every point saw us through too. In particular, I would say our returns were strong, catching the other players off guard with a swift smash along the tramlines, or a drop shot cross court. Being able to finally tally up some wins is a fantastic feeling, and I’m super proud of Kay – considering she hasn’t been down to club night for the past few weeks due to her elbow, you wouldn’t even suspect she’d been out of action.
Corinthians have a very similar style of play to us, in both the ladies and the mixed, and I would say they have always been our closest opponents. It makes them all the more tricky to play as you know it could go either way at any point. It would have been nice if Corinthians A hadn’t so blatantly given up near the end of the second game – after all, the number of points you gain all helps towards your total – however all the games were so close, each rally was an exciting volley of fast paced action that saw us throw ourselves left, right and centre in a bid to retrieve the shuttle. I’m definitely glad of all the lunges I do in the gym now!
It was also a pleasure having all the ladies there for a catch up – I think within the league, we all get on really well and it’s always so nice to hear how the other clubs are getting on, what other players are up too. It’s great to be able to create this community feel which in my opinion enhances the league games immeasurably.
Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed that we can bring some of our home game magic to the final fixture at Corinthians!
