Cutting it fine, we play the very last match of the season on the final day of league games

By Katie Garner

Despite the season and score lines being pretty much wrapped up across all of the divisions, we still had one more match to cross off our fixture list – a rearranged mixed match against superbly speedy smashers Ramgarhia. Granted we were cutting it close to deadline day, playing on the last day of April and the last legal day to play league matches, but nevertheless, we slotted in it nicely, and the troops from Ramgarhia promptly turned up at our home grounds of Royal Liberty School.

Results:

Jess and Gary:

  • 9-21 / 13-21
  • 5-21 / 13-21
  • 12-21 / 20-21

Katie and Stuart E:

  • 8-21 / 9-21
  • 8-21 / 11-21
  • 8-21 / 11-21

Helen and Mike F:

  • 11-21 / 17-21
  • 13-21 / 8-21
  • 8-21 / 9-21

Tonight was pretty much a repeat performance of when we headed out to their place last winter, with similar score lines emerging and an unfortunate downwards spiral from us. With Het awaiting the results from a scan on his leg, and a potential date for surgery, he is still out of action, so we once again had Gary step in to play with Jess. Also fresh from the men’s squad, we had Stuart E replacing Stuart B, who is still injured with his Achilles heel and unable to move easily. In one respect, I’m glad the matches are finally over, as it gives our wounded team some time to heal properly and put itself back together again!

I don’t think there was a specific problem that we encountered against Ramgarhia, we were just outclassed by their superior performance. As a team, they are a well-oiled machine, the men in particular very thorough with their movements at the back of the court, truly excelling at their cross court smashes and drives that really hit our difficult mid court patch. I think that it is this area that really catches us out as it is a zone of uncertainty between the front and back player, which potentially puts you out of position awkwardly, which no one really wants. They really knew how to deliver the shots here which made it super hard for us. They also didn’t give any opportunities away, so there were no easy points to cash in on, while we seemed to hit rather a lot out of court. I believe this may be due to the fact that we haven’t played with feathers in a little while, but at the end of the day that is no excuse for poor play, although it can be a factor.

Ramgarhia have fantastic court coverage which enhances their wide ranging shots and all of this combined makes for a very difficult opponent, which you can see reflected in our scores. It seems that all of us did roughly the same, hitting in general between 8 and 13, although Jess and Gary came particularly close in one of their games getting a tantalising 20. Big thanks to Gary’s regular support squad of wife Kerry, who delighted us by bringing Roses as a consolation prize.

Since we haven’t won any of our fixtures in Division One, we will be moving down to Division Two again, although this won’t be official until the league finalises the divisions across the board at the end of the summer. We’ve had an interesting time in Division One if nothing else, and we just have to hope that our old sparkle and cheeky confidence can rally back for next season.