Grange 5 vs David Lloyd 2(Thurs,Mar 3,'11)

This week’s match was against table topping David Lloyd. We had pushed them hard at their place, so were looking to make the most of home advantage as we search for the points we desperately need to go up. This week’s crew were myself, Colin Williamson, Brian Sloan and Matt Pearson. Oh, and Robin Pollok, who is already man of the match for making the latest call-up ever recorded.
First up were Matt and Brian. For Matt, the match hung on the outcome of a tentative first game. After going 4-1 down, some aggressive play (effective coaching Mr Hall!) saw Matt take an 8-4 lead. But despite serving for the game 3 times, he was pegged back to 8-8 and called set 2. At this point Matt’s composure returned and he won back serve before closing out 10-8. This game under his belt, Matt went into overdrive and in a controlled performance, took the next two games 9-4, 9-2 for a 3-0 victory.
Meanwhile on the other court, Brian was finding his speedy opponent quite a handful. The first game started tightly before Brian got his nose in front 6-3. But some lightning speed about court saw his opponent rescue some points he had no right to win, and the game fell away 6-9. The next two games were much the same as Brian struggled to cope with the perpetual chasing down of all shots, and the game was lost 7-9, 4-9. 1-1.
As our late call up Robin got out his skipping ropes to warm up, Colin and I took to court. Two humdinger games split 1-1. Colin started slowly, losing the first game 4-9, before coming back like a train for a 9-1, 9-3 run to take a 2-1 lead. But in true Barbarian style, he couldn’t finish his opponent off and lost the fourth from 6-3 up 6-9. Into the fifth and Colin motored ahead from 3-3 to take the fifth tie 9-4.
On my court, a scrappy game had us both apologising for frame shots and mishits. The first was lost 4-9 but was followed by a rally in form as I took the next two games 9-3, 9-3. At 1-6 down in the fourth, a fifth game looked certain until a great run took me to 8-6 and serving for the match. That was lost to another frame shot and nick combination and at 8-8 I called set 2 and promptly lost 8-10. By now, talent was beginning to show through and the fifth was lost tamely 1-9. So another 2-2.
Last up was our late call up Robin, playing for the match against the team top of the table. No pressure then. His speedy opponent quickly went 0-5 up and despite a mini-rally at 8-2 down, Robin lost the first 5-9. The second game was very tight and after what seemed like an age, Robin was 3-1 up. But superior speed and fitness was beginning to tell and a run of 8 straight points saw the second lost 3-9.
So just eight points tonight, and we’re beginning to fall off the pace in division 5. Three games left and a heroic effort required from all. (Report: Mike Douglas)