First up, what is your worst song choice for the bride and groom dance?
U2 ‘I still haven’t found what I’m looking for’? Discuss…

Due to popular demand (you know who you are) I am back and hopefully back for good :)

I have taken my good old, sleek, engraved, Parker pen (with a superb blend of style and functionality) from my top draw to conjure up ideas for my forthcoming article and for those asking out there, it is blue. Now having realised we are in the 21st century, I don’t need this wonderful slick, but very stylish, pen anymore, so I shall endeavour to move on and join what the folk of today (I am only 25) call the internet.

Anyway, it is safe to say that it has been a pretty,  pretty,  pretty (just for the Larry David fans) interesting season thus far. With a host of injuries plaguing the Vale Badminton Massive, female members dropping like flies thanks to Glyn’s Sex Panther Aftershave (For the non Ron Burgundy fans, it’s aftershave made with bits of real panther) and dare I say it? (Dun Dun DUNNNN!!!!…drum roll), the men’s firsts unfortunately fell at the last hurdle to retain the prestigious division one title. Bring it on next year Penarth ;)

However, what we were lacking in the men’s department (sorry, couldn’t resist) we certainly made up for it in other areas. That being the (POTENTIAL) win of the Cardiff and District Badminton Mixed Division One League. Of course this would not have been possible without a little help from our friends: GIRL POWER!!! (Yes, It does exist).

The mixed league is so competitive these days, with so many amazingly good teams who are all worthy winners for Vale to come away having played ten games and lost only one, is quite an achievement. The season consisted of menacing rallies, legendary killing moments and lots of experience versus youth; a recipe for success as some would say. It had everything a league could ever want, except the kitchen sink of course: you give one task to Chris and he produces a no show, poor effort ;)

All jokes aside, the games were played with a competitive edge (but in a spirited manner) and whether a win or lose, each game had its own twist of tense but exciting and exhilarating moments. Which brings me to thank the following players who made all this possible (sounds like the Oscars):

• Chris ‘No pain no gain’ Rees
• Jordan ‘Learner Plates no more’ Hart
• Rob ‘One pint and its over’ John – Congratulations Rob, you have earned this two years in a row ;)
• Ellen ‘I whip Rob into shape’ Mahenthiralingam
• Joe ‘Doesn’t know this but is dropped next year’ Morgan
• Laura ‘Robo Dances’ Cairns
• And last but certainly not least, Jo ‘Plan B’ Mahenthiralingam

A wonderful close to an interesting season and I shall look forward to seeing you all for training first thing tomorrow morning. YEAH RIGHT! See you next year.

Martin ‘El Capitan’ Dix

Chris and Nath’ took all 3 of theirs, going to 3 on 2 of them ( something about serves being out, but I’ll say no more!), while Glyn and Sarah steamrollered the opposition with 3 straight wins without either of them breaking into am sweat (fortunately).

Matt and Jayne took 2 out of their 3, only losing to the Holm View firsts on a very close 3rd game.

Vale 8 Holm View 1 – Well done everyone, really great win! Let’s keep it up.

no courts on Sunday, Tuesday we have 1 court booked in case anyone fancies a final fling of their racquets before piling on the pounds over Xmas. Back to normal January 3rd.

The Moderates will be held on 8th of January in Treforest. Will you inform your members and let me know who will be entering? Hopefully Ian will send out the form soon

Thanks Les

Have you ever had that sinking feeling when you walk in to play and you haven’t even picked up your racquet yet?

This happened on Thursday when it was noted that half the players on court for Penarth B were recently on court at the Vale when they beat our A team, oh dear…

Dave and Nige paired up for their first game together all season. It turns out that preparing by playing no games at all together and ensuring that, even at club nights, they were never on court at the same time is not the way forward.  Who knew? I recently put ‘Communication’ into my online thesaurus and under the ‘antonym’ section it had a YouTube clip of Dave and Nige playing against Penarth….

Glyn and Andy came on as 2nds and did their best but only managed the one.
Howard and Matt also played valiantly but couldn’t secure a win.

Final score 7-2 to Penarth.

Not to detract from the supreme depth and talent of Penarth we need to do better.
On the plus side the game due for the 11th was handed to us on the ‘Silver Platter of Concession’, (an ancient and much loved article from the realm of ‘you need all the help you can get’, bordering with ‘take it and runville…’). Happy days. Another 3 of those and we will stay up.

Merry Christmas all.
:-)

just a quick note to the captains to say that Len suffered a 3rd degree calf strain while playing at Nomads last Monday.

Degrees of strain start at 1 and go to 3 – so Len, not wanting to do things by halves, went all out for the most severe.

Len says he’s looking to this guy for inspiration now…

“Can we rebuild him?”

Men’s B at home to Llantarnam on Sunday 11th December has been conceded.

Once again a visit to the tombola that is the C team helped make up the numbers… Our second taste at the higher level and it’s fair to say a noticeable difference in consistency between divisions. The key appears to be patience and reliable play rather than playing all out ‘winners’ which invariably get returned!  Maintaining the attack is tricky with tighter net play and flatter shots but all in all it’s a lot more fun than the run of 9-0s that we enjoyed in Division 3 (honest).

Matt and Nige stepped up as 1sts and went down with all guns jammed and fizzing in 2 straight games; 19 and 19. Not detracting from a talented home 1st pair Matt and Nige looked shaky throughout both knowing they could do better as they left the court in defeat. Things improved  for their next games, as they got into their stride, polishing off 2nd and 3rds in 2.

Unfortunately Vale 2nd pairings, Glyn and Andy, failed to win a game all night which left a huge burden on our stand ins, Nathan and Howard. They rose to the task and took very tough games to  the wire and two wins against 2nd and 3rds but just couldn’t contain the hard hitting home first pair.

Final score 5-4 to Holm View.

Both nights therefore club nights.

However, a superhero appeared and valiantly stepped into the breach in the form of Andy Kyle, despite having to leave Cardiff, go to Margam, come back to Cardiff and all for half an hour too soon because the league handbook is out of date! Andy held his own extremely well and was greatly welcomed into the team.

The delay didn’t deter the team’s efforts, though, with Glyn and Alison beating their 2nds and 3rds convincingly. Chris and Andrew were determined to get their money’s worth despite Chris’s aching joints from the last 2 matches with all theirs going to 3 but only taking their 3rds. The scores were all very close too.

Jayne and Matt again fought extremely well and although they didn’t take any games, their efforts were outstanding.

Although another loss, the scores are getting better! Keep it up, team. 6 – 3 to Cardiff A.

One more match before Xmas! Thanks to you all.

Others have been poached and some have gone back where they belong, having visited the lower ranks for a season and deciding it was so awful that it was worth eating salad and doing some running to get back in the A team… (you know who you are!)

So with a new team and a real mix up of partnerships the Vale B found themselves on the brink of their first match at a new level. The Team Captain did nothing to help settle any nerves by going over on his ankle and putting himself out just a week before the opening game… He did take the Captain’s role well though and despite being injured did come down to lend support and give advice from the side lines!

So in true Vale style a visit to the bargain bucket that is the C team was called for. Of course the realty is our C team is a force to be reckoned with and there’s plenty of talent to choose from.

Stepping on to the court the teams were as follows:

• Nige & Matt (1sts)
• Glynn & Andy (2nds)
• Nathan and Len (3rds)

Brilliant to see Nathan back on court and of course always a pleasure to see the wily old fox that is Len (half man half support bandage).

Matt and Nige haven’t played together for a long time and they looked shaky against a very strong opposition 1st pair.

Taking it to 3 they had a fantastic rally to finish. A thundering smash from half court by Matt was picked up from behind the back by the opposition for Nige to drive it flat and hard forcing the error and sealing the win.

Glynn and Andy looked like they’d been playing together all season and despatched the 2nds with no fuss. The combination of Andy’s front play and Glynn’s back court play looked formidable.

Luckily for the 3rds the visiting team failed to notice that one player is made up of elastic supports and the other has knees made of porridge. Nathan and Len gelling well and finishing it in 2.

The next round went much the same way and the visiting 1st pair pushed it to 3 only to have Andy’s ‘quicker than the human eye’ tricks at the net and Glynn’s incredibly consistent use of the frame proving too much.

Nige and Matt were now looking more confident and a contender for shot of the season from Matt helped see them finish off the visiting 3rd pair in 2.

Unfortunately Nathan and Len couldn’t get the better of the 1sts in the final game but it didn’t really matter. The Vale secured the win 7-2.

The Arches were a really nice team to play and there was plenty of good sportsmanship from both sides too.

Well done Vale!