Vale Badminton Club

A good win for the Men’s A last night away to Holm View, all pairs taking three games.

Thanks to Glyn and Huw for standing in for the dynamic duo Martin and Darius who were off gallavanting at another tournament :)

Final score 9-0.

The long awaited match between Vale Mixed B  & Vale Mixed C finally took place on last Tuesday. There was a lot of pre-match hype - would Jayne be bringing in some “ringers” for the match?  Would the newly formed Mixed C have the strength & depth to pull off the win?

Vale C got off to a good start with 1st pair Huw & Sarah taking their 2 games against Vale B 1sts & 2nds. However they couldn’t pull off the treble as I think Martin had a bit of a point to prove!

Next 6 games also went to the Bs resulting in a 7–2 victory for the B team.

A nice early finish so that Helen could get home to watch the Liverpool game (that was never a penalty!), and bring on the cup game on the 25th (that’s badminton not football by the way!)

Many thanks to Sarah H for stepping in last minute for Cath.

Blood, Sweat… but last night it all didn’t end in tears.

Blood - Alison managed to cut the inside of her mouth with her racquet!
Sweat - from everyone except Jordan who never seems to work up a sweat no matter how hard she tries!
No tears - as all three Vale pairs managed to take a game each!!

With the captain playing elsewhere (so she says - not sure we believe her - just think she was scared of getting hammered by Penarth) - Al & Helen C were promoted to first pair.  Sal & Sarah were at 2 with Jordan & Jayne at 3.   Thanks to super sub Jayne for filling in for Helen S.

Final score 6-3 to Penarth.

In the pub by 9.45pm - can’t be bad :)

Ok people, it looks like we’re opting for a Chinese meal in Cowbridge on Saturday the 6th December. Please add your name in the comments or let somebody know if you plan on coming so that we have an idea of numbers :)

Update: download the menu

Sadly we’ll not be able to work off the Xmas pud on Sunday 28th December as the leisure centre will be shut. [I can hear the moans of dismay - Ed.]

The answer is YES, even though a few small cracks did appear in the Mixed B last night they still managed to pull off a 7-2 victory over Reardon Smith at Sophia Gardens.

Glyn (in half-term relaxed mode) & Helen went to 3 with the 1st pair again, and at 13 - 18 down in the 3rd thought it was all over ~ but they dug in their heels and pulled off a 21 - 18 win! Unfortunately, it had had its effect, and they were “pants” against the 2nd pairing and lost in 2. Luckily they got their act back together against the 3rds.

Sally & Len battled out a win over the 2nd pair, but all went a bit Pete Tong against the 3rds, losing in 3. And an easy victory against the 1st pair (we wont mention they gave us a bye due to injury).

3rd pairing of Chris & Martin (3rd pairing?) kept their cool in the intense heat (the hall was 10 deg hotter than Helen’s apartment in Spain in the middle of summer!) flying through all of their games in 2.

Good news was we didn’t need any hot recreation assistants ~ but maybe a referee should be on hand for Len & Sallys next encounter!

Another loss for Mixed A last night going down 5-4 to Cardiff Nomads. Chris and Jordan took their 3 games, Darius and Sarah took 1 (standing in for absentees Byron and Alison), Kinsey and Helen bringing up the rear with ‘nil point’.

Sunday nite was the 2nd game in 4 days for the Mixed B!  Home against Reardon Smith, but the  fatigue hasn’t started to show as yet!  It was a very convincing 9 - 0 win. Glyn & Helen getting their money’s worth as usual, Len & Sally making hard work of a couple, and 3rd pairing of Chris & Nathan! 3rd pair ???  making easy work of it .

Thanx to Nate for filling in for Martin ~  who had County Match commitments.

Bring on the return leg ~ Reardon Smith away Tuesday. 3rd game in 6 days ~ will the cracks start to show?  Can we make sure that there are some hot (male) recreation assistants on duty just in case please.

Mixed B travelled away to Ystrad Mynach last Thursday. It was a dreadful, rainy night, so half the team (Sally & Martin) decided to take Lens Luxury Coaches and arrive in style !

Like the weather, the venue was also dark and dismal, which gave 1st pair ~ Glyn & Helen their excuse for a shaky start! They manged to up the anti though and took all 3 of their games. New pairing for the nite Sal & Martin, (pampered on the journey up,) breezed through all 3 of their games.
Makeshift pairing of Len & Jayne ( filling in for Capt Chris ) did really well picking up 2, and only just missing out taking the 3rd against Ystrad 1st pair.

A well deserved 8 - 1 win, in the pub by 8.30 pm, and Sally & Martin were treated to a fast return journey via Helen Airways ! Result !

Have added a page of players who have ‘played up’.

http://www.valebadminton.co.uk/played-up/

Please can the team captains keep me informed so that the list is kept up to date. Thanks :)