Vale Badminton Club

On Sunday Jan 24th we played someone called Vale C. We didn’t know much about this lot but they were a rum looking bunch and their venue was bloody terrible with two black hole of Calcutta courts stuck away in the corners. Oh, hang on, that’s our venue.

As usual with this draw the C’s brought out a ringer for the occasion this time it was Vale new boy Chris Rowbottom. Jack and Simon managed an awesome show of defence and managed to beat Nige’ and Glyn in a really close and enjoyable 3 setter.

Rob and Chris also took the Vale’s 1st pair to 3 but some rather unwise calling of the ‘good end’, to start the game, saw them playing out to the final leg of the 3rd down in the naughty corner. This resulted in a spectacular collapse as the pressure of victory and the lack of light took their toll. Predictably, the rest of the night didn’t go so well for the Vale C’s and Vale B with the 2nd and 3rds not messing about (like the so called 1st ) pair and dispatching all with relative ease.

Vale B romped home with a comfortable win. Final Score 8-1 or 7-2 or 6-3?????!! [No idea - Ed.]

Back in December Men’s B turned up at Sophia Gardens to play Nomads C aware that it was going to be a tough night.
It was. Then it wasn’t…

Nathan managed to turn out despite becoming a new dad about ten minutes before the game so a great big well done is due… to Nathan’s Wife for coping so soon after the big event! The team’s only national player Rob John was not able to make it but his mighty shoes were filled by the experience and cunning of Allan Evans (thanks Al).

The match was hard fought. Glyn and Nige’ struggled badly with the first pair but subdued the 2nd and 3rds without too much worry. Nathan and Byron seemed to be missing their usual zip and also dropped 1 against the firsts, sleep deprivation playing a part, no doubt. No more late nights for you Byron…

Allan and Mat gave it their all (as usual) but just couldn’t bring that all important win in. So the final score was 5-4? But it’s not over ‘till it’s over and subsequent revelations by the home team revealed that an ineligible player had taken part and therefore Vale get to roll in the comfort blanket that is ‘default win’. Hmmm toasty.

Hi All, no courts on Sunday 14th & Tuesday 16th February as it’s  half-term, we’re back to normality Sunday 21st February.

Only two things worth mentioning from Sunday’s Mixed game against Llantwit Fadre; Firstly we won 5-4 and secondly the 10 year girl who played with Gareth for Llantwit Fadre was awesome! Thanks all for a great night.

Did you know that Richard Vaughan (the former world number 7) lost 3 rubbers in straight sets last night????

Did you also know, that the the word gullible has been eradicated from the english dictionary? ;)

Although those stories would be nice, it was certainly not the case. Richard Vaughan made an appearance (representing our friends, the Rebels Posse) and partnered with the very talented Gareth Day to secure 3 rubbers in the Division 1 clash with Vale A.

However, the Vale crew had no intentions of holding up the white flag, and proved this by taking down the strong pairings of Simon/Andy and Huw/Steve. This meant Vale got another well deserved and hard fought win. It was nice to have such a friendly match, with eye-catching rallies and good old fashioned banter.

However… oh dear, what an expensive game this has become for Vale member Barry ‘Can I borrow a racket‘ Garnham, who has… yes you guessed it… managed to break ANOTHER racket (See above).

It leaves me to ask Barry, will he make it through the next match and break (no pun intended) this expensive trend? Only time will tell, and his bank balance of course.

Thanks for playing guys, good effort. Mart.

So to kick off the new decade, it was the ‘Clash of the Titans’! Two former international players facing off in what was tipped to be a high intensity match. And WOW they did not disappoint! There was some hard hitting, trick shot slicing and menacing rallies all on show, but it was Vale’s 1st pairing of Chris and Dave who used their experience and power to overcome the recently crowned WSS Carmarthenshire champions, to take Vale into a 1-0 lead. This trend continued, taking down Heath’s 2nd and 3rd pairing, giving Vale 3 valuable rubbers.

However, Heath are not a team to go down without a fight, and true to their word, they showed some class, taking down Vale 2nd pairing of Huw and Darius, eventually bringing the match to 3-3. Our boys put up a good fight, and will be ready for the rematch extravaganza.

So our chances of division one glory rested in the hands of Barry ‘I go through 3 rackets in one match’ Garnham and Martin ‘I can count, so I don’t need you to butt in and score in my game’ Dix.

This was no easy task, but they managed the first hurdle, taking down Heath’s 3rd pair 21-10, 21-11. A good start to a tense night. However, the dynamic duo had to square off against their highly talented first pair and despite giving their all, and coming close to winning, they managed to lose in 2 straight games.

The match is now set at 4-4 and it was up to the odd couple to bring home the gold. So 3 rackets, 6 shuttles, 10,000 smashes  and one dispute later, the boys managed to win the game 21-16 in the final set, to secure a 5-4 victory over Heath.

A big thanks to everyone who played, good effort boys.

Handicaps for Tuesday 26/01/10 Mixed A Cup Match Home to Heath A
Vale Mixed A  -2  v  Heath Mixed A  +2

CBDL Quiz Night – Sat Jan 30th at Heath Sports & Social Club

Vale C went down 7-2 against Cardiff A at Eastern Leisure Centre in men’s Division 3. Simon and Rob Calc picked up 1 win while Jack F paired with Steve Tune to record a 2nd win.

Highlight of the night was Jack and Steve winning 23-21 in a decisive game and then playing the next point before realising they had already won! Maths was never Jack’s strong point… and obviously not Steve’s either.

There was a welcome return to action for Danny Teague who partnered Paul, and went really close in two of their rubbers. I know all club members are aware that Danny’s wife suffered a life-threatening illness while on a family holiday in Spain in late autumn. Danny tells me that she is now home and making a slow but steady recovery. All club members send their best wishes to Danny and his family.

A quick note added to the fixtures page to confirm when matches may be rearranged.

BIG congratulations to Nathan and his wife Laura on the birth of their daughter Chloe Bernadette. :)