Mixed First traveled to Byron at the weekend, facing Byron Second with 3 regular players unable to play – John, Jess C and David filling the gaps alongside regulars Adam, Jess M and Kim. Despite throwing everything they had at them the Carlton team fell agonisingly short, losing 4-5.
With the change of personnel captain Mark decided to shake up the pairings: handing John and Jess C a chance to step up and play higher than they had before, moving Adam across to play with Jess M, and putting David with Kim.
John and Jess C made a fantastic start, beating Byron’s third pair 21-16, 18-21, 21-15. Their first game in division one and they took their first rubber! Although they battled hard against the other two pairs they were unable to pick up another.
David and Kim had a frustrating evening, despite going through spells of dominating play their inconsistency lead to them not picking up a rubber. Their best chance came against Byron’s third pair, but a desperately close 25-27 loss took the wind out of their sails with them never fully recovering to challenge in the second game.
Adam and Jess – playing their first competitive game as a pair – made a stuttering start against Byron’s first pair, losing the first game 12-21. This, however, proved to be merely a case of getting used to each other’s playing styles, as they proceeded to bounce back magnificently by taking the next two games to win the rubber. After such a strong performance there was no looking back and they took the next two rubbers with little drama.
All in all it was a fantastic team effort – the result could so easily have gone the other way.
Up next is Mapperley Park 1 on Wednesday 29th January.