Match Reports

 

U17s v Yorks 1

This report was sent in by Leo Medley. The first U17 match of the season took place at Market Rasen on 16 October against Yorkshire's first team. There was some spectacular badminton from both counties and the players conducted themselves very well even thought the final score was a punishing 18-2 to Yorkshire. The match was however much closer than the score suggests with many games going to a third end, but Yorkshire's depth and experience showed against our young players. The players were understandably disappointed with the end result but they gained valuable experience to take into the rest of the season.

Notable performances came from Ben Garnham, who to my knowledge is the first Lincs U17 player in many years to claim a victory against a Yorks No 1 in a strategic and exciting match. Also Chloe Sidwell who comfortably brushed aside her singles opponent. A special mention must go to Ella Mountjoy who made her debut for the county and impressed the coaches with her potential.

Well done to the whole team Ben Garnham, Kyran Cox, Liam Fletcher, Michael Taylor, Chloe Sidwell, Katie Allen, Ella Mountjoy and Dawn Ho.

U12 Invitation Doubles

The County was invited to enter the Leics U12 Doubles Invitational Tournament on 15 October 2011. Two pairs of boys and one pair of girls entered and competed against teams from 11 other counties. In the boys competition there weere 29 pairs split into three groups. Jack Foxon and Todd Muza enjoyed representing Lincs for the first time and battled well, winning one game and coming very close in several others. Max Blythe and Jack Tierney played extremely well together and won 8 out of 9 games in their group to go through to the quarter finals. They won their quarter final and semi final games but lost to a strong pair from Leics in the final. Well done to Max and Jack.

 

In the girls competition 20 pairs were split into two groups. Kate Garnham and Molly Price competed well and won 8 out of their 9 games in a tough group just losing to the eventual champions. They won their quarter final but lost in the semi final to a Yorkshire pair. Well done to everyone.

U17s

The U17s travelled to Binley, Coventry to play Warwickshire on Sunday 14 November. The team consisted of Ben Garnham, Tom Woodcock, James Prescott, Liam Shaw, Chloe Sidwell, Jennifer Bates, Katie Allen and Laura Graves. Even though their top boy wasn't there we knew they had a strong team. There were some great rallies and the standard of play was high although in many cases the scores are not a true reflection of this. Ben and Tom managed to beat the second boys doubles pair 21-9 23-21 and Chloe and Jennifer beat the second girls pair 21-14 14-21 21-18. The final score was 18-2 to Warwickshire, probably one of the top teams in the ICT next April.

1st team

The County 1st team recorded its first win of the season against Buckinghamshire on Sunday 7 November at home. Three of the four singles games were won by Lincs and a special mention must go to Kerry Durham who won her first singles at this level 21-19 21-12. Harley Towler was a convincing winner 21-7 21-15 while Stephen Mumby came out on top in a marathon game 29-30 22-20 21-13! The men also won three of the four doubles games with Simon Turner partnering Harley, and Chris Welch with Steve, while in the ladies doubles Sam Allen and Kerry beat the first ladies pair and Cherry Dowson and Helen Bush beat the second ladies pair. Full points were a possibility for Lincs going into the mixed but only Harley and Cherry managed a win making the final score 9-6 to Lincs.

U17s

The U17 team consisting of Ban Garnham, Tom Woodcock, Tom Machon, Liam Shaw, Chloe Sidwell, Jennifer Bates, Katie Allen and Laura Graves played Northamptonshire at home on 31 October. After the mixed doubles Lincs were up 3-1 and it could've been 4-0 if a tight 3 setter had gone our way. The boys then went on to win all their singles and the girls won 2 and lost 2 although the two we lost were close. Finally in the level doubles the boys won 3 out of 4 and the girls won 2 and lost 2 making the final score 14-6 to Lincs, an impressive start to the season. Congratulations to all who played.

U17 ICT

The U17 ICT was held over the weekend of 8-11 April at Nottingham. Lincs was represented by Rodger Annis, Oliver Bramley, Ben Garnham, Jacob Perez, Tom Woodcock, Katie Allen, Jennifer Bates, Natalie Hassall, Jess Portas and Chloe Sidwell. The Team Manager was Mandy Garnham and Dave Perry was the Coach with John Holland assisting.

On the Thursday we played Suffolk, losing 6-4, but we won the second match against Shropshire 7-3 but then lost to Surrey 10-0. On Friday we played Berkshire and won 9-1, then we went on to beat Northumberland 7-3 so that meant we were playing for positions 21-25. On Friday evening we played Leicestershire and the final score was 5 matches all, 11 games all 287 points to Leics and 278 to Lincs so Leics won by just 9 points! On Saturday we beat Worcestershire 6-4 but lost to Norfolk 6-4. On Saturday evening everyone got ready for the disco and the Lincs team presented Mandy with a birthday cake!! On the Sunday we played Middlesex but lost 6-4 and unfortunately Jess Portas suffered a bad fall at the back of the court, sprained her knee and ended up at Queens Medical Centre. The overall result was that Lincs came 24th which is very commendable.

Thanks must go to Dave Perry who is relinquishing his role as U17 coach which he has carried out for many years. All the best to Rodger, Oliver and Natalie for their senior badminton years and we should also mention Craig Holden, a previous ICT player, who helped in the running of the tournament as a Young Official.