Week 12 News - Cup Round 2

Bolton Lads and Girls Club’s two badminton teams enjoyed a successful run in the cup thanks to determined play and good handicapping.

The A team is currently third in D Section and the B team bottom, but both came out fighting for the Robert Cup clashes. The A team played Forrest E from the foot of C Section and, after closely fought games, the handicap was revealed at +20 – giving  Lads and Girls victory by a single point!

The B team could expect a better handicap against Moorside A from mid-table in C Section, and Moorside set off well with top couple Sue Beamer and Andrew Taylor taking the opening games 11 and 10.

As expected, Moorside dominated, but Lads and Girls kept up the scoring rate and when the handicap was announced at +250 this paid off.

Moorside’s B and C teams were drawn against each other, resulting in a very competitive match. Amanda Bracegirdle and Steve Gittins got the B team off the mark with their first mixed set to 12 and 10. C team top couple Judith Parker and David Wood, however, showed their mettle by taking their first game to 12 and  adding a further mixed game to keep the points coming.

Steve Gittins and Phil Wignall restricted the top men’s scores to help the B team’s tally and Lyn Barnard and Joanne Egan took both second ladies to 8 and 7 to add more. The C team kept battling until the end, but when the +90 handicap was added to their score it fell short of the B team’s by 15 points.

Another club where two of the teams were drawn against each other in the cup was Sharples which has both its A and B teams in B Section, the A mid table and the B third from the bottom.

Both teams began well and the mixed was hard fought with several games close. The B team’s top lady Louise Enderby in particular had tough games. She and David Saunders’ clash with the A team’s top couple went to 25-23 and 21-15, and then she figured in the first of the top ladies’ games which resulted in 26-24.

The closeness of the match was reflected in the points’ tally:  339 for the B team to the A Team’s 341. But the B team’s handicap of +40 ultimately gave them progress to the quarter finals.

Forrest A are currently riding high in A Section so DL Farnworth B at the foot of B Section were bound to have good handicap help in the Jane Fletcher Memorial Cup competition.

Christine Seddon and Stuart Holden gave Forrest a kickstart by winning their first game to 3 but Ireme Crompton and Mark Kirkman came back to score 14 in the second to set Farnworth scoring.

Forrest managed to restrict a couple of games to single figures in the mixed, and continued with top ladies to 6 and 8 but  Farnworth kept up the fight and were rewarded with a +290 handicap to give them 455 to Forrest’s creditable 378 and passage to the next round.