Broadberry Sports

Newland 1 away last night for the 1^st team and this was always going to be a difficult one against a side who have some record of winning the 1^st division over the recent years. Still with a decent side ourselves (apart from me being dragged up!) we would always be competitive.

Chris and I arrived early for a warm up and I was on first against Mic Cockburn. Now Mic and I have played quite a few times over the years and when he said, “Oh F.F.S. – not you again!”, I knew I may have the mental edge if things got tight. They weren’t tight in the first game as Mic romped home and they weren’t tight in the 2nd game either as I took that one. So, to the all-important 3rd game – could I impose my game on him or could he keep the focus? Well unfortunately for me the latter was the case and Mic won the next two games to take the match. I was obviously disappointed, but having said that, I think Mic is playing much better these days so what can you do?!?!?! (train harder Jase!)

Next up was Chris (Murphy) at No.2 against Ross Andrew. Ross and Chris know each other well and I think Ross assumed that this was going to be one way traffic to Chris and he was largely right! Ross did show many examples of great flicks and holds, but really Chris was in charge of this one and 3-0 was the final result.

The match of the night was on next as Angus (Forster) was on against Paul Sweeney at No.3 – and with both men playing very similar styles this was a very explosive match up. Gus won the 1st and 3rd and Paul the 2nd and 4th and so to the 5th! I thought that if Gus just tidies up his game, he was the stronger player, however when he tried to win a rally too quickly, he hit the odd tin…….. or 20 (so much so I was thinking of nicknaming him Hergé, but realised that most of the youngsters would have no idea what I was talking about!). So Tintin went on in the 5th determined to change his ways and he did exactly that – some longer rallies early on set things up for him and then when he started moving the ball around he was in charge and Paul started to fade. So, in the end a comfortable 5th game, but Paul played really well tonight and should be happy with his performance and effort (Newlands MOTM to Paul I’d say).

The No.1s went on next as 2-James Singhs matched up against Newland’s Matt Bedwell and this promised to be a tough physical battle, as both men can retrieve anything from anywhere! And it was a physical one with Matt largely dominating, but when James kept the pressure on (which he did especially well in the 2nd game) he really made Matt dig deep. However just when we though James was going to win the 2nd game, Matt doubled-down his focus and determination and clinched that game. The 3rd game was much easier for Matt with a great start and a dominant performance, but if James had just sneaked the 2nd, that could have been the key to making even deeper inroads into the match. However, this was ultimately a good 3-0 win for Matt.

So the match was poised at 2-2 and last up was Chris (MrMcGreedy) McGeady v Dave Fallis. I fully expected this to be another real slug-out between two gladiators who have quite similar styles. And it was a tough one with some excellent retrieval and loads of pressure on the ball, however, Chris was winning many of the rallies and the scoreboard kept ticking his way. Dave got more into his stride in the 2nd but Chris was just too quick last night and brought home the match 3-0. Whitecraigs MOTM to Chris. 

So the now traditional chat of the team refusing to eat any veggie pizza, because they are fundamentally opposed to vegetables! (Great! More for me!) and I’m getting right into this garlic dip thing (who’d have thought they could make pizza unhealthier!).

Then back to Whitecraigs to meet the Townend boys again (as they played our 3^rd team this week). Kenny Hardy was on a threat of divorce if he went out drinking with Chris again and Scotty was in fine form. I think the Townend lads may drop in at Whitecraigs a few more times this season!!