Youthful St Clement’s pick up two wins
WITH the Christmas break the badminton leagues are now beginning to take shape, with players in both divisions busy in recent weeks. Westside Bulls and Sandwick A are currently lying equal at the top of the first division while Unst A have opened up a four-point lead at the top of the second division. The following are reports on recent games played in the John Leask & Son Division Two.
Unst B 4, St Clement’s 5
The young St Clement’s team faced a mix of experience and youth when they travelled to play Unst B. The home team’s first pairing of Gordon Thomson and Martha Clark took on Robert Smith and Lauren Hogg and lost out in an exciting three setter 16-21, 25-23, 14-21.
The next game saw Frank Josephs and Belle Spence up against Roy Wood and Jennifer Sim. Both games were close with Roy and Jennifer coming out on top 27-25, 21-19.
It was then the turn of Hosea Moar and Desley Stickle who fought out a close encounter against Hannah Garrick and Callum Johnson with the third game going to the Unst pair 25-23.
In the women’s doubles Martha and Belle won a three-setter against Lauren and Jennifer, followed by another match which went all the way for Martha. Together with partner Desley they took on Lauren and Hannah with St Clement’s easing through 21-9 in the final leg. The final women’s match saw Belle and Desley losing in two sets to Jennifer and Hannah.
The first men’s doubles saw a close match with Gordon and Frank up against Robert and Roy. Both games were close and the result could have gone either way but the Unst boys took it 21-19, 21-18.
Gordon and Hosea then took on Robert and Callum in another close match which the visitors won 21-18, 21-19. In the final men’s game Frank and Hosea took to the court against Roy and Callum and after some thrilling rallies the Unst pair took the match 25-23, 21-17.
Players of the match were named as Martha Clark, for her tireless effort and commitment after returning from a long spell of injury, and Lauren Hogg for her determination.
The entire match was played in a friendly spirit where the youngsters from St Clement’s contributed to a close encounter and just had the edge over their senior opponents.
Yell C 6, Whalsay B 3
Yell dominated the mixed, winning all three games in straight sets. Belinda Anderson and Ross Keith defeated Allan Thomson and Vaila Kay winning 21-15 in both games. Sandra Petrie and Lee Keith beat Jimmy and Cathy Shearer, winning the first 21-14 and the second 21-9. Finally Carly Gray and Duncan Thomson faced the younger pairing of Richie Hutichson and Abbey Irvine, taking the first game 21-15 and the second 21-12.
The women’s doubles began with Cathy and Abbey against Sandra and Carly. Despite some close rallies and determined play the Whalsay pair won in straight sets 21-14, 21-6.
Vaila and Abbey then faced Belinda and Carly. This was a close and exciting game with Vaila using her experience as well as her power to good use. The Whalsay pair finally came out of top, winning 21-15 and 24-22.
Finally Vaila and Cathy played Sandra and Belinda. The Yell pairing played well but the experienced Whalsay duo used all their guile and inventiveness to overcome their younger opponents 21-12, 21-9.
The men’s doubles saw some good, strong games with epic rallies. Ross and Lee for Yell won their first game against Allan and Jimmy 21-14. In the second game Allan and Jimmy proved to the Yell pairing they were going to put up a fight and won 21-17and the final game saw Lee and Ross win 21-18. Ross and Duncan then went on to face Allan and Richie, winning 21-17, 21-13.
The final men’s doubles saw another three setter with Yell coming out on top, 21-13, 20-22 and 21-14.
Players of the match were announced as Duncan Thomson for Yell and Richie Hutchison for Whalsay. It was good to see young Ritchie making his debut for the Whalsay team.
Sandwick B 1, Unst A 8
The visitors got off to a great start, winning all three mixed. Andrew Hunter and Kathleen Johnson beat George Kerr and Jane Morton 21-14, 21-15, Peter Hunter and Karen Priest beat John Bain and Eileen Chisholm 21-17, 21-17, and in the closest tie David Sutherland and Stephanie Keith just edged out Duncan MacGregor and Wilma Sineath 20-22, 25-23, 21-13.
Unst were again dominant in the women but Sandwick pulled one back after Karen had to retire due to an unfortunate incident where Kath accidentally smashed her racket across her team mate’s face. They had to concede to Jane and Eileen who had in fact been leading anyway. Thankfully no major damage was done and Karen made a full recovery.
In the other two games Kath and Stephanie beat Jane and Wilma 21-17, 21-15 and Stephanie and Karen beat Eileen and Wilma 21-12, 21-18.
Unst continued to dominate in the men’s doubles. Andrew and Peter beat George and John 21-16, 21-10, Andrew and David defeated George and Duncan 21-14, 21-11 and Peter and David beat John and Duncan 21-15, 21-16.
Best for Sandwick were George and Jane while Peter and Karen both stood out for Unst.
Unst B 5, Aith B 4
Unst started well by taking the mixed 2-1. Aith’s top pairing Alan Johnston and Amanda Slater took on Unst’s top two Derek Sutherland and Hazel Spence. Derek and Hazel took the first game but Alan and Amanda came back to take the next two.
Hosea Moar and Mairi Coutts then took on Ian Anderson and Julie Keith in a three-setter with Hosea and Mairi taking the final set 21-13.
It was then the turn of Frank Josephs and Belle Spence taking on Lewis Fraser and Alison Morrison. Frank and Belle took both games 21-19 and 21-13.
Hazel and Mairi were up against Amanda and Julie with the Aith pairing winning 21-12, 21-11. Hazel and Belle then had two close games against Amanda and Alison with the Aith pair edging it 22-20 and 21-19. Mairi and Belle were then beaten in two straight games by Julie and Alison.
Going into the men’s doubles Unst were needing to take all three games to win the match and started off with Derek and Hosea beating Alan and Ian in a hard fought 23-21 first game and then taking the second 21-14.
Next up Hosea and Frank overcame Ian and Lewis in straight games to take the match score to 4-4. In the deciding match Derek and Frank beat Alan and Lewis 21-16 and 21-16 to give Unst the match.
Players of the match were nominated by both teams with Hosea Moar and Amanda Slater taking the honours.
Sandwick B 7, Yell C 2
Sandwick took the honours in the mixed with Iain Smith and Jane Morton beating Ross Keith and Stephanie Keith 21-14, 23-21 and Duncan McGregor and Wilma Sineath digging out a victory in a very tight game against Callum Gray and Carly Gray 26-24,16-21, 21-16. Yell pulled one back with Stanley Gray and Jennifer Nisbet winning 22-20, 21-14 against Iain Hay and Eileen Chisholm.
Yell took the women’s doubles with Stephanie and Jennifer beating Jane and Eileen 21-17, 21-16, and Stephanie and Carly beating Jane and Wilma 21-16, 21-18. Jennifer and Carly then went on to beat Eileen and Wilma in another close game 14-21, 21-16, 21-17.
Yell also took honours in the men’s doubles. Ross and Stanley beat Iain and Iain 21-14, 21-15 and Ross and Callum defeated Iain and Duncan 21-13, 21-16. In the final game of the match Stanley and Callum beat Iain Hay and Duncan 21-13,15-21, 21-9.
Best for Sandwick were Wilma and Duncan while Jennifer and Stanley stood out for Yell.
St Clement’s 9, Aith B 0
Details of this match appear to have been lost in cyber space but the St Clement’s team, all juniors, put up another impressive display and proved they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.
