Hunters Rugby 2^nd team, playing in their first competitive match of the season, hosted some familiar faces from St Philips 2^nd team. Steve Turner and Simon Piercy played first for Hunters, taking on Pete Martin and Arthur Male of St Philips. Hunters took the first game with a convincing 21-10 score, but St Philips won the second game 16-21, before Hunters took the deciding game 21-11 to secure the rubber. Meanwhile the Hunters pair of Lee Rickard and Neil Porter had a more straightforward win over league veterans Rob Fowler and Mark Hope, securing the rubber 21-12, 21-14. From that point onwards Hunters found a good run of form, and the remaining rubbers all went in favour of the Hunters team. A good start for Hunters 2 – but there will be much tougher games ahead against the league’s first teams.

Today’s match is the quick reverse of last week with the Hunters 2 team (Home) taking on the Hunters 1 team (Away). The first rubber kicked off with Neil Porter / Lee Rickard (Hunters 2) against Antonio Hui / Shahid Mirza (Hunters 1), with an excellent victory going to the 2^nd team in the relative comfort of straight games. Meanwhile Simon Piercy / David Pugh (Hunters 2) challenged Michal Helis / Wing To (Hunters 1), this time the 1^st team taking a straightforward win.

With honours even, the opposite fixtures were a much closer match up, with both going to 3 games, however Hunters 1 edged both in the 3^rd game to put them 3-1 up in rubbers.

The first split pitched David / Lee against Shahid / Wing. Again another close rubber going to 3 games, the 1^st team getting the better in a close final game finishing 19-21.

The final split game also went to three games, this time Simon / Neil for Hunters 2 getting the better of Michal / Antonio 21-16 in the last game.

Final score Hunters 1 win 4 rubbers to 2. A very respectable result for the 2^nd team, with 2 rubbers and 7 games won on the night.

Shot of the night goes to Antonio who pulled off an amazing return winner of David’s net smash from point blank range, to win a round of applause from everyone in the hall.

Rugby & District Badminton Association
Mens Division 1						Date of Fixture				22/09/2015
Home Team	Hunters 2					Away Team				Hunters 1
Venue	Bilton School
AWAY	Michal Helis			Antonio Hui			Michal Helis			Shahid Mirza			Totals
	Wing To			Shahid Mirza			Antonio Hui			Wing To
HOME	H	A		H	A		H	A		H	A		H	A
Simon Piercy	17	21	H1	15	21	H1							83	98
	14	21		21	14
David Pugh				16	21
Neil Porter	21	13	H1	21	16	H2							94	86
	13	21		21	15
Lee Rickard	18	21
Simon Piercy							18	21	H2				60	53
							21	16
Neil Porter							21	16
David Pugh										21	18	H1	50	60
Lee Rickard										10	21
										19	21
Totals	83	97		94	87		60	53		50	60		287	297
													##
Drawn/Won By		Hunters 1						4		Rubbers to			2
(delete as necessary)
Signatures								9		Games to			7

The first match of the season saw the Hunters 2 team (Away) take on the Hunters 1 team (Home). The initial Hunters 2 pairings were Antonio Hui / Paul Garner and Neil Porter / Simon Piercy. With the 1^st team arriving late, we kicked off with Antonio and Paul playing Michal Helis and Wing To, while Neil and Simon waited patiently for the opposition, watching the action. A fantastic first game was won by the 1^st team 23-21, followed by an equally close 21-18 sealing the first rubber for Hunters 1.

When Phil Pelton finally turned up, he paired with Aseem Sharma to take on Simon and Neil, which Hunters 1 took without much trouble. Another great match saw Simon and Neil taking the first game 19-21 against Michal and Wing, and on route for an upset on the night. Sadly the second game started well for Hunters 2, but a run of points in the mid-game for the 1^st team saw them take the second game comfortably. This was followed by a very close third game with the 1^st team taking the rubber with a 21-18 win.

From that point onwards Hunters 1 showed their superiority, and ran out the rest of the games without too much trouble. The split put Paul / Simon against Phil / Wing, and Michal / Aseem against Antonio / Neil, but despite scoring strongly throughout, Hunters 2 couldn’t edge another game.

Very well played to both teams, the result was never in doubt, but Hunters 2 showed their determination.

 

Rugby & District Badminton Association
Mens Division 1						Date of Fixture				15/09/2015
Home Team	Hunters 1					Away Team				Hunters 2
Venue	Bilton School
AWAY	Paul Garner			Simon Piercy			Paul Garner			Antonio Hui			Totals
	Antonio Hui			Neil Porter			Simon Piercy			Neil Porter
HOME	H	A		H	A		H	A		H	A		H	A
Wing To	23	21	H1	19	21	H1							105	91
	21	18		21	13
Michal Helis				21	18
Phil Pelton	21	11	H1	21	12	H1							84	56
	21	17		21	16
Aseem Sharma
Phil Pelton							21	10	H1				42	25
							21	15
Wing To
Michal Helis										21	14	H1	42	28
Aseem Sharma										21	14
Totals	86	67		103	80		42	25		42	28		273	200
													##
Drawn/Won By		Hunters 1						6		Rubbers to			0
(delete as necessary)
Signatures								12		Games to			1