Match Blog - Icarus A vs St Johns A, 17th October 2008

Words: Brendan Carroll

The first Icarus "A" Team match of the year was, to say the least, a bit of an "eye opener". Playing against St. John's A, at home at John Henry Newman School, wasn't ever going to be easy. They finished third in Division 1 last year and we had already heard about how their "B" Team wiped the floor with ours. So, a tough match ahead then!

We didn't make the best of starts. Bill and I had a shocker, winning only four points and giving many more away. Not to take anything away from our opponents though. Dave and Rob were better than we were, and, despite rallying well in the second game to take 15 points, beat us in one of the quickest matches I've ever seen. I left three or four smashes and clears which looked, for all the world, to be drifting long or wide, only to watch in horror as they landed ON the lines. And Bill's normally devastating drop shots were also falling foul of the net or drifting wide.

Because of the way things worked out, the ladies went on to play for the second match, and looked to be about to suffer the same fate as the first match. Julia and Chaya played well in the first game, against Anne and Helen, but a few missed lines meant that they lost it 21-17. A great performance against a strong pair, but nothing compared to the next two games - a cracking combination of Julia's power and Chaya's precision meant they won both games 21-12. Although there were still a few mistakes, which neither of the ladies would generally make, the whole performance was much more polished, and they were duly rewarded with the only victory of the evening.

It was difficult to watch all of the matches because we had two courts, so I can't pass too many comments on the following games. Simon and Ed fought well against Frank and Dave but also fell foul of a few mistakes which were probably due to nerves more than anything else. Even Simon, who many regard as the best singles and doubles player at Icarus, was struggling to return some of the shots coming over from the other side. And even Ed's teleportation around the court couldn't prevent the match going St. John's way. Again, this was our first match in this division, and we were repeatedly stunned by the quality of the shotmaking from St. John's. Unfortunately the three remaining matches also went to our opponents, despite Simon and Chaya going up a set in the final match. Julia, watching after she and I had lost our mixed, made the observation that we don't target the opposing lady enough when we play mixed - a point which would be well worth noting for all teams in future matches.

The difference, between the middle of division 1 and the top of division 2, then has already become apparent. Our opponent's judgement was very keen, leaving no shots which would have landed in and spotting bad shots with alarming ease. The quality of their shots wasn't much beyond what we had experienced in division 2 - what makes the difference is the consistency. St. John's do have a bit of a home advantage - the hall isn't quite as bright as you would like, and the walls are covered in off white panelling, which makes the shuttle hard to see sometimes - but not as much as Datchworth for example. They played well. We, by and large, didn't play as well as we're capable. Still, we're on a steep learning curve, and it was the first match of the season. At least it wasn't 6-0!