Melbourn won 9-7

After the briefest of respites (our fault for getting to a Cup Final) the Seconds were right back in to action, albeit the somewhat more casual stuff of the Herts Summer League.

The Herts Summer League is three person sides – our team of Jan Brynjolffssen, Matt Walker and Moises Estrelles Navarro made the shortish trip down the A1 to Welwyn to take on Gosling 3rds. First up was Moises (3) against Adrian Rates… and it was quickly apparent what both players strength was – running, both fast and lots of it. Rallies were extended, the ball was pinging around and the match see-sawed as both took control and then relinquished it again. Often multiple times per point. The up-and-down nature of the contest saw Moises lose the first game having led it comfortably, but then win the second and launch a comeback of his own in the third. 2-1 up it was time for Moises to drop a game. So we were into a decider. This looked to be heading Moises way as he moved 12-8 ahead, with one particularly lung-busting rally when he made about five extraordinary retrieves before killing it off on the counter particularly memorable. But even Moises was tiring by now and this turned from four points up to match-ball down at 13-14. However a clutch of running and cautiously consistent hitting rally levelled things up, a mistake from Adrian edged Moises to match-ball instead and then a great length was too tight for Adrian to dig out and Moises had his victory! Scores were 11-15, 15-11, 15-13, 11-15, 16-14… and both players seemed spent afterwards. As you would be.

Next on court was Jan (1), who took on Matt Robinson. Again the pattern was rapidly clear as Matt had shots, and was willing to use them – anything other than getting into an extended rally! He took game one easily, helped by three total mis-hits that went for winners. Jan tried to attack more in game two to avoid a repeat, and found some excellent touch on the drop shots. That got his nose ahead, all the way to a game point at 14-13, but this wasn’t converted as Matt played a strong rally. And the match was slipping away from Jan from there, Matt winning the next two points to establish a 2-0 lead and then racing into an enormous lead at the start of the third as his trickle boast caught Jan out repeatedly. Jan tried what he could to edge back in, but it was a lost cause by a margin of 8-15, 14-16, 7-15.

So all eyes were on Matt (2) and Chris Tutton. Here there was a clear contrast in styles as Matt wanted extended rallies he could snap off with his volley drops, whereas Chris was keeping as much as possible short. Game one saw Matt predominating and looking more in control than the 15-11 score would suggest, only for errors at the start of the second to get under Matt’s skin and buoy Chris. Pegged back to 1-1 and angry about it, Matt laid it all out in game three pinning Chris deep in the court – where he didn’t want to be – and racing home with it by a distance. Keep the concentration and keep the ‘t’ position high and it will be 3-1, right? Well, no, as Chris came again to level up as Matt got a little tight with the finishing line in sight. He wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice though, putting together a strong final game that pounded Chris deep on the court, established a big lead and saw Matt home 15-11, 10-15, 15-6, 12-15, 15-11.