TN squads continue to be in Super form
TEAM Northumbria take a wellearned break from court action this weekend after both the men and the women maintained their unbeaten starts to the Super 8s season.
A thrilling weekend of action saw TN’s men remain at the top of the table after winning a challenging match against champions IBB Polonia at Sport Central.
Both the men and the women defeated BU Wessex in straight sets to send the Bournemouth-based club back home empty-handed.
TN men took the first two sets against Polonia with ease but had to work for the win after dropping the third set 25-20 to the visitors.
Head coach David Goodchild said: “We went out with a specific game plan and it worked for the first two sets comfortably.
“Our plan was to win the width and we scored it down the line all the time with Adam Bradbury, Dan Starkey and Liam Jenkinson
“When we tried to change our offense plan it took us a little time to get to grips with it in the third set. Our serve receive unit did not function as well and we made too many serving errors. It was that which cost us the set.”
The fourth set saw TN and Polonia neck-and-neck until 10-10 - but the home side quickly hit the burner and sent Polonia packing.
Goodchild added: “We went back out with a specific plan to start forcing the middle and the back court. We did that until they changed and then we finished the set magnificently with our serving pressure and our attacking down the aerials.
“All in all, they are the champions of the cup and the league and we beat them 3-1.
“We should have beaten them 3-0 bu credit to the lads who have been working hard in training.”
Sunday saw TN’s men and women both playing against BU Wessex.
Both sides won in straight sets although the women’s team appeared to have a tougher time.
Goodchild said: “There were a lot of ups and downs to the game.
“The girls were challenged in the second set (27-25) and it was nice to bounce back.”