Seconds off to a flier with winning double
FOLLOWING their promotion last season, Northumberland’s second team began their Senior County Championship Division Three North campaign with 8-3 victories against Glasgow Seconds and Lothian Seconds.
Jamie Tinnion put North on the scoreboard early against Glasgow and he was backed up by straightset wins from Northumbria Universities’ Sarah Wilson and Robyn Luckley.
North therefore led 3-2 going into the level doubles.
The men’s doubles were shared with Eddie Burgess and Steven Gibbons, playing together for the first time, doing well to come back and win in three - having lost their opening set 24-22.
Wilson and Luckley combined well to take the top-string doubles before Rachel Frobisher and Beth Grundy, making her senior debut, did well to recover from losing their opener 22-20.
They claimed two tight sets 21-17, 21-18 to clinch victory and the match win - the score 6-3 going into the mixed.
Burgess and Frobisher followed the pattern at top mixed, losing their first set 23-21 before again coming back to win the other two sets eight and 15.
Ian McGough and Aphrodite Christodoulou won in straight sets at second string to make the final score 8-3. The afternoon match against Lothian saw David Murray lead from the front with an excellent three-set win over Craig Lamb.
Straight-set wins from Dan Rogerson and Wilson put North ahead and Luckley did well to defeat the experienced Kim Atkinson 24-22, 21-19 to give his side an excellent 4-1 lead going into the doubles.
Burgess and Gibbons started well, only to be pegged back to a set all at top string.
The deciding set was nip and tuck throughout before they finally just edged it 21-19.
McGough and Rogerson took a different route to winning by the same score, having lost their opener 21-18 before recovering to win 21-19, 21-19.
The match already being won did not detract from the competitiveness of the ladies’ doubles - both games going to three sets.
Wilson and Luckley overcame the disappointment of losing their second set 28-26, having had match point to take the decider to 16.
It was 7-2 to North with just the mixed to come.
Burgess and Frobisher, both having had three-enders all day, decided two was enough this time winning 21-16, 21-15 before McGough and Christodoulou just went down to the experienced Lamb and Carolyn Young, 17-21, 21-16, 17-21 for a second score of 8-3 to North on the day.
A points score of 16-6 was enough only for third place in the early Diviison Three table, neighbours Durham outscoring North against the same opposition 10-1 and 11-0.
Lancashire Thirds also had scores of 11-0 and 9-2 to sit in second with North only one point ahead of Cumbria in fourth, Cumbria also havinghad two wins.
WATCH out for junior badminton picture specials and a picture feature on the North Tyneside Social Tournament in Grassroots soon.