Women off to a good start
De Vere NETTS were looking to bounce back from Relegation from Div. 2 off the Womens Bristish League in the first of two weekends of action, the first off which took place in Bristol earlier in the month.
With last seasons team decimated by the unavailbitity of Alice Howard, Kelly Skeggs and Clare Lowe for the first weekend, the fast imroving Vicki Stredder was drafted in along with star later replacemment England Number ?? Lucy Wang to joinb team stalwart Nikki Kennard.
NETTS of to a flying start with a 6-0 win against Ashford “A” and continued the good form in match 2 against Scarborough ladies. After winning the first set 11-3 Nikki might have expected an easy game but Rebecca George had other ideas and took the next two sets 11-5 & 11-1! Nikki then fought back just taking the next two sets 14-12 and the fifth 11-7. Vickyi starred by beating Nicole Finn in the final match, whom had earlier impressed against Lucy.
In match 3 against St. Andrews (Sussex) their Emily Standing took both of her games including 11-6 in the final set against Nikki for a 3-3 draw.
The youthful Morpeth School team were the opponents in round 4. Nikki managed to scape by 11-7 in the fifth against Sally Hoang as did Lucy against Mjada Yasmin 11-7, 13-11, 5-11, 11-13, 14-12 to give NETTS a 2-0 lead. Left Hander Harriet Taylor beat Vicki and the Sally beat the NETTS star player Lucy Wang 3-1 (Lucy’s first defeat) to beg the match score back to 2-2. NETTS then went behind for the first time in the weekend before Nikki showed her stamina in another fifth set victory, this time agaisnt Taylor to secure the draw for NETTS.
Match 5 against Halton therefore would decide if NETTS would top the group. Lucy just beat Penny Perry 11-7 in the fifth in a drawn out tactital battle and then Nikki pulled out all the stops to beat England No. 29 Sue Collier. Vicki’s heavy spin loop was then too much for Sandra Rider which put NETTS 3-0 up and looking good for top spot. Halton fought back with a great performance from Collier to beat Lucy 3-1 and then the wheels fell off for NETTS as we lost the remaining two games to draw the match, leaving Halton over-joyed with their comeback.
All in all though a good weekend for NETTS, leaving us nicely placed in second place, ready for a push for promotion in Weekend 2.
League Tables can be seen here;
<a href="http://www viagra similares.tabletennis365.com/wbl/league/Bribar_Womens_British_League_2011-12/Division_Three” target=”_blank”>http://www.tabletennis365.com/wbl/league/Bribar_Womens_British_League_2011-12/Division_Three
Averages can be seen here;