Orkney Inter-County - Season 2006-2007

Contents:- -Home-|-Away-

Caithness 'A' and 'B' teams are triumphant - 10/02/07 (Home)

Caithness 'A' captain, Martin Cook (left) and 'B' captain, Veronica Begg (right, with little Goldie) (more pictures below)

Caithness have celebrated a double badminton success after both their A and B sides retained the silverware in their latest joust with Orkney. Both contests had identical outcomes, with the mainland combines overturning 7-5 defeats on the island leg with 8-4 victories at home.

The A match had a particularly tense finale as a result of the late arrival of one of the Orkney contingent. Work commitments prevented Stuart Slater travelling with the rest of the party on the Hamnavoe to Scrabster. He had arranged a private flight in mid-afternoon but that had to be cancelled due to stormy weather. Undaunted, Stuart booked his passage on the ferry from Gills before hitching a lift on a lorry to the competition venue in Wick. The rest of the games were completed before he made it to the games hall shortly before seven in the evening, with the score standing at 6-4 in favour of Caithness.

After his heroics in making the trip, the stage was set for a fairy tale ending, with Stuart winning his two games to allow his side to regain the trophy. He played well enough but unfortunately for him lost both his level and mixed contests. The home side had done the arithmetic which meant victory in one of the two outstanding games would have been enough for them by virtue of a countback on sets won.

First up was the second level doubles affair which pitted the tried and tested partnership of Stuart and Trevor Kinghorn versus veteran Sam Campbell and youngster Martyn Cook. They were playing for the first time, with Cook having only recently returned to the game after a two year sabbatical. The new combo quickly settled into a smooth groove with the youngster excelling with some tight net shots and Campbell featuring with some killer smashes. The Caithness duo came through in two sets.

The final match saw Stuart Slater and Lynn Cursiter lose out in a three setter to Campbell and Pam Bain.

Earlier, Caithness mens number one Mark Mackay comfortably extended his long unbeaten series in the inter-county tussle by winning his games without dropping a set.

There was a rare defeat at second ladies for Carole Mowat and Casey Sangster who went down in a three set thriller to new pairing Christine West and Elspeth McLellan.

All three men's matches went the home side's way while in the mixed, there was a gutsy win at sixth for Benji Mackay and Jane Grant.

The B side relied on their dominance of the mixed tussles to earn their success. They lost just one of the six encounters after the spoils were shared in the level doubles. Once again, the B side were indebted to their talented junior contingent. Thomas Sutherland, Roddy Mackay, Donna Majilton and Louise Campbell each returned with a played two, won two record.

report by Jane Grant

Scoresheets

'A' Team RESULT - CAITHNESS 8 (13) - 4 (11) ORKNEY

'B' Team RESULT - CAITHNESS 8 (13) - 4 (11) ORKNEY

Home Photos

Caithness 'A'
Caithness 'B'
Orkney 'A'
Orkney 'B'
The shinieeeeest player on the day	Three Orcadians, ones a white settler...

Caithness still in with a chance of the trophies - 02/12/06 (Away)

Caithness 'B' captain, Veronica Begg (left) and 'A' captain, Casey Sangster (more pictures below)

report by Calvin Reid, Orkney Badminton Association

On Saturday 2nd December, Orkney 'A' & 'B' county teams took on their Caithness counterparts in the first leg of the annual Inter-county. Orkney badminton would like to thank Bob Clouston of R. Clouston Ltd. for generously sponsoring the match and quenching the tired out players thirsts later on. With both teams having first choice players missing, it was going to be a case of who could rise to the challenge.

This was the first county match in which the new badminton scoring system had been used. The general consensus between players has been that this system has made badminton become more of an ability leveller, whereby the unfancied player has more chance of causing an upset. Reading the results this seems to be the case as not one single set throughout both matches was lost without the players reaching double figures, also many matches were decided on the last couple of points and out of twenty four matches, fifteen of them went to three sets. The days where players would lose a set with only 1 or two points or even the dreaded 'granny' seem to be well and truly over. The upside of this, for the spectators certainly, is that there are a lot more close finishes to matches and more nervy points for the players - a loose serve into the net could mean you've just lost the game!

The first match in the 'A' match saw past county player Melanie Sclater and partner Cath Bremner win the first nail biter of the evening 23-21 in the final set at third ladies. Good to see Melanie back and playing well.

One of the most exciting and exhilarating matches to be played in the fixture for many years was played out by the first mens pairing of Ross Groundwater and Eoin Ballantine against Mark Mackay and John Durrand. With Mark and John having won the Orkney Open in style just a few weeks earlier the Orkney lads knew they faced a tough task. The first set was neck and neck with some incredible rallies being played with the Orkney pairing of Ross and Eoin just nudging ahead to win the first set 21-19. They continued their form in the second set and deservedly fought their way to a lead of 19-15 with the help of some fantastic defensive play. With Mark and John all but staring defeat in the face, credit must be given to them for finding the determination to battle back and win the second set 21-19. Over the years when Scottish internationalist Mackay has been forced to three sets he usually finds another gear to step up and dominates the third set but would it be the case this time with Ross and Eoin maintaining such a high level of play? The answer was to be no as both sets of players played an amazing third set of badminton. Ross and Eoin fought their way to four match points but just couldn't find the winner as the Caithness players hung on for dear life. It is to Mark and John's credit when given the chance they secured victory in a real cliff-hanger of a match with a score of 26-24. What a game!

The final score in the 'A' match was a slim 7-5 victory for Orkney, which means it's all to play for in the second leg with history showing the team playing at home usually fares better.

The 'B' county match saw a good close win for juniors players Jane Hill and Gary Nicolson at sixth mixed winning both sets 22-20. Another player back in the county team after a long absence is Sandra Deans who played well to win both her matches. Brian Williamson played well to win both his matches in three sets against strong opposition. An important win was secured by the veteran pairing of Kathryn Slater and Marty Flett who won the third set in their match 21-19 after a long tussle. Stevie Harvey just keeps trucking along and played well at both first doubles and mixed. Lisa Johnston was on a winning streak after having played and won a county volleyball match prior to the badminton before going on to win both her doubles and mixed matches.

Caithness managed to win the final close match of the night at first mixed to leave the match hanging in the balance, again a 7-5 lead for Orkney.
Well done to both teams for putting in some excellent performances throughout the match. Orkney hold leads in both matches for the return leg but know only a strong performance in Caithness will secure the trophies.

Scoresheets

'A' Team RESULT - CAITHNESS 5 - 7 ORKNEY

'B' Team RESULT - CAITHNESS 5 - 7 ORKNEY

Away Photos

Andy & Lindsay v Marty & Kathryn

Benji getting it where it hurts & Pam v Fox & Melanie (foreground) Pam & Ian v Trevor & Moira (background)

Casey giving it a wee bit of 'who broke... & Carole v Elaine & Moira

John & Carole v Ross & Lynne

Mark & Andy v Steve & Graham

Mark & John v Ross & Onion

Mark & Michelle v Onion & Christine

Megan & Pam v Christine & Lynne

Roddy & Susan v Brian & Sandra

Roddy & Thomas v Brian & Marty

Benji & Sam v Fox & Trevor

Pauline & Susan v Lisa & Sandra

Lindsay & Veronica v Kim & Kathryn

End-of-Document

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