West Siders in a Bullish mood as Whalsay fall in badminton tussle
West Side Bulls triumphed over Whalsay A in badminton’s top flight while Whalsay’s B side overcame both Unst B and Burra in the second flight. St Clement’s, meanwhile, beat Sandwick in a hard fought match.
John Leask & Son Division One
Whalsay A 2, West Side Bulls 7
Both first and second mixed went to the Westside Bulls in straight sets. Third mixed was a good win for David and Vaila of Whalsay against Erik and Suzanne, 21-16, 21-17.
Loraine and Vaila had a close game against Sheena and Suzanne but lost 21-15 in the third set. The other two ladies’ doubles matches also went to the Bulls.
The only other victory for Whalsay was David and Kevin against David and Eric in the men’s doubles.
John Leask & Son Division Two
Unst B 3, Whalsay B 6
Whalsay came out on top in this one after a long trip to Unst. They won the opening mixed doubles game when Cathy Shearer and Sandy Kay overcame Belle Spence and Gordon Thomson 2-0. The other mixed doubles were shared one a piece with Megan Burns and Kevin Priest pulling one back for Unst against Abby Irvine and Jimmy Tulloch and Vaila Kay and Richie Hutchison winning their tie with Martha Clark and Hosea Moar.
In the ladies’ doubles, Martha and Megan won their tie with Vaila and Abby; but Whalsay took the other two matches with wins for Cathy and Abby, followed up by Cathy and Vaila defeating Belle and Martha in straight sets.
The men’s doubles saw a similar outcome, with Whalsay winning two out of three. Hosea and Kevin had a close match with Richie and Jimmy, going to the last point in game two before losing 12-21, 20-22. Gordon and Kevin pulled back another game for Unst against Sandy and Jimmy but Gordon and Hosea lost the final match 21-16, 21-17 to Sandy and Richie, making it 6-3 to the visitors.
Best for Whalsay were Cathy Shearer and Richie Hutchison, while Megan Burns and Kevin Priest did well for Unst.
Whalsay B 7, Burra 2
Whalsay B had a convincing 7-2 win over Burra, but the scoreline doesn’t reflect the fact that there were five close three setters which could have gone either way. Whalsay took the mixed doubles two games to one, with Cathy Shearer and Sandy Kay at first mixed winning in straight sets over Joyce Adamson and Craig Smith. Second mixed saw 13-year-old Karrie Fraser and Clifford Hutchison lose a close three setter to Vaila Kay and Ritchie
Hutchison, 21-17 in the third set, however triumphed at third mixed, where Georgia Laurenson and Norman Smith eventually won 21-19 in the third set against Abby Irvine and James Tulloch.
The Whalsay men were dominant in the level doubles, winning all three games in straight sets.
The Burra lasses however again proved a tough nut to crack, with all three games going to three sets, with Whalsay again edging these two games to one. The pick of these was the final game where Karrie and auntie Joyce pushed old campaigners Vaila and Cathy all the way to a third set before finally losing 22-20, much to the Whalsay lasses’ relief!
A good all round display from Whalsay B, with juniors Abby, Sandy and Ritchie all playing with great ability and sportsmanship. However, the “man of the match” award must surely go to Vaila, who despite the ravages of time kept her nerve to emerge victorious from three three setters!
For Burra, Georgia was best on the day winning two games out of her three three-setters. Karrie’s games also all went to thee sets, and although losing them she also played with great sportsmanship and ability for her age. As fur da rest of da older wans … dir best days is surely noo ahint dem!
St Clements 6, Sandwick 3
With an early start at 10am would the sleepy St Clements Juniors be able to perform so early on a Sunday morning?
First mixed was between Robert Smith and Hannah Garriock (St Clements) and George Stove and Jane Morton. The first game was really close, with Sandwick just taking it 22-20. Sandwick took the second more comfortably 21-12.
Also on at this time were Lorri Robertson and Jennifer Sim of St Clements against mother and daughter combo Wilma and Kirstin Sineath. This was a three setter with Lorri and Jennifer taking the first 21-18. The Sineath family fought back taking the second game 21-11. The final game was tight with the younger lasses winning 21-18.
Finn Watt and Roy Wood faced Duncan McGregor and Ian Bray of Sandwick. This was an action packed game with Ian’s hard smashes causing some problems for Roy and Finn. The game was a very tight with some good attacking going on. Roy and Finn took the match 21-19, 21-19.
Second mixed was Roy and Jennifer against Ian and Kirstin. This was always going to be a cracker. Ian and Kirstin took the first comfortably with Roy and Jennifer making too many unforced errors. The second game went the other way with the young St Clements pair playing a more attacking game won 21-13. The last game with both pairs giving their all to win it was point for point all the way with Roy and Jennifer eventually winning 21-19.
Hannah and Lorri faced the experienced Jane and Wilma. The young girls found the attacking play of the older pair very difficult. Sandwick took the game 21-15. Lorri and Hannah then changed their game and started attacking more, battling for every point but Jane and Wilma took it 25-23.
Robert and Finn faced George and Duncan. The young boys took this one in two games with some good attacking play. The scores were 21-17, 21-13.
The score was now 4-2 to St Clements. With the last three games all going on together, Sandwick had to win all three but St Clements only needed one to take the match.
Finn and Lorri faced Wilma and Duncan who took the first game comfortably 21-10. Hannah and Jennifer faced Jane and Kirstin. This was always going to be a tight match. Jane and Kristin took the first 21-17. Robert and Roy faced George and Ian, and the St Clements youngsters took the first game with a rush of good attacking badminton, 21-7. The Sandwick pair took the second game 22-20. Finn and Lorri changed their game to a more attacking style and took the second 21-17 after a hard battle to force a final game.
Hannah and Jennifer fared better in the second, running Jane and Kristin very close but the Sandwick pair kept their cool and took the game 21-19 to bring the score to 4-3 with the other two games still playing.
Finn and Lorri played well in the third and although Wilma and Duncan fought hard they were beaten 21-15. This gave St Clements the match but Roy and Robert were still battling against Ian and George, both teams playing good attacking badminton. Roy and Robert just hung on to take the game 22-20 and give a final match score of 6-3 to St Clements.
There was a lot of good play from all the players producing an excellent match.
