Oxford Mens 2 - Struggle ...

Good morning all,

I finally found some time to write about Mens 2 previous fixture.

1st Game - Oxford Vs. Basingstoke
The team on court was Simon, Sam, Richard, David, Sultan & myself as standard players, and Sebastien as Libero. An even start from both teams, no one giving easy points to the others reaching a score of 6-6. Then we got going & scored 5 points in a row, forcing Basingstoke to take a timeout at 6-11. It was needed as they reduced the point difference to 13-14. Once again, we gathered up to re increase that difference to 18-14. This time, no timeout from Basingstoke but just an enormous will to win. And they caught up with us 20-20, forcing Sam to take a timeout. We thought it would be enough as we got the next point, but it was without counting on Basingstoke's determination. I think our old demons came back & we lost our confidence against pressure, allowing them to score in a row the next 5 points. They won the first set 25-21.
The second set started with the same team on court. This time, Basingstoke took a head start, forcing us to take a timeout at 5-11. A few more points and the coach decided to bring some fresh blood on court, swapping Sultan & Mark. Without giving any easy points, we reduced their advance to 2 points: 14-12 and they took a timeout. It was effective, and they increased again their advance to +5 points, advance they would keep until the end of the set and the game. Final score was 25-20 for Basingstoke.

2nd Game - Oxford Vs. Farnborough
A harder game for us against the 3rd of the league led by the Twins. The team on court was Simon, Sam, Richard, Sultan, Sebastien (L) & myself. A rush start from us, forcing their first timeout at 2-5 and then in the lead by 12-5. This is when they started catching back and reduced our advance to 14-11 & then took the lead 17-15. I might repeat myself, but old demons, pressure ... The next score was 22-17 when we decided to bring Sultan back on Richard. But it didn't make a difference and we lost the first set 25-17 after loosing 5 points in a row.
The second set started with Farnborough in a really strong state in the lead 7-3. We then maintained this score difference for the rest of the set: 13-9, 15-11, 18-14. In the end, I think we lost our confidence in making a come back, and Farnborough used it to finish the set & game 25-18.

We're now fighting not to be in the last triangular, and we will need wins to manage this...

	Team	P	W	L	F	A	Pts
	Oxford Mens 1	16	15	1	30	7	45
	Spikeopaths Mens 1	16	14	2	30	5	44
	Farnborough Vipers	16	8	8	18	18	26
	Maidenhead Mens 1	12	7	5	17	11	24
	Basingstoke Lions	14	4	10	8	20	12
	Oxford Mens 2	14	3	11	7	23	10
	Reading University	14	0	14	2	28	2