Men's Regional 1 Vs. Redhill Firsts
Saturday 7th November 2009
Two depleted sides faced each other in Birmingham’s third game. Birmingham, with only six players through a hodgepodge of injuries and absences faced a tricky tie against a young and talented Redhill squad, with national league experience. The build up was foreboding too with coach Howard giving directions over the phone to one car before missing the turn himself, but despite this muppetry the team got themselves warmed up in a chilly hall, Anton and James preparing to play out of position.
The first set went well with strong serving putting pressure on Redhill and preventing them from creating strong enough attacks to cause Birmingham too many problems. Strong cross court hitting from outsides Ayo and Marian maintained the momentum and kept Birmingham ahead throughout. Playing a simple brand of volleyball to begin the basics were established early with a consistently useable first ball allowing the team to find some rhythm early.
Perhaps with the margin of victory in mind the second set did not kick off so well, poor passing and loss of focus giving Redhill the chance to bring in the middles more and see the quality of ball to outside improve, asking more of the Birmingham defence and block. With this slow start Birmingham found themselves 12-7 down having struggled to return the ball over the net regularly enough to keep up with the trading of points. However despite a certain trademark block Birmingham soon found themselves at the next timeout at 13-13, good work from Damon giving him more points to his name as well as making space on the wings. Having worked hard to get back into the set the two sides traded points in quick succession and a tight set was finally won 25-23 much to the relief of the Birmingham team.
Looking to revise their plans Birmingham came out to be aggressive in the third, aiming to use their height advantage at the net to dominate the game. This initially looked set to work, however an injured wrist for outside hitter Ayo caused some problems for the Birmingham pass which was duly exploited by a buoyant Redhill. This left Birmingham 17-12 down at the timeout where the lack of subs left some rapid readjustments to be made. With James and Damon stepping up to contribute to the pass Birmingham were able to reassert themselves, putting up a steady high ball for Mario to get under and forcing the opposition to make mistakes and put themselves back under pressure. With increasing agitation on the other side Birmingham brought the score back, with Marians use of the block seemingly securing a match point until it hit him square in the face rather than go out. However facing yet a another tight finish the team showed an encouraging knack of keeping cool and were able to close out the match 29-27 for a satisfying first win of the season.
Match Facts
Competition: WM Division 1 Mens.
Played: Away.
Result: Won 3-0.
Set Scores: 19-25, 23-25, 27-29.