The women’s badminton team continue to look strong in second place of league 2B, after beating bottom-placed York St John 1st.
The home side were surprised to go 0-1 down in the first game: York’s first doubles team, Jenny Eyes and Clare Breare, were beaten 18-21, 17-21 by St John’s Joy Wong and Natalie Jones – a pair who were supposed to be the second doubles.
Another underdog victory saw York level the score: player of the match and second singles player, Rachael Farrington, beat first-choice Nikki Hainsworth in a gripping match. She won the first game 24-22, lost the second 12-21, but showed character to come back and win the final game 21-19.
Further doubt was cast over the honesty of St John’s ordering of doubles when York’s second doubles team, Beth Cowell and Louise Kemp, beat their first doubles Hannah Wightman and Jaz Crisp 21-13, 21-16 to put York ahead overall. Charlotte Crosby was a late arrival for York but made amends by meticulously dispatching opponent Jess Waring 21-0, 21-0. Eyes and Breare put York within one game of victory with a win in a close match against Wightman and Crisp.
Crosby’s second match was much more difficult than her first, and she was edged out 15-21, 19-21 by Hainsworth. At 4-2, a draw was still a possibility for St. John, but the impressive Rachael Farrington killed off any remaining hope with a 21-0, 21-1 win against Jess Waring. The win made trivial a more contested match on the other court; Beth Cowell and Louise Kemp were battling hard to hold off Natalie Jones and Joy Wong. They eventually failed to do so, but York won anyway with a final score of 5-3.
Jenny Eyes was happy with the result but bemoaned the decision by BUCS to give first-placed Northumbria 1st three points for a game against Huddersfield that was cancelled: “Huddersfield couldn’t get there so Northumbria were given a walk-over – we’re really cross about it”.
With Northumbria benefiting from those points, as well a win in the six-pointer against York, Eyes’ team are left relying heavily on other teams’ results to aid them in a push for promotion.