Badminton round-up

A FIXTURE packed February began with a derby when Saddleworth hosted rivals Lydgate.

Earlier in the season Saddleworth won the reverse fixture 11-7, the first victory over Lydgate in recent memory.
Lydgate are a strong team and had been stalwarts of the first division until they were relegated two seasons ago.
However, 2017 was not Lydgate’s year and they have been suffering from a string of injuries to key players.
Lydgate still valiantly fielded a team to honour the fixture, albeit with at least two players participating despite carrying injuries which hugely contributed to Saddleworth’s comprehensive 17-1 victory.
Lydgate played a local young schoolgirl, Louise Hutchinson, only 13 years old, but Louise played confidently and is certainly a player to watch as she develops and gains valuable experience.
The second fixture of February was away at the Millennium Centre, Featherstall Road, Oldham, against Oldham ‘B’.
Oldham occupy the top of the table comfortably, with two games in hand and are a sure bet for promotion. Saddleworth played well in the fixture and left the match with a 12-6 loss.
Saddleworth probably took more games than they would have expected and certainly more than Oldham would have liked.
Andy Mills, the Saddleworth captain, took the most games for the visiting team by winning four of his six matches. The latter two of Andy’s matches were hard fought playing alongside his younger brother Neil, and the siblings thoroughly deserved to take both games with some consistent returns, strong shot selections and a stroke or two of luck.
Mid-February lined up a Valentine’s fixture and a couple of the Saddleworth regulars were unavailable as date night took precedence.
On February 14, first division team Manchester Performance Centre visited Saddleworth School in the quarter finals of the handicap cup. As the weaker of the two sides, Saddleworth benefited as the handicap in their favour.
Manchester Performance Centre, who have an excellent reputation for nurturing young talent were commanding predominantly because they fielded two enormously experienced former Lancashire county players, David Edgar and Keith Cuncarr. The former’s father, Bill Edgar, was a regular for Saddleworth in days gone by.
Given the experience of the county players, Manchester PC progressed to the semi-finals.
The winning margin, with the handicap applied, was only 16 points, less than a point per game.
It was valuable experience for Saddleworth but still no less disappointing at the end of the evening knowing the team had been dumped out of the cup by such a narrow margin.
With only league matches remaining this season, Saddleworth are looking to cement their place in the top half of the league, a welcome improvement from last year’s relegation battle.
The first match in March will be against last year’s relegation rivals Shaw Clough.