‘Tendring 2’  3 – 0 ‘Chelmsford 2’

25-18, 25-15, 25-21

Report by Alex Porter

Tendring entered their second Essex Volleyball League fixture of the season hoping to get their first 3 points on the table. Due to work commitments and injuries there was a slightly different line up compared to the season’s opener.   During the warm up Chelmsford looked impressive and there were a few nerves in the Tendring camp. Once the game started these nerves fell away as Tendring took control.

Coach Porter lined his team up so the best 3 servers would go first, hoping this would give them enough lead to let the team relax. As Chelmsford is a mixed team Porter instructions was to serve at the women, hoping their male players would try to protect them and thus cause confusion.  Killer serves from John Embrey, Mitch Brown and Alan Kempen gave Tendring a 10-3 lead which allowed setters Embrey and Dave Smith to distribute the ball around evenly.  As the set progressed Rob Sharman’s middle attacked found the gaps in Chelmsford defence. When they stood back for the powerful hit Sharman tipped, when they came up close to get the tip he smashed the ball down in the corner.  A short run of serves by Chelmsford’s captain Richard Bohannan closed the gap to 13-9 but powerful hitting by Mitch Brown and excellent serving by Smith opened the gap again to help Tendring win the set 25-18.

Set 2 followed a similar pattern with Tendring serving well to build up a lead, this gave Porter a chance to introduce Rob Ward and Jez Worthington.  As Smith only arrived just into time for the match and was now properly warmed up he relaxed and found his form, giving consistent sets to the wings. Again Brown and Embrey lead the team helping Ward to find his feet.  Chelmsford had changed their line up and were stronger in attack but amazing defence play by Ward, Worthington and Brown on a number of points helped maintain the lead and Tendring won 25-15.

With another line up change for Chelmsford, it looked like they had given up, Porter urged his men to finish the job. Will Hart started to get more sets in the middle allowing him to pick up some valuable points and increase his confidence. The other middle player Worthington also got to attack more as the Tendring passing unit grew in confidence. With great serving by Ward Tendring found themselves 18-12 up but a late rally by Chelmsford brought them neck and neck at 20-20. With Chelmsford fighting for survival and Tendring under pressure for the first time it could have gone either way but Tendring stepped up a gear and found themselves at match point 24-20 which they took on their second attempt.