Tendring 3 - 1 Guildford International

25-22, 21-25, 28-26, 25-18

Report by Neil Masters

Tendring Get Back On Track

A really disappointed Tendring team arrived at Guildford knowing that only a win would give them any satisfaction from the weekend. Guildford had crept up to 3^rd position in the league and were trying to be the first team to beat Tendring in the league this season.

Tendring still carrying the emotional scars from the day before’s disappointment, started apprehensive. Player/Coach Neil Masters hit some good form in the latter part of the set creating the opportunity for them to win the set 25-22.

Guildford who were relegated last season showed their quality as Tendring’s service errors cost them dear in the second set. Only when the set was almost lost did Tendring start to produce the volleyball they had been used to, but still lost the set 25-21.

The momentum had swung and Tendring took advantage going into a small lead at 15-13. Guildford were not going to give up and drew level at 23 each. This period of play proved to be decisive. With both teams now needing to win by 2 clear points they both traded point for point first Tendring had set point, then Guildford had their chance before Jamie Everett blocked Guildford’s attacking player to take the set 28-26.

With their confidence improved from that well fought set, Tendring went from strength to strength. Dove’s service was now finding weaknesses in Guildford’s receive and took them to a 17-12 lead. But Guildford managed to close the gap slightly before intelligent hitting from Seb Widlarz and Aaron Jones sealed the win 25-18.

Janice Porter Award: Aaron Jones