NVL Men Bristol Speedwell (A) & Cardiff Celts (A) Match Report 2010-11

Bristol Speedwell 1 - 3 Tendring

19-25, 25-20, 23-25, 19-25

Cardiff Celt 3 - 1 Tendring

25-19, 20-25, 22-25, 17-25

Report by Neil Masters

Tendring suffered Highs and Lows last weekend, with a road trip to Bristol and Cardiff. Tendring dropped off the top spot for the first time in the calendar year, however only on sets difference.

The weekend’s first match saw Tendring suffer an upset against a struggling team. It looked like a straight forward win when Tendring won the first set 25-19, but Speedwell upped their game. With not much to lose Speedwell’s hitting frustrated Tendring and as Speedwell created momentum for themselves, they became very hard to stop.

Tendring gave Speedwell early leads in the remaining sets and could not close the gaps with everything that Speedwell touched turning to points and uncharacteristic errors from Tendring dealt a huge blow to Tendring. Tendring eventually losing 3-1.

Tendring continued their weekend against Cardiff and with so much to prove from the previous day and the threat of losing 2 games in a weekend, this was going to be a real challenge.

Unfortunately Tendring suffered a hangover from the previous loss, with them losing the first set in very similar circumstances. Errors and an inability to stop the opponents from winning points, looked like Tendring were going to lose 2 matches in a row for the first time in 2 seasons.

Tendring then rediscovered their title winning form from last season, and the team camaraderie put them in good stead for a great come back. Tendring had brought some momentum from the end of the first set into the second and began promisingly. The set and indeed the match remained tight throughout the remaining sets but Tendring showing superior play when the going got tough.

With only 8 games to play in the league and with 5 at home (starting with New Forest on 16th Jan, 1.00 TTC), Tendring have formed a fantastic base to go on to claim their second league title in as many years.