NVL Men Guildford International (H) Match Report 2010-11

Tendring's title hopes remain strong after a devastating performance in front of a 50 strong crowd. With 4 key players missing from the match day squad Tendring called on Eris Tolay to bolster the squad.
Errors were Tendring's main problem as they entered the first time out 8-4 down. Guildford their opponents, had effectively only won 1 attack and it was Tendring who had scored most of their points. Joe Cook followed the time out with a service run of 6 points placing Tendring back into contention. Liam Chinnery steadied the serve receive unit & provided a solid platform from which Tendring could attack. Janice Porter award winner Nick Davies was then able to supply his hitters with more quality & Tendring drew level. In particular Stuart Dove connected well with Davies and that combination paved the way to winning the first set. 25-16.
Guildford had taken Tendring to all 5 sets in their previous encounter, but Guildford were a shadow of that team and Tendring took advantage.
Player coach Neil Masters who had spent most of the season sidelined through injury found enough form to be a good foil for the Davies/Dove combination. Masters was well supported by captain Seb Widlarz who found enough gaps in Guilfords block to power hits onto their court.
The second set followed a similar trend with Tendring making early mistakes but coming back well and showing their dominance. Spencer White-Overton confounded Guildfords misery with good blocking and attacking skills. This led to a 25-15 second set victory.
The third set was much tighter on paper with Tendring only winning by 3 points, but Tendring had relaxed a little and allowed Guildford a few more points than they deserved. But ultimately it was the Davies/Dove combo that was so effective that provided the winning point.
Tendring face Super 8 side, London Docklands next weekend in the National Cup Quarter finals, will there be another shock win for Tendring? Tendring's next home fixture is the title decider against Danes on the 6th March, 11.30 at TTC Frinton Campus.