2011-12 Match Report Archive

A mixed bag of results for the Hurst this season with one team going down from Newbury Div. 1 to Div 2, and another taking the drop from Newbury Div. 2 to Div. 3. The Basingstoke Div.1 team finished in the top half of the table.

Hope we can have a few more reports next season.

2011-12 Reports


Breaking News - Hurst go third in Basingstoke division one with valuable points over the top 2 teams

An excellent 4 points were gained by Hurst against 2nd place Viking A on the 12th March to put us into 3rd in the Basingstoke division. Mark Payne + Jon Spragg, Stephen Lambe + Alan Davies both winning 2 games for Hurst. This match was almost a Hurst win Mark and Jon narrowly losing in 3 ends to the Viking A top pair and Dave Ord and Nigel Appleton losing in 3 ends to the Viking A third pair.

A couple of weeks later Hurst without the services of Stephen Lambe, (congratulation on the birth of Finnian) visited league leaders BH Pegasus A where they secured a further 2 points. Mark Payne and Jon Spragg battled hard with all their games going the distance to 3 ends in hot conditions to win 2 points for Hurst.


Vikings Raided
(Hurst A vs Viking A, 3 Dec 2011)

NOTE: The following report was intended as a humorous rather than entirely factual account, and was inspired by comments made in jest during the evening. We would like to clarify that teams from the Hurst always apply maximum effort in every game. This match was no exception, a fact supported by the scores on the match card. We are a social (but competitive) club, and this report was intended for the entertainment and amusement of our members. Nevertheless, we apologise for any offense that may have been caused.  


The A Team showed up for the annual thrashing at Viking A. The plan - lose quickly and go to the pub. With players down and relying on heroic volunteers from the B Team, we showed up on time. All except Kev Simpson who was stuck on a delayed train somewhere outside Reading West. This meant we were a pair down, but here's the thing - so were Viking. Half way through the evening Kev.S showed up. Suddenly we had a chance. A chance to steal 3 points.


We set about our business. The plan now to lose VERY fast before their missing player showed up. However, Kev S fuelled by rage against the rail network and Dave Ord fuelled by a nice cup of tea (yes, really) ....  played like demons. So there we sat, at the back of the court, willing on our opponents and praying their 6th man didn't arrive. The atmosphere was tense. The door opened. A badminton player walked in. Then a second. Phew - just a casual booking on the spare court. Finally Kev and Dave's final game came to an end, greeted by an almost audible sigh of relief from the back of the court. We left quickly, trying not to look too keen to go. As we left through the reception, their missing 6th player passed us on his way in. The gradual realisation of who we were, began to show on his face. We walked on through the door. Then we ran. We ran like bastards, laughing as we went. Like thieves disappearing into the night with our ill gotten gains - three points! Sorry Viking. You were robbed... pillaged by The Hurst. It was a 6-3 defeat for us, but it felt like a glorious victory. The beer in the pub afterwards never tasted so good.


Joking aside, the Hurst team played very well and put up a strong fight. Thanks to Ben Leyburn, Kev Simpson, and Colin Cresswell of the B team for great performances against one of the best teams in the division. Well done all, including the trio or A Team regulars who played; Mark, Dave O, and Kev.E (yes, I take some credit for our glorious defeat).


November 2011


After some disappointing results the A team has started to turn the season around, starting with a comprehensive 6-3 away win against Waverley A. Jon Spragg and Stephen Lambe winning 3 for Hurst. This was then followed up with a 7-2 thrashing of local rivals Aldermaston, pairings Mark Payne, Dave Ord and Kevin Edwards, Alan Davies both just lost out in 3 ends to Aldermaston's number 1 pair. It was a great result in front of the home crowd (thanks Nigel for coming to support).


In mens division 3 Hurst continued their success with an enjoyable 7-2 victory over Kennet C with many games going the distance to 3 ends. Chris Puxley and Ben Leyburn won all 3 for Hurst.

After coming runners in the Blackford Cup last year Hurst were narrowly edged out in the quater finals of this years competition by 6 points against Kennet B. Hurst Lost the away leg by 25 points and won the home leg by 19 points. This was an especially good effort given that Kennet B had a +6 start on each game.








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