Tough Night on the Road for Skillcentre at Abbeygate

It was a challenging Division 4 away fixture for Skillcentre on September 30, as we came up short against a strong Abbeygate Open B side.

Somesh Velagala and Aaron Heard provided the brightest spark of the evening for Skillcentre B, securing our only full point with a hard-fought victory over the home third string. After winning the first game 21-13, they rallied fiercely to take a gritty 23-21 win in the second to seal the result.

Ash Watts and Simon Colwill also got us on the board early, showing great resilience to bounce back from a first-game deficit and force a split against Abbeygate’s top pair (15-21, 21-17). Graham Bolton and Prashanth Chakkula added our final half-point of the night, battling hard in the second round to snatch a nail-biting 22-20 second game off the home third string.

Ultimately, Abbeygate’s middle pair of Smith and Baillie were the undeniable difference-makers. They were absolutely lethal on the night, ruthlessly sweeping all three of their matchups in straight games to secure a maximum 3 points and keep the victory firmly in the home team’s hands.

Round 1

• Bradbury & Ahmed vs. Watts & Colwill | 21-15, 17-21 | Points: ½ – ½
• Smith & Baillie vs. Bolton & Chakkula | 21-18, 21-4 | Points: 1 – 0
• Shaffrey & Bautista vs. Velagala & Heard | 13-21, 21-23 | Points: 0 – 1 Score: Abbeygate Open B 1½ – 1½ Skillcentre

Round 2

• Smith & Baillie vs. Watts & Colwill | 21-10, 21-14 | Points: 1 – 0
• Shaffrey & Bautista vs. Bolton & Chakkula | 21-14, 20-22 | Points: ½ – ½
• Bradbury & Ahmed vs. Velagala & Heard | 21-15, 21-18 | Points: 1 – 0 Score: Abbeygate Open B 4 – 2 Skillcentre

Round 3

• Shaffrey & Bautista vs. Watts & Colwill | 21-9, 21-16 | Points: 1 – 0
• Bradbury & Ahmed vs. Bolton & Chakkula | 21-18, 21-13 | Points: 1 – 0
• Smith & Baillie vs. Velagala & Heard | 21-19, 21-18 | Points: 1 – 0 Score: Abbeygate Open B 7 – 2 Skillcentre