Richmond v Tendring Men's 1st
25-22, 24-26, 28-20, 26-24, 15-15
Report by Alex Porter
Tendring men’s 1st team travelled to Richmond on Saturday to fight for a place at the top of National League Div 1. Richmond have surprised the league by getting promoted last year by beating the early title contenders.
Both teams started well trading point for point, the score reached 20-20 in the 1st set and neither team had made a two point advantage so far. Tendring’s Conor Walker attacked on the left side and to give Tendring a 21-20. Richmond fort back and took the lead 23-21, Walker and Owen Lamb combined well again to pull a point back but Richmond made two great attacks to win the set 25-22.
Tendring started the 2nd set well and created a 4 point advantage, Richmond keep close the gap buy good hitting from Jermaine Miles kept Tendring in front. Big blocks from Alex Porter and Kosta Yiannakkoss gave Tendring the momentum as the team reached the 20’s. Richmond raised their game but Tendring were too strong as Erik Halberg spiked the ball into the corner to win the set 26-24.
Both teams swapped the lead in the 3rd set as Jack Bruce hustled in defence, retrieving balls from all over the court. Richmond raised their game to play some of the best volleyball of their season but Walker had other ideas and pounded point after point. At 24-24 neither team let up, Lamb roof blocked Richmond’s best player but then Richmonds middle players stepped up and levelled the score. The teams went point for point but Yiannakkos had other ideas, with a kill and block he gave Tendring the set 30-28.
Again the 4th set was a battle by both teams, a rotation fault gave Richmond a 9-6 team but Tendring kept up the fight and got themselves in back into the game. Halberg and Derek Sullivan connected well to level the score at 16-16. Then Richmond pulled away again to win the set 26-24.
Tendring started well in the 5th with a 8-6 advantage, this is normally enough to see teams through to victory but Richmond chipped away. Tendring were 12-11 up, Richmond upped their servie pressure and took at 13-12 lead, Tendring sided out but Richmond won the next 2 points to give them the match.
MVP Jermaine Miles