Match Reports - Mens Second Team

Mets 2 v Su Ragazzi (Away) 25th October 2008

 

Mets 2 this year are a new team. With several players retiring at the end of last season and others moving up to the first team, Mets2 had to call on their U19 junior men’s team to form the bulk of this seasons squad. Never one to shy from a challenge, Mark Hudson stepped into the role of coach, setting himself an incredible task of practically building up the team from scratch.

 

Mets got off to a confident start, winning the first set 25-21 thanks to confident and aggressive setting from Fraser Brown connecting well with mature and focussed hitting from Scott Montgomery and Alan Cuthbert. Scott also provided a stable passing platform to add to the unit that contained the rock solid Gordon Laughland, this season moving into the role of passer hitter. Colin Towers, obviously benefited from MarkH as coach and finally came good in serve receive. With a faultless passing performance adding to his defensive coverage, he at last became the complete libero.

 

Su Ragazzi, however, rallied from there and uncertainty started to creep into the Mets team. Confidence in the hitting started to fade, with over-cautiousness causing errors in all areas of the court. Steven Baird showed flashes of his potential in both his hitting and blocking in the middle position and the mercurial Johnny Pender proved to be almost unreadable to the Su block, deservedly winning some key points through his rotation at middle. Both Steven and Johnny provided a solid serving performance.

 

Despite strong blocking and hitting at 2 from Lukasz Adamczak very steady and intelligent hitting from Gordon at 4, Su Ragazzi took the next three sets 25-17, 25-15 and 25-19.

 

The 5th set saw the chance for newcomers Fred Atiso and Elijah Petter to gain court experience. Both players settled immediately to provide an outstanding contribution to the Mets unit, with sensible hitting and stable passing. It seemed fitting that the last hit of the game was from Scott Montgomery, his confidence returning to deliver a perfect 4 attack that won the 5th set for Mets.

 

Mets 2 v Dundee 2 (Home) 29 Mar 08

 

In a very tight 2nd division, the Mets guys had to win this match to guarantee 2nd position and a place in the playoffs. The standard Mets lineup took to the court for first set that was dominated by strong hitting from Dundee, leaving Mets 1 set down at 25-21.

 

The 2nd set saw Daniel Najdrowski and Simon Dear settle into the reliable and powerful hitting regimen that has been a significant feature of the all games this year. In addition, the intelligent decision by setter Gordon Laughland to move the starting rotation round 3 positions to bring Lucasz Adamczak up to block against the Dundee hitter, proved a masterstroke. The towering strength of Lucasz blocking at 1 started to force Dundee to resort to cross court hitting, which in nearly all cases allowed libero Colin Towers to keep the ball in play. A very close set finished 28-26 Mets.

 

The 3rd set allowed Gordon to stabilise the offence with precision play and sensible choices making use of Sean Hendry and Steven Baird through middle and some consistent hitting by Lukasz through 2. The surprise appearance of Scott Collins midway through the set further strengthened the middle hitting and blocking to gain Mets a 25-22 win.

 

The 4th set proved frustrating for Mets as Dundee tightened up their blocking. This saw the Mets 4 hitters having to make more attempts before success, relying on close-to-the-floor Colin’s coverage  under the block to keep the ball in play for further attempts. A change in tact by the Dundee hitting then saw them playing more for wipe-off rather than outright power, making coverage more difficult to read. 25-21 Dundee.

 

The 15 point 5th set is always too much of a lottery to rely on and this proved again the case as Dundee capitalised on a run of Mets errors to win the set 15-12.

 

Dundee again proved unworthy of their lowly league position with a strong performance that pushed a slightly uninspired Mets side. Still at least no broken ribs this time round!!

 

After a strong performance all season and some fantastic games this year, the Mets guys were disappointed to see their seasons efforts result in 3rd place by loosing the last game. That was until word came through that Troon had beaten Bellshill 5-0. The closeness of this years 2nd division meant that this again elevated Mets2 into runners up for the league and a playoff for promotion to 1st Division. It was a great way to end an enjoyable, consistent and successful league season. It’s been a real priveledge to have been on court with you all.....both the Mets guys and all the other teams in the league who have contributed to it being such a close and competitive season.

 

 

 

Mets 2 v Paisley Trailblazers (Home) 23Feb08

 

The 2nd division is again proving to be a close battle, with 5 teams, including Mets, currently sitting up top on equal points. With 3 matches to go, it as essential Mets win today.

The first set started slowly, with both teams trading points. Mets intially struggling to cope with some intelligent play to mid-court and strong rallying from Paisley. Eventually however, Mets started to settle and allow Gordon Laughland the setting choices needed to introduce some brutally effective hitting from Daniel Najdrowski and Sean Hendry. Libero Colin Towers managed to get his trademark serve receive shanky out the way early on his first touch of the ball, then settled in to the role of assisting Daniel and Simon Dear in the passing unit and scrapping around for any stray balls. Simon again proved a safe and steady hitting platform  when in the front rotation, hitting some varied and well-angled balls consistently throughout the entire match. Mets won the first set 25-20.

In the 2nd set, a strong run of serves and blocking from Lucasz Adamczyk helped the set move in Mets favour. Fraser Brown seamlessly substituted into the setting role and Scott Collins, as ever, provided a strong middle hit and block. 25-18 Mets.

In the third set, Mets again proved just how vulnerable they were to complacency, when faced with a Paisley side that showed real fight and were far more willing to engage in and win the longer rallies by scrapping for every point the could. It’s a lesson Mets need to learn and Paisley deservedly won the set 25-20 on pure feist.

Scott Collins and Simon Dear provided the necessary level-headedness during the break and Mets returned to court humbled and with a renewed sense of focus. In a rare turn of events, Steven Baird produced a quality of serve throughout the match that complemented his strong presence in the middle hitting position. Seems his absence from training is having an anti-effect!!! Mets settled quickly and delivered some of the strongest hitting yet given by the team this season. At times Daniel and Sean hit the ball so hard, from such height, that there was an audible crack that is rarely heard outside of free net hitting at training. Alan Cuthbert quietly joined the court during this set and quickly settled into a mature and faultless performance in all areas of the court. 25-12 Mets.

With the sting of the 3rd set complacency still in their minds, Mets were careful to remain focussed for the 5th set. Alan Cuthbert again rarely playing anything other than perfect. With Fraser again taking up the setting duties, Mets managed to remain on top to win the set 15-12.

A good 4-1 win and thankfully in an environment that allowed us to get away with complacency. Let’s keep the focus!!!

 

 

Mets 2 v Troon (Away)

 

A mixed bag of players arrived in Troon, but from the start settled in well to the play. Despite an extended absence, Daniel Najdrowski delivered consistently brutal spiking right from the start that lasted the entire match. Even when roofed by a block, libero Colin Towers somehow managed to dig the ball from shoe height on several occasions and allowed setter Gordon Laughland choices that won the rallies. Through middle, Johnny Arthur hit hard and intelligently, finding the gap in the Troon block and winning everything he touched throughout the 5 sets. Smart hitting from Lucasz Adamczak resulted in precious few blocks for Troon at the 2 position.

Complacency, then confusion over the defensive rotation managed to lose Mets the 2nd set. In the 3rd set, however, a renewed focus, buoyed by consistent hitting and good all-round play by Simon Dear allowed Mets to pull away. A strong front line, with particularly powerful blocking and accurate hitting by Sean Hendry and Mark Hudson (the latest Mets player to adopt the team fashion of broken ribs) allowed Gordon Laughland the opportunity to make consistently intelligent setting choices. This made for a strong 3rd set win leading into an even stronger 4th set win.

Fraser Brown took up the setting duty in the 5th set, making intelligent choices and accurate deliveries. Despite keeping things level until halfway, being first to 3 sets afforded Mets slightly too relaxed  an attitude and this just cost them the 5th set.

 

 

Mets 2 vs Dundee 2 (Away)

 

You could tell it was the longest away fixture of the season by the fact we only just managed to scrape together 7 players, who all happened to be the smallest 7 of the pool. Despite turning up to find a uniformly tall Dundee side, Mets got off to a plucky start taking an early lead in the first set, but then started to falter once the Dundee 4 hitter started to find his range and power. Although successful on a number of occasions, the Mets blocking unit of Lucasz Adamcsaz and Fraser Smith just didn’t have the height to consistently inconvenience the Dundee hitting.

Even consistent hitting from Gordon Laughland and Simon Dear at position 4 and Johnny Arthur through 3 wasn’t enough to slow the march of points in Dundee’s favour. The Mets players having to hit around or over a taller Dundee block meant having to play 3 or 4 attacks to win any points. Steven Baird was the only Mets player with enough height to provide any kind of blocking resistance against the Dundee onslaught. Much nearer the floor, libero Colin Towers provided some coverage of balls coming past the Mets block and was later forgiven for a shockingly bad 5th set serve-receive shanky, on the discovery he’d sustained a fractured rib in a collision with Simon Dear in the 3rd set.

After trying their all and losing the the first 3 sets, Mets realised the task was beyond them this day and the final 5-0 score came all too quickly.

With the first half of the season now complete, Mets 2 now know their core players and will set about revising gameplay to take account of the strengths and weaknesses of this established group. The remaining training sessions over the Christmas period look set to provide a rich ground for experimentation before the 2nd half of the season begins in January. Interesting times!!