Week 10 News

Forrest D are one of the few teams currently unbeaten in the Bolton Badminton League and on course for promotion.

They came down from B Section last season but are looking for a swift return – as latest opponents mid-table Moorside A discovered when the two clashed at Moorside’s Smithills base.

Gerry Carter and Ian Winrow opened the scoring for the visitors, starting a run of games that Moorside third couple Lilian Croston and Steve Gatting managed to temporarily halt.

However, this proved to be Moorside’s only mixed success and Forrest were assured of a least a point before starting the men’s and ladies’ games with a 9-1 lead. They continued to dominate in both top ladies’ before top men’s doubles were shared. The final two men’s also went the home team’s way but they couldn’t prevent a 14-4 scoreline for Forrest and two more points towards the silverware.

C Section is particularly tight behind leaders Westhoughton C and several current matches ended in a draw. One of the most exciting was Forrest E’s home encounter with Westhoughton B when the home side set off at a gallop, taking the first four games.

Westhoughton fought back with the next four and by the end of the mixed the score was 5-5. The top ladies’ set was split before Mark Allan and Steve Tran took both top men’s for Forrest. Linda Redford and Louise Atherton kept Westhoughton in the hunt with both second ladies’ games – the second 26-24. The final men’s proved as exciting as the rest of the night. The first game went to Forrest 23-21 before the last game of the night was won by Westhoughton to level the score and share the points.

The close competition continues throughout all the league’s divisions, as a D Section fixture between Forrest G and Moorside D - both close to the bottom of the league - revealed.

Played at Forrest’s Arena home, it was Moorside D who scored the first double victory thanks to Moorside top couple Helen Williamson and Stuart Hall. Jean Goody and Simon Ball kept up the good work for Moorside with the first of their mixed, but Stephanie Hill and Ronan Considine got the first 21 for Forrest. When Helen and Stuart added two more and Jean and Simon another game, Moorside took 7-3 lead.

The top men’s and ladies’ set were divided but Forrest needed to take the rest to win and when Jean Goody and Hazel Pennington took one of the second ladies’ set, the points went to the visitors. Forrest won the final two men’s games but were kept out of the points for a 10-8 win thanks to Moorside’s earlier mixed performance.