Boro find it tough

TARA got the new season off to a great start in the Oldham & Rochdale Badminton League first division with a one-sided 15-0 home victory over Balderstone.

The whole team played superbly, with top performances from Colin Dunn and Tony Weston and a great debut effort from Ciaran Webster.

However, they found it tougher on their visit to Dons.

The scores were level after the first ten games, notable home performances coming from Neil Tursley, with 15-3 and 15-1 wins.

The 11th game saw a 15-13 win for the Tara pair of Tony Weston/A.Shackleton over Graham White/Neil Tursley but the Dons won the final four games for a hard-fought 9-6 success.

Littleborough have had a difficult start to the season.

Their first match saw the visit of Northern Flight and the match was level after ten games, Mark Golding doing well for Boro with 15-7, 15-2 wins.

However, Flight then put together a great run of wins to record a 10-5 victory.

Littleborough then visited newly-promoted Lancashire Racquets A who took control right from the start with good wins from Michael Winterburn/Peter Burke 15-4 and Michael/Janette Flynn 15-5.

The wins kept coming for the home side, with Anthony Riddle/Danny White winning all three of their games (15-0, 15–13, 15-3), to help secure a 13-2 victory.

In Division Two, the season started with a Saddleworth derby.

The B team fought really hard throughout to keep the scoreline tight, with Brad Heap winning all five of his matches.

But the A side eventually proved too strong, recording a 9-6 win, with their star performer, Martin Read, winning four of his matches.

Saddleworth A kept up their strong start when they visited Spotland.

Steve Kelly was the star man for the home team, with five wins, including 15–12, 15–6 and 15-10 with his partner Simon Dukes.

However, good wins from the away team pair of Martin Kelly/James Whyman 15-6 and 15-10 helped secure a 10-5 win.