Young ‘Castle side makes solid start (16/09/06)

Mens Division 3N

Newcastle (Staffs) 2nd team 1 – 3 Boathouse Dewsbury (18-25, 25-19,
17-25, 19-25)
Newcastle (Staffs) 2nd team 3 – 1 Nottingham Rockets (25-17, 25-19,
21-25, 25-19)

Newcastle (Staffs) VC’s new young 2nd team made its’ National Volleyball
League debut at Madeley High School on Saturday with a double-header
fixture against Boathouse Dewsbury and former giants of the English
game, Nottingham Rockets. ‘Castle’s 12 man squad contained only one
player over the age of 16, with 26 year old Mark Speake making his first
appearance in around 8 years for the club after spells at both Telford
and Loughborough. This lack of experience means the team has plenty to
learn, but on the evidence of the first two matches the players will
grow in stature and confidence throughout the season, and with no less
than 9 player making their National League debut the future looks bright
for the club.

Vs Boathouse Dewsbury
Their first opponents were the experienced Yorkshire team Boathouse
Dewsbury who finished an impressive 4th in the table last season.
‘Castle’s young charges started slowly and looked very tentative,
allowing their experienced opponents to direct the play with confidence
and no little amount of flair from Polish powerhouse Dawid Greziak as
they built up an unassailable lead. ‘Castle fought back late on in the
set to close the gap significantly, and were able to take momentum into
the 2nd set.

The 2nd set saw the introduction of Alex Francis who passed and hit
through the left side of the net with increasing confidence. This was
accompanied by strong play from England Junior team mates Sam Allen,
Adam Brewer and Luke Davenport, and a disciplined middle blocking
display from Dave Lawton whose long float serving caused the opposition
receive great problems and ‘Castle’s young charges took the set
comfortably 25-19.

In the third and fourth sets Boathouse regained their composure and took
the game away from ‘Castle despite the best efforts of the home team who
could reflect positively on the first appearance in the NVL having tried
a number of different line-ups and systems of play, including the
interesting option of the two-setter system.

Vs Nottingham Rockets
After an hour long break in which Boathouse Dewsbury completed a winning
weekend with a comfortable 3-0 defeat of Nottingham Rockets, ‘Castle
took to the court for the last match of the triangular. Having seen the
Rockets in action against Boathouse, ‘Castle felt confident that they
had scouted plenty of information on their opponents and started
impressively by comfortably winning the first two sets. With Dave Lawton
and Luke Davenport playing with great desire in the middle, ‘Castle’s
block grew in its’ security, supported well by tigerish covering from
libero Tom Robinson. A strong service run from Sam Allen saw his jump
float serves cause disarray in the Nottingham passing unit, and allowed
‘Castle to build their own attacks with confidence and clear intention,
with Mark Speake blazing wing attacks through, over and around the
block.

In the third set coach Rod Stockwell was able to introduce young setter
Phil Bloor and experiment with his line-up. Nottingham regained
confidence as their hitters began to test the ‘Castle defence with more
regularity and took the set to close the gap to 2-1. The 4th set saw the
pattern of the early stages of match return and ‘Castle took the match
3-1 to complete a promising start to their National League season.

Squad (all featured in the matches): Sam Allen (c), Mark Speake, Luke
Davenport, Alex Francis, Dave Lawton, Adam Brewer, Tom Gething, Mitchell
Wellings, Neil Tapp, Sam Thomas, Phil Bloor, Tom Robinson (libero)

Will Roberts