AS a mark of respect to Rodney Cooper - one of the founding members of BATs Badminton Club - the first BATs A team match of the season was rearranged so it was BATs B team who got the season underway with a match against Builders in division 3 of the Plymouth and District Badminton League. With only Alan Berry having league experience for the men, the three men?s doubles were always going to be tough. In the first rubber, Alan and David Wright battled hard but went down 8-15, 8-15. The second rubber again went the way of Builders but the last few points proved to be hard to get for the Builders pair and BATs Alan and Chris Gardener made a mini recovery. In the end, Builders took the rubber 8-15, 7-15. With it being David and Chris?s first match against adults they did well to claim the serve back repeatedly in the third rubber. The final score of 0-15, 1-15 did not show the effort put in. Builders' ladies had gone the previous season without losing a single rubber and it was always going to be tough for the BATs girls. In the first rubber Abi Maunder and Rachael Williams changed tactics on a number of occasions but could not break down the experienced Builders' pairing - eventually going down 2-15, 2-15. Abi and Katie MacNaughton tried their hand against the second Builders pairing. Again they tried different tactics but the Builders were too experienced and won out 3-15, 3- 5. The third rubber with Rachael partnering Katie also went the way of Builders 3-15, 2-15. The first mixed doubles rubber was the rubber of the evening with Alan Berry and Abi Maunder only just missing out 10 -15, 15-10, 15-17. Abi produced serving and net play worthy of the top draw and had the Builders pair on the back foot when she served. The second rubber saw David Wright and Rachael Williams play an experienced Builders pair. Experience won the rubber 1-15, 0-15. The third rubber saw Chris Gardener and Katie MacNaughton play their first ever mixed rubber against adults. Even though they fought hard the experience of the Builders pair showed through and they lost it 0-15, 0-15. At the end of the evening Builders had won the match 9-0 but BATs took away the congratulations of the Builders players for playing in a sporting and pleasant way.