Uphill Badminton Club’s A team is close to retaining their 12th title in a row.

Uphill A team completed their season with a much-anticipated visit to second-placed Clevedon Feathers A.

Going into the match with the title on the line, and having lost the previous two matches against Feathers, the stakes could not have been higher.

Uphill got off to a good start with Christy Cole and Becky Halfpenny winning two before Mark Edwards and Matt Cole took theirs to three games before going down.

One of the performances of the night came next when Paul Edwards and Claire Buckingham beat Feathers’ established county pairing Jason and Nicola in three with a scintillating display.

Matt and Christy had a tough one losing out in two, before Paul continued his fine form with Mark, winning in two. Next up, Claire and Becky started well, but lost in three.

Claire and Christy combined superbly to win in two, but Mark and Becky never got going, losing in two tight games to make it 4-4.

With the match and title at stake, it was set up perfectly for the showpiece rubber. Paul was again in top gear and with Matt took the first game 21-15, losing out 19-21 in the second, before going on to take the decider 21-14 and with it the match 5-4.

This result see’s Uphill finished on 92 points, Feathers are 10 behind and needing a 9-0 win against Frys in a few weeks to stop Uphill claiming title number 12.

Uphill B team finished their season at home against a strong Frys A side. The mixed all went the way of Frys with Billy Fear and Harriet Birt going closest taking their rubber to three games.

Robin Curry and Fear took Frys’ top pair to three games which is some effort against the awesome power of Pete Wrigglesworth. The other two men’s were lost in two games.

Emily Page-Symonds and Harriet Birt had a tense battle before losing out in the third rubber. Emily and Becky Falwasser went down in two tight games before Harriet and Becky had another close three-setter before being edged out.

Despite a valiant effort from captain Rob Morray’s side, this result confirms the B team’s relegation and return to Division 2 next season.

The junior D team finished the season in style with a comprehensive win over Avonvale.

The team of Anna Bickell, Anna Collins, Bethany Chadwick, Tom Miller, Rhys Davies and Harry Gardner all played well.

The night got off to a strong start with Anna B and Tom and Anna C and Rhys both winning their mixed rubbers in two games.

The third mixed was a thriller. Bethany, playing her first match of the season, coped admirably and after three tight games and partnered by Harry, won through.

The ladies produced their best display of the season. The two Anna’s won in two, before Anna C and Bethany won a tight three-setter. The final ladies’ was equally as close, with Anna B and Bethany just losing out in the third.

They boys were also in fine form winning all three rubbers.

Tom and Rhys came through in two, before Rhys and Harry cobined well to also win in two. The final rubber saw Tom and Harry win in the third to complete an emphatic 8-1 win to finish the season in fourth place.