The victorious Guernsey team, captained by Lisa Ingrouille, second from the right in the front row. (0858733)

THE island second team performed really well to retain the RSL Shield by 20 matches to 10 in the first inter-insular of the 2009-10 season.

On paper it was potentially a very close match at the new Gilson Hall in St Helier and proved to be.

‘No fewer than 11 rubbers of the 30 went to a deciding set, so indicating how close the overall match was,’ said Guernsey Badminton Association president John Stuart.

The first part of the match is played as men’s and women’s doubles, where three pairs in each category all play each other.

In the first round of men’s doubles Jersey took the honours 2-1 with Guernsey debutants Danny Kampmann and Harry Southwell winning their first match.

First pair Pete Barnes and Danny Penney narrowly lost 21-23 to Jersey’s top pair of Tim Noel and Steve Rentsch.

Fortunately, the Guernsey women also won 2-1 to bring the match score to three-all.

Guernsey’s third pair, Fran Babbe and Jane Torode, were unlucky to lose to the Jersey first pair 21-19 in the deciding set.

In the second round of doubles, the Guernsey men reversed the score, winning 2-1, which was repeated by the women to give a Sarnian lead of 7-5.