THE Basingstoke Lions had a mixed start to 2013 as they lost to Maidenhead, but beat Farnborough.

The mixed team began with a very confident start against Maidenhead, but a round of lucky serving shots from the Berkshire side gave them a 18-13 lead.

A spirited fightback took the score to 25-25, with Maidenhead to serve and again short serves mixed with serve net touches caught Basingstoke out, leading to Maidenhead winning the first set 29-27.

An encouraging start in the second set took saw the Lions take an early 6-3 lead.

The dominating part of the Maidenhead game was the pin point setting, which kept them in the game.

However, consistent play from Basingstoke kept them ahead and they had no answer to Martin Bendzak’s short hits and deep fast spikes as they took the second set.

The deciding set was a mixed bag from both sides, which Maidenhead won 15-11.

Against Farnborough, a positive start was made by both teams with Basingstoke showing the most finesse but also the most mistakes, losing 25-9.

Team captain Jan Ngiam decided on a change of players and that did the trick as Basingstoke levelled the match, winning the second set 25-23.

The Lions came out of the blocks in the third set with new vigour, a new attitude and a totally new game plan. Movement on the court was fluid with nothing but positivity towards every point and they won the third set 15-13.