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| Report: | Start of the 2nd half with a potential 6 pointer.
First up where Harry and Andy and although Andy got the first point it was soon swinging Harry's way. Andy was a little out of practice and struggled to compete with Harry and it was quickly 1-0 to Harry. The 2nd was going the same way until Harry reached game point at 8-2 up but Andy began a fight back and found his game with some clean volley drops in to the nick and all of a sudden it was 6-8 and the result of this game was uncertain. Harry however managed to calm the Dulwich nerves by regaining the serve and playing a couple more solid rally's to go 2 up. The 3rd saw Andy much more in the game from the start and it was close all the way but at 7-6 Harry seemed about to close it out only for Andy to put together a few good rally's to strike back with a game. The 4th started off similarly to the 3rd but once Harry got his eye in he moved quickly to a commanding lead and Andy could not prevent the inevitable.
Next up were Ben and Tom with Ben playing essentially in his lunch hour as he had to get back to work with his North American work colleagues. Tom was also In a hurry as he needed to get to bed early as he had to be in Leeds for 7am in the morning. Don't these guys know that squash is more important than work! Tom sped away to a quick lead in the 1st with Ben struggling to get a good line and length in the heat. Tom took the 1st for the loss of 2 points and was heading for a similar result in the 2nd but at 5-2 down Ben put together a string of 4 points to lead 6-5 and put some pressure on Tom. This was the cue however for Tom to get moving and he went on to win the next 13 points which for the bright ones amongst you will realise meant that he wrapped up 2nd game and won the 3rd 9-0.
Next up were Dave and Ian and both players were struggling with the heat but Ian was dealing with it better in the first and kept Dave at bay with some swiped half volleys and cut shots as Dave tried in vane to get his game going. With Ian winning the 1st Dave was determined to get into the game and he managed to eak out a lead but there were many handouts which meant progress was slow. Dave managed to keep extending his lead as the game progressed and held off a challenge near the end by Ian to level up the match. The 3rd saw the heat get to Ian as Dave got off to another early lead and Ian seemed to give up the game and prepare for the next one. The 4th saw Ian much more competitive whilst it was Dave struggling now in the heat. Ian was quickly at game point and although Dave stick it out and saved 3 game points it was inevitably going to be a 5 setter with Ian now looking the favourite to win it. The 5th was similar to the 2nd with Dave just ahead but both players in with a shout. At 4-4 either player could have won it but it was Dave who seemed more determined to win as he was just doing a bit more to keep in the rally's and he raced away to match point and eventually took it at the 3rd time of asking.
Next up were Olly and James and this was frantic stuff with both players covering the court well. Both players had a run of winning streaks in the 1st but it was James who managed to win it. The 2nd saw Olly playing tighter and James unable to keep in the rally's. Very quickly Olly was 8-0 up but he needed 4 attempts to finish it off and that delayed finish seemed to have an effect on the 3rd. James seemingly had a rest early on in the 2nd as it was now time for Olly to suffer as James was all over everything Olly did and Olly struggled to win points when serving as James built a lead and kept extending it until he had the game won. The 4th was a mirror image of the 2nd as again Olly was in commanding form whilst James struggled again. Another 9-2 to Olly meant that we had a gut busting 5th to look forward to. As predicted James was much more competitive after a lack lustre previous game and although Olly tried his best James was throwing himself all over the court to keep the ball up and this did the trick as a commanding lead was built by James and Olly could not prevent James from finishing it off.
With the match at 2-2 it was Greg and Stuart left to fight it out to see who would take victory. Greg had not played for a couple of weeks due to injury so it was uncertain how he would play but the early signs were good. Stuart did take an early lead which Greg recovered from then went ahead but these early skirmishes suggested this would be a close match. Greg's game was looking in good form and he moved to within a point of the game at which point Stuart put together a string of winning rally's to level at 7-7. It seemed like this might produce an unexpected win for Stuart but Greg held firm and played a couple of good rally's to win go 1 up. The 2nd saw Greg build a lead from the off and Stuart seemed to be struggling in the heat as he had no answer to Greg's game and very quickly it was 2-0 to Greg. The 3rd was all Greg again as Stuart was unable to compete in the heat and Greg wrapped it up for Dulwich.
Everyone lapped up the Dulwich Tandoori feast. |
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| Author: | Ian Armstrong |
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