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 | Fixture Details | |  | | |
Home | Return to Division Fixtures
| Nom | Home Player | Nom | Away Player | Result | Games |
| 1 | Tim Garner | 1a | Ben Ford | 3 | 0 | 9/5, 9/5, 9/6 | | 2 | Lauren Briggs | 1 | Toby Mortimer | 0 | 3 | 1/9, 1/9, 2/9 | | 3 | Duncan Marlow | 2 | Alex Mayle | 0 | 3 | 8/10, 8/10, 3/9 | | 4 | Steve Harsum | 3 | Mark Lennox | 1 | 3 | 5/9, 10/8, 2/9, 4/9 | | 5 | Will Brownsden | 6 | Ray Bushell | 2 | 3 | 4/9, 3/9, 9/0, 9/7, 2/9 | | | | | | | | | | | Games: | 6 | 12 | |
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| | | Bonus: | 0 | 5 | |
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| | | Result: | 6 | 17 | |
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| Report: | Have to say I have been looking forward to this one for some time but only from a viewing perspective.However with Laney absent and the Mac crying off at the last minute it was a 'weakened' Hill side that made its way into town for the showdown.
Last minute calls to Tim confirmed we would be outgunned two Pro's to one,Talking of old pro's even Rent Boy was voicing concerns about the possible outcome of this one before the off in a totally uninspiring team talk on the way over.
Even at the start the gallery was filling up fast but they had to wait a little while for something decent to watch,first up,
A Good Few Beers v Steve 'The Eyeball'
Didn't see a single rally of this one due to playing on the other court but I have it on good advice from Rent Boy this was a good solid performance from AGFB showing the first signs of recovery to good form after his coaching sessions from Ben Ford in November destroyed his game.(Good advert for your coaching services Ben,bet you love me!)
The first game went quickly in favour of AGFB before the Eyeball got dailled in and sneaked the second 10-8.Order was soon restored in the next two games with AGFB taking total control with good length & width and as usual frustratingly good retreiving.3-1 to the Hill.
Debt Collector v Will
Got a bit stage struck when I went on court and looked up at the balcony, christ they were going to be dissappointed!
This one started perfectly for DC playing steady squash to a length with Will making unforced errors and giving away several strokes.At 7-0 all was well but Will finally started to calm down and keep the ball tight extending the rallies and the game.DC finally takes it but what looked like a nice stroll was obviously going to be a hard slog.
The second followed a similar pattern to the first but DC made sure he closed this one out quickly 9-3.
More of the same in the third DC and you've got it made me thinks but I didn't take Will's fighting spirit into account. Will stepped up the court taking volley after volley and generally moving DC all over the court at a rate of knots.Didn't think I did much wrong but lost the third 9-0 in quick time and starting to feel knackered on the new 'warm' Dulwichski courts.
The forth was a dogfight with Will always keeping his nose in front but DC got it back to 7-7 before Will closed it out with two rallies which I couldn't have played any better but his retreiving was outstanding.
Going into the fifth and the Dulwichski faithful could smell blood. I thought at one stage I was in a pit with Gengis Khan with the baying monguls up above!
This actually worked in favour of DC getting his head down and playing the best fifth set he can remember and coming through 9-2.
Espescially happy with this result as Duncan later told me they had Will down as a banker but he ended up being called something similar at the end!
Alex v Duncan
This was an identical match to the last time these lads met in the first half even down to the game scores.Alex scraping the first two 10-8 and running out a comfortable winner in the third 9-3. A good solid preformance from Alex hitting knicks freely and lots of wrong footing flicks.Duncan as usual playing steady squash and working very hard to keep in touch but Alex always seemed to have the answers when it came to the sharp end of the games.
Rent Boy v Lauren
Rent Boy promised to wear a skirt for this one which would put Lauren in the shade,fortunatly for all, Rent Boy was not true to his word and went on court his usual scruffy self.
I think its fair to say the majority of the crowd were expecting a home win but they probably hadn't seen Rent Boy in action.
Lauren played a good solid game but in fairness Rent Boy was fully dialled in for this one and dropped just 4 points.
Tim Garner V Ben Ford
This was a game of highs and Lows.
The low was a 3-0 result,the high was the spectacle of these two lads playing squash from another planet which had a buzz going round the gallery before,during and after the match.
It didn't matter where your loyalties lay, this match deserved to be extended to four or five games because the entertainment was of the highest order.
The first saw Tim take an early lead which Ben closed down to 5-5 but Tim's game was error free and at this stage seemed to have a pretty good read on what Ben was doing.9-5 to Tim.
The second saw Ben start to show a full range of shots with fantastic deception and free flowing knicks,the only problem being he was up against the master of retreiving and Tim's ability to recover after initially being wrong footed was stunning.Gradually through sheer bloody hard work and perfect counter dropping Tim gradually pegged back Ben's lead and the last couple of points saw both players covering all corners of the court in long fast rallies each looking for the chance to kill the point but even knick shots which were an inch high were being picked up and the rally would carry on.Eventually Tim took the second again 9-5 and Ben was looking tired.
However,the third saw Ben again take an early lead hitting fantastic straight drives on both wings into the front nicks which even Tim had to applaude.At this point I had to laugh as the gallery were loath to applaude a winning shot as invariably the impossible 'get' would be made and the winning shot would occur 20 hits later.
Could go on about this all morning but Tim finally wrapped things up with a clever cross court drive of his own to secure a 3-0 win.
Both players came off looking totally knackered to loud and generous applause after what for me was the best game I have ever witnessed in the Priory.
We got a chance To meet Roman Dulwichski who puts the cash into the Dulwich coffers to finance the pros.The expression on his face showed with the amount of people in the club and the quality of squash being watched it was money well spent. He had a smile all night long that was bigger than Rent Boys ego!
All in all a really good win for the Hill,a great advert for Priory squash and to round it all off Tim brought his Chef down from Lambs to cook the food and it was top notch,cheers Tim.
Final Footnote: I hear Slack had a similar sort of night down at Tunbridge Wells,looking forward to the report. (Played well on Monday though mate) |
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| Author: | Debt Collector |
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