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 | Fixture Details | |  | | |
Home | Return to Division Fixtures
| Nom | Home Player | Nom | Away Player | Result | Games |
| 24 | Paul Kay | 2 | Peter Stock | 0 | 3 | 2/9 2/9 7/9 | | 25 | Ryan Dowie | 5 | Carlos Marques | 3 | 2 | 10/8 6/9 4/9 10/9 9/1 | | 26 | Peter Whiteman | 6 | Terry Higgs | 1 | 3 | 4/9 5/9 9/6 1/9 | | 30 | Richard Martin | 7 | Darren Cordell | 3 | 1 | 6/9 9/7 9/5 9/5 | | 35 | Chris Ramsey | 8 | Andy Lewin | 3 | 0 | 9/2 9/3 9/3 | | | | | | | | | | | Games: | 10 | 9 | |
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| | | Bonus: | 5 | 0 | |
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| | | Result: | 15 | 9 | |
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| Report: | So as the season enters into "squeaky bum time", Park Langleys 'U25s + Pete' returned home having been away for the past 4 weeks, welcoming unbeaten league leaders Fitness First to the luxurious surroundings of Old Dunstonians, again.
With the chase on for 2nd spot, and Bromley CC hot on the heels of PL it was crucial that the PL boys took as many points as possible from this fixture. A good start was made...
Chris v Andy
These two had slugged out a keenly fought 3-2, which Andy just pipped in the reverse fixture so a repeat of this would not have been an unlikely situation. On this night though, Chris had other ideas, powering through the first game with a combination of tight lengths and cross court nicks. Now usually at this point Chris' tongue loosens and any number of banterous remarks can be heard from the courts (especially if Pete happens to be marking), but in his own words Chris "just shut up and played" and promptly repeated the first game performance to close out a good 3-0 win. 1-0 PL
Next door, Pete v Terry
Having plyed Terry in the first half myself, I knew first hand how difficult he can make life on a squash court for his opponent. That said, Pete has been arguably our most consistent player this season and as such I honestly couldn't predict who would emerge victorious. After a cagey opening to the game, with service being handed in and out frequently, Terry tightened up and hit a string of winners to rattle off the first game. Pete took heed of some words of encouragement and advice offered during the break and started to impose his own style upon the game, taking a lead in the 2nd, until Terry again tightened up and slowly but surely recouped the lead and eventually the game. The view from the balcony was still that if Peter could switch on his game and take the 3rd, it could go all the way to a 5th. Sure enough it was pretty quickly 2-1 and very much game on. At this point I had to get on court to play my match so I didn't see the rest, although I did hear it! Quite what happened I don't know but Terry won the game and match 3-1.
1-1
Rich v Darren
Having had to retire from last weeks match after aggravating an old knee injury last week, it was a relief for the skipper just to be able to walk onto the court! Nevertheless there was more to be done than this, and up against a technically gifted opponent in Darren, this was never going to be an easy tie. The game got off to a frantic pace, with Darren taking the ascendency and making the author scamper around the court retrieving. As the first game wore on, both settled into thier strides of play but Darren had the tighter shots and fewer mistakes to take the first game. The message from the team - cut out the mistakes and keep the consistency. Easier said than done but sure enough some added composure and more relentless retrievals ensured that the scores were leveled at 1-1. More of the same required! A change of markers and some frequent heated exchanges became a theme over the next 2 games but the standard of squash still remained high and after a gruelling hour and a bit on court, Rich emerged the winner and in doing so put PL 2-1 up
Ryan v Carlos
This match was going on at the same time as I was playing so I literally didn't see a single shot of it, although between games I was being informed of the score. Having gone 1-0 up, thigns seemed to be hand in for Ryan, I can only assume that Carlos then used his own brand of squash as the next time I saw Ryan he was 2-1 down and, in his own words "Absolutely f*@!ed". I returned to the balcony from my match just in time to hear the marker call "match to Ryan", some how he had summoned a second (third/fourth/fifth) wind to claw back the fourth and then steamroll through the 5th, securing the tie for PL.
Last up, Paul vs. Peter
Two of the fittest players and most insane retrievers in the division, must be sick of the sight of each other having played numerous times this season! Standard play ensued, each rally lasting at least 60-70 shots and both players throughly knackered by the end of the match despite Peter running out the 3-0 winner. Rest assured the scoreline doesn't do justice to how tight the game actually was.
So a good night for PL, high quality squash by all players in all matches played in very good spirit, taking the scalp of the league leaders for the first time this season. Good chat and banter in the bar afterwards as well! Good luck to Fitness First for next season where they'll rightly be playing in division 3... Let's hope to be seeing them there!
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| Author: | RM |
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