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| Report: | Last years runners in div 2 up turned up at Dulwich with a significantly stronger team than last year seemingly in the wrong division!
1st up were Dulwich newby Andy and Blackheath oldby Richard so this was a baptism of fire for the Dulwich boy as Richard was until this season the Blackheath number 1. Andy tried hard in the 1st to keep up with Richard and early on this was working but Richard then began to build a lead. Andy pulled a couple of points back towards the end but Richard finished it off to go 1 up. Andy started off the 2nd well and at 4-1 up was in a good position. Richard put together a string of points to go 5-4 up only for Andy to fight back and go 6-5 up. This too and from continued until Richard was at game point but it took him 3 goes to get over the line. The 3rd followed the same pattern as the 2nd early on but then Richard took command and marched off to match point. Andy tried in vain to claw things back but this time Richard only needed a 2nd match point to finish it off.
Next up were Paul and Ville and although Ville started off the better Paul soon caught him at 4-4 and then went ahead. Paul played steady from there on in the 1st and closed it without dropping any more points. The 2nd again saw Ville starting off better only for Paul to close things up again but this time it was Ville who stole a march from a 4-4 position to level things at 1-1. The 3rd followed the same pattern as the 1st two so as Paul marched off to a 7-3 lead it seemed likely he would take this one but Ville started a fightback and levelled at 7-7 then finished it off to go 2 up. The 4th was a mirror image of all that had gone before but again it was Ville winning out to take the match 3-1.
3rd match up was Dave and Guy and despite some clear guidance from the team captain on how to beat Guy, Dave chose to do it his way. Dave took an early lead in the 1st so at 1-0 down Guy was looking worried! Guy's octopus like demeanour on court came to the fore and soon he was inking his way to the 1st game. The 2nd again saw Dave take the 1st rally and almost go 1 up again but Guy was soon heading off in the distance and took it for the loss of just 1 point again. The 3rd again saw Dave start off well and this time he managed to put 2 points on the board before Guy started to dominate. Both players looked like they had had a workout at the end but the scores told a different story.
Next up were Ian and Theo who looks like the teenage offspring of Guy in many ways. Ian had gotten there just after 9pm due to a train journey from hell so it was no surprise that Theo marched off to an early lead in the 1st. Ian managed to grab a few points towards the end but could not stop Theo winning the 1st. The 2nd was slightly different from the 1st in that Ian managed to get to the magic number of 3 very early on but then got stuck whilst the octopus like Theo reached virtually everything Ian threw at him. The magic number of 3 had been establish by now and the 3rd saw Ian once again reach 3 very early on and he felt it necessary to announce this to all at court side. Theo got a couple of points back but soon the magic number became 4 then 5 as Ian began to play shots from the Ville text book of squash shots! Theo was bamboozled by this together with Ian's frequent testing of the acoustics on court 4 and soon enough Ian had hit the magic number 9. The 4th saw Theo take control so at 4-0 up it was going to be a test for Ian and although he managed a point he could do no more and Theo ran away with it.
Finally we had Sean versus Phil and this looked like being a good match up with Sean looking to get a win on the board after two defeats in previous matches from a 2-0 up position. The 1st was cagey early on but at 3-2 up to Sean it was Phil who got things going with a string of points to take him to 7-3 up and after a handout he was again piling on the points to take the 1st. The 2nd saw Phil keeping up the pressure as he gradually built up a lead and although the game was close it was Phil winning the points and the game to go 2 up. That was trigger for Sean and the 3rd saw him march off to an early lead as he was determined to put up a fight. Phil tried in vain to get into the game but Sean was having none of it and after a mega series of handouts at 5-1 up Sean finished it off with a string of points. The 4th was close early on with Phil just edging it until Sean put in a couple of bursts to go 5-3 up then 7-3. Phil got it back to 7-6 only for Sean to tough it out to take it to 5 sets. The 5th was all Sean as Phil seemed to falter and very quickly Sean was in a commanding lead. Phil tried in vain to claw it back from 7-1 down but Sean soon had it won in what was the match of the night.
Fish and chips from Olleys were welcomed by all and music producers Ville and Andy were heard to be talking shop about various obscure outfits whilst One Directioner Guy looked on in disgust!
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| Author: | Ian Armstrong |
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