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| Report: | PL 1 entertained Bromley CC last night. Both teams were sporting a pretty reasonable (and unseasonable) line up so all seemed set fair for a good match ... and so it proved. The coin toss insisted upon by Debt Collector to select the courts was duly lucked out, so all was well with the world.
First up: Robbins v Ryall
This was a lon n n g g match. JEJ somehow managed to perform his trademark Houdini act yet again. It really is unbelievable how he can keep on doing this. Lewy went 2-0 up, before JEJ clawed it back to 2-2. I saw very little of the first 3 games (except the start of game 1) being on court next door, and joined the spectators benches only for (most of) the finale. JEJ got off to a good start in the 5th, seemed to have Lewy on a long piece of string. Lewy was firing in a lot of court opening drops from the back, boasts etc. This was interspersed with a number of mistakes as JEJ ran him around. However, once 9-5 appeared on the scoreboard it all changed.
Lewy completed a great comeback, and after being down 9-10, subsequently proceeded to reel off 5 unfulfilled match balls. Irritatingly I had to go and mark next door at 10-9, and kept expecting a loss as they racked up. At the first time of asking though, as they reached 16-15 JEJ converted to take the match. Definitely match of the night, and an entertaining spectacle from both players.
Next door: London snr v McMecken
James suffered a case of severe ring rust in this one. Too many holidays, and certainly too much booze by the sound of it, meant that the timing was a bit off. In truth it did help provide some interesting winners, and for someone purporting to not be fit, there was some amazing court scrambling interspersed with leaning on racket and stretching out the back. A game enjoyed by both players by all accounts, with the author feeling duty bound not to capitulate to someone so unfocused on his squash recently!
Next up: Peel snr v Stabler
These two had a cracking match a few months ago with Nick being edged out in 5 games. Nick has dined out on this one quite a bit since, but looked as stiff as a board at the start. Sam is an extraordinarily strong no.4 and Nick was getting no change for the first two games. Some advice from the PL coaching staff and the fact that he was eventually getting warmed up in the 3rd, saw Nick take the game. Sadly, sensing a future talking point perhaps, Nick tweaked his hamstring again at the end of the game, and come the 4th was hopping dejectedly around. After going 7-0 down though, he obviously decided to go for bust and produced 5 sparkling points to haul it back. Sam, having gone to sleep assuming it was all done and dusted, then woke up and closed it out. This was notable for a classic Nick statement afterwards though (even by his standards) - "I think if I hadn't got injured you'd have won more easily". Obviously developing a self deprecating sense of humour in his old age!
Last but not least: Pratt v Baker
After a very subdued post holiday baptism of fire last week against Ben, Steve has now spent a bit more time on court, and was clearly in the mood. Despite still getting to grips with his new racket, he's clearly starting to get the hang of it. A number of outrageous balls slapped into the nick from all over the place attested to that. That said, Neil was really making him work for it, and Steve had to cover an awful lot of court to win many of his points. The usual ridiculous speed around the court was in evidence, with the classic case in point being the match ball. Neil did just about everything right, sending Steve to all four corners repeatedly. Sadly for him, it just kept coming back until Steve finally managed to finish it off. Very entertaining.
And so to a packed bar with three PL teams in residence this week. The usual lively banter with the BCC boys; James struggling to fit anything else (new job included by the sound of it) around his social life, and much joshing of the author to the effect that "you've got all this to come", when discussing the forgetfulness of their Dads, with Alistair McM coming in for a particularly hard time. Steve still clearly hasn't recovered from the "Stevie boy - you've changed. You used to be a right podge when I last saw you" jibes from the latter! Scarred for life. |
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| Author: | CL |
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