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| Report: | Dulwich arrived at this game after seeing their team lineup change 7 times since it was announced last week but both teams were missing players last night although Tunbridge Wells were missing more so it was going to be a tough one for them as their preferred number 5 was having to play at 1 - the Dulwich preferred number 5 prefers to play at 6 if possible!
1st up where Ian and Nick who was playing his 1st team match in a while. Ian usually starts well so it was no surprise that he moved quickly to an early lead and after a few handouts continued the quick on the draw squash to take the first for the loss of just 1 point. The 2nd saw Nick getting his game going and it was he who strode off to a commanding 6-1 lead at which point he faltered a little and let Ian back in and he brought it back to 6-4. A hand out did not stop Ian who continued to make Nick pay for mistakes and he waltzed off to take the game 9-6. The 3rd again saw Nick getting off to a good start and at 4-1 it seemed he might be on course to get a game on the board but Ian took the serve and knocked out 8 points without a reply to take the match 3-0.
Next up where Ben and Paul and this was an interesting match up with quite different styles although who could say they have a style quite like Ben anyway! Ben started of well with some clean shots although Paul was struggling and making mistakes which meant that Ben was 5-0 up quite quickly. Paul forced his way back into it to get back to 5-3 but Ben then played some nice drops and lobs to move further ahead and took the 1st 9-3. The 2nd was too and fro with both players having leads but Paul found his game and started to make it harder for Ben. Paul gradually put points on the board and Ben made a few too many mistakes - 7 pushed drops into the tin was a few too many! Paul took the 2nd only after Ben fought back from 2-8 to 6-8. The 3rd was frustrating for Paul as he made too many mistakes and Ben's deft touch play was not to Paul's liking. Ben reached an almost unassailable lead at 7-1 but Paul raised his game in frustration to bring it back to 7-6 only for Ben to close it out to go 2-1 up at which point Paul vented his frustration about various things whilst throwing his racket down and muttering about the temperature on court. The temperature on court hotted up for Ben in the 4th as he could do nothing wrong and Paul could do nothing right so it quite quickly became bagel time and a 3-1 win to Ben.
Next up where Colin and Anthony and this one saw Colin in good form whilst Anthony was taking time to get going. After a bit of too and fro early in the 1st Colin took control whilst Anthony was struggling to get going and Colin took the 1st for the loss of just 3 points. The 2nd saw Colin in charge again but at 4-1 down Anthony began to make some progress as his quick hand skills put Colin under pressure and it was level at 4-4. Colin added a point only for Anthony to turn it around and go ahead but Colin grabbed the initiative to get to game point and despite Anthony getting back to 8-7 down Colin finished it off to go 2 up. Anthony was in the game more and more as the 3rd game began and it was tight up until the midway point when Colin's form dipped and Anthony's quick hands put Colin under pressure and Anthony found himself walking away with the 3rd to make it 2-1 to Colin. The 4th was tight but Anthony was ahead early on only for Colin to surged back into the lead at 5-4. Anthony again put together a string of points to get to 7-5 up and Colin could only add one more point as things where getting tough for both players. The 5th set was similar to the 4th with Anthony ahead then Colin but they got stuck on 6-5 for a while and once Anthony got the next point it was he who ran away with it to claim a good 3-2 win.
Next up where Andy and Declan with Declan being a late inclusion in the Tunbridge Wells team so this was his baptism of fire! Both players started off a little hesitantly and the early exchanges saw both players making mistakes but at 3-3 Andy began to take control and his game was the one adding points whilst Declan struggled to keep up and soon enough it was Andy taking game point. The 2nd saw Declan getting off to a better start with a 2-0 lead. Andy put a stop to that to take the lead at 3-2 and although Declan got it back level Andy was again in control and allowed only one more handout before wrapping up the 2nd game. The 3rd was all Andy and he stopped only to let Declan grab one point before finishing it off to win 3-0
Finally it was Greg and Craig and this one was interesting as Craig seemed to have some nice racket skills but Greg was always getting to anything that Craig did so the points where going one way most of the time and that was in Greg's direction. Greg sped off to a 4-0 lead and Craig got a couple of points and a number of handouts but Greg closed it out for a 9-2 win. The 2nd was all about Greg scoring the points whilst Craig seemed to play the better shots but then put the ball in the tin when in control or struggling to reach it. Greg again finished it off 9-2 which seemed hard on Craig. The 3rd saw Craig finally starting to score points but at 4-1 up Greg had a word with himself and brought it back to 4-4 then went 5-4 up at which point the expectation was that he would close the match out. A few handouts later and Greg was 7-4 up and the fat lady was warming up but she had to sit down as Craig then woke up and began a fight back but just as he got to 7-6 down Greg told the fat lady to stand up again as he went to match ball. Craig had a word with the fat lady and told her to sit down again as he went from 8-6 down to game point. A couple of debatable decisions went against Greg and Craig grabbed the 3rd game to make Greg pay for stumbling over his lines. The 4th saw Craig gaining in confidence and now his shots where beginning to come off and it looked highly likely that a 5th set was on the cards. Craig marched off to a 5-1 lead with some great shots and when he got to game ball at 8-1 it seemed he had it in the bag. Greg never gives up however and he had a quiet word with the fat lady and then set about clawing back the deficit. 8-1 became 8-3 then point after point went Greg's way after some tight rallies so at 8-8 it looked like Greg had it done. Craig dug in and managed to grab the serve back and win a point to get to game point again only for Greg to steal it back and make the fat lady stand up and start singing his praises - phew!
The Dulwich Tandoori curry was well appreciated by all although too may poppadoms this time - would prefer an extra curry - will have words with the chef about that in future. |
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| Author: | Ian Armstrong |
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