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| Report: | Dulwich were able to put out one of their strongest teams so far this season against a Hartley team who where missing their regular number 2 so a tough night was ahead for the Hartley boys and girls.
1st up where Andy (not played for months) and Nick and the start of this match made Andy think he had bought bowling shoes rather than squash shoes for Xmas. Nick raced away to a 7-0 lead before Andy woke up. The rallys got a little longer and Andy grabbed a few points but Nick was able to finish the game off to go one up much to the surprise of the Hartley boys. Andy was back in the swing at the start of the 2nd game whilst Nick was recovering from a few long rallys near the end of the 1st. Andy took charge and won 9 in a row to get back level. The 3rd was going the same way until Andy was 4 up at which point he stalled a little as Nick got back in to it. At 5-5 both players fought hard to get the initiative but it was Andy made the break and took the game to go 2-1 up. The saw Nick get an early lead but Andy was using his boast well and that was tiring Nick enough to enable Andy to pick up the points and forge ahead to clear lead which Nick could not recover from so Andy took it 3-1.
Next up where Dave and Will with Dave thinking this might be a tough one but Will was off the pace early on and Dave raced off to win the 1st without dropping a point. The 2nd was close at the start with Will grabbing an early lead only to see if cancelled out with Dave getting to most of Wills shots whilst Will was finding the tin too often. Dave raced away once he got level at 3-3 and was soon 2 up. The 3rd was more competitive and the pace quite frantic at times although Dave gradually moved into a clear lead at 6-2 at which point Will dug in and managed to bring it back to just a point behind at 7-8 down. Dave showed no signs of faltering and finished it off at the 2nd time of asking.
Next up where Greg and Paul who started off reasonably well but the points where going Gregs way until he reached 5-1 at which point Paul mounted a great comeback.Point after point went Pauls way until he reached 7-5 and then it was Gregs turn. Greg reached game point only for Paul to swing things back his way and storm through to game point and the 1st game. The 2nd saw Greg in charge and he raced off to a 4-0 lead which was stalled only a little as he marched off to a clear win to level the match. The 3rd saw no let up from Greg and apart from a couple of handouts at the start he won all the points to get to 2-1 up in swift time. The 4th was all one way traffic again apart from a celebratory moment from Paul when he got his first point for a while but Greg wrapped it up to give Dulwich a win on the night.
Next up where the number 1's Oliver and Dave. Oliver started off well and looked the fitter of the two so it was no surprise to see him take a lead but at 5-1 up Dave woke up and fought back to level things up only for Oliver to force another lead which was enough to grab the 1st. The 2nd was tight all the way with both players have success along with a number of lets which slowed the scoreboard a little. Dave took the lead at the midway point only for Oliver to rest it back and go 7-6 up but it was Dave who got to game point first and when Oliver levelled Dave called 1 which he may have regretted as it was Oliver who won it to go 2 up. The 3rd was similar to the 2nd but this time at 4-4 Dave steadied his game as Oliver's form started to falter and all of a sudden Dave had game point and soon made it 2-1. The 4th saw Dave in clearer control of things whilst Oliver tried in vain to stay with Dave but Dave's play was the more accurate of the two and soon enough he had it wrapped up to take the match into a 5th set. The 5th was similar to the 4th and whist Oliver tried his best he could not stop Dave from moving clear and taking the game and match.
Finally it was Ben and Dan and Dan was in charge in the early stages as he was able to put a couple of points on the board each time he had the serve so at 6-2 up he seemed on course to take the first game. Ben's all action game came to the fore and that did the trick as he pulled back level then went through to game point and despite a few handouts Dan could not prevent Ben from taking it. The 2nd was tight at the beginning with Dan the Ben taking early leads but this time it was Ben racing away to a commanding lead only for Dan to close the gap but this time Ben stemmed the flow and finished it off to go 2 up. The 2rd saw Ben race off to a solid lead after a cagey start but both players where going for their shots. Just as it seemed Ben was about to wrap things up Dan won 5 points in a row to go 7-6 up. A few handouts resulted in Dan stretching that to game point but that spurred Ben on and whatever Dan did from that point Ben was going to get to it and that resulted in Ben levelling then forcing a match point and he won it at the 2nd time of asking.
Dulwich walked away with a much needed win putting Hartley under severe pressure at the bottom of the pile. That result continued the pattern of Dulwich either winning big or losing big. |
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| Author: | Ian Armstrong |
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