Monday, 1st Round
A slightly smaller field this year with some notable absences,
Tony Hedley being the stand out player not in the line up.
For the organiser it was a convenient 16 names in the draw, except I missed out Keith Grey. Not the first time this has happened, an age thing I guess. 17 now !
With some unlucky players looking to have to play pre-lims, all came good when Graeme Sneddon had to withdraw with Covid.
Back to 16 and 8 games to look forward to.
Thank you to Nick Humphreys and Keith Grey for doing the actual draw.
In no particular order this is a summary of Monday’s openers.
Matt Guthery was keen to get his game played asap, up against Rob Owen it wasn’t going to be over anytime soon, it was 3-1 in the end but during the game it was hard to predict which way it would go. Matt started strongly 15/8, 15/8 but Rob came back fighting and pipped him in the 3rd 15/13. With both players wanting to hit the ball into next week, it was a bish, bash, bosh affair and
only errors at key stages determined the outcome. Matt came good- 3-1.
Ian Morton was simply too accurate and too mobile for Peter Edney, a 3-0 result was inevitable. To be fair to Peter, he hasn’t been able play much squash this year and was always up against it. For all of that, he still showed us what he can do with some intelligent placement and outrageous winners.
In what was expected to be the highlight of the evenings matches,
Charlie Nolan against Tim Gorman didn’t disappoint.
Some intense rallies and a very competitive edge to the match made for good viewing. Charlie took the first with Tim coming back to go 2-1 up. The 4th was tight and the battle for court position meant a cagey exchange with some ‘T’ congestion. At some point (and as marker I didn’t see it) Tim’s right foot was stood on and as Charlie squared things at 2-2, Tim retired injured. Not the ideal end we hoped for but never mind.
Andy Lawrence was simply too strong and too quick for Paul Blakely and 3-0 was the result. Andy’s retrieving can only be admired.
With Chris Brock withdrawing at the last minute, Peter Irlam had a bye, oh well, a few beers with the supporters instead.
Monday night also saw Martin Davison drawn against Mark Knott, I think it would be fair to say it was not the draw Martin would have wished for.
Mark is playing some very effective if unorthodox ’quick finish’ squash with unerring accuracy taking everything super early and killing it at the front on both sides of the court. 2 shot rallies were the norm but credit where it’s due, Martin found a way of getting the ball past Mark and playing his own winners at the front.
As a spectator it was difficult to predict where the ball was going next or who might win the rally. Martin took the first game 15-9 with Mark coming back strong to level it 15-6. The next 2 games were as close as they come and impossible to predict. As it happened 15-14 to Martin in both.
The most improved player in our club over the last 18 months has to be Dave Macrae. Keith Grey was his 1st round opponent and Keith had a giant mountain to climb (see what I did there ?) Playing a lot more orthodox length squash and making the most of his reach, Dave is a worthy adversary. Keith did manage to take a game levelling at 1-1 but after that Dave took control. 3-1 to Dave.
Probably the tightest game of the evening, Martin Dowd and Andy Silver put on an excellent display of determined battling squash both taking hard earned points from each other. A great game to watch, 3-2 to Martin.
Tuesday 2rd Round
A’ Competition.
Might as well start with the match of the evening, in fact the match of the entire tournament with Andy Lawrence playing Martin Davison in the 2nd round. It’s fair to say these 2 have played each other many times and know each others game fairly well. It showed with scores of long battling rallies and unbelievable retrieving from both players. 3-2 to Martin in the end, did it take too much out of Martin before his next match ? We‘ll see.
Dave Macrae was up against Matt Guthery. I was unable to see much of this match but I’m reliably informed that although Matt won it, Dave gave it a good go.
Peter Irlam entered the arena with his first game and against Martin Dowd. Martin was the first to admit he was well beaten,
Perhaps Peters fresh legs gave him the edge, 3-0 to Peter.
Charlie Nolan against Ian Morton looked an intriguing 2nd round match, both with quality in abundance. Unfortunately for Charlie, Ian was well up for it and commanded proceedings throughout.
Charlie just couldn’t live with good placement and good length.
B Competition.
In their 1st round match of the ‘B’, Rob Owen was dominant in his game against Keith Grey. They know each others game so well and both had flourishes of 7 and 8 points in a row but Rob steamrollered through. Keith graciously accepted he was well and truly beaten on the night.
Similarly Mark Knott had no problem overcoming Paul Blakely’s promising start taking the first game off Mark 15-10. Thereafter Mark employed his ’quick squash’ methods and dropped Paul out of sight, Mark won 8, 9 and 9.
Poor Peter Edney had no luck in the draw and in the ’B’ was up against Tim Gorman. Tim was happy to keep it going with steady length and Peter just ran out of steam. 3-0 to Tim.
Andy Silver had a bye in this round, due to play Tim on Wednesday.
Wednesday 4th Semi Finals
A Competition
Matt Guthery made light work of Martin Davison who, indeed had probably played a game too far after the epic with Andy the night before. He was in it and gave Matt plenty to think about but, alas, dragged around the court, fatigue told in the end. 3-0 to Matt.
Ian Morton looked on form against Charlie Nolan the night before and Peter Irlam found nothing had changed. He did however take the first game, the only person to take a game off Ian all week.
Ian stepped up and took the next 3.
B Competition
Mark Knott marched on with his ‘quick squash’ and blew Rob Owen away after a slightly shaky start. Rob took the first game but whatever he did to win it, couldn’t replicate the process.
Rob could not get the ball past Mark who simply dinked everything to the front for a winner. It’s no fluke, Mark ended the rally time and time again with very accurate ’kill’ shots. Rob, like everyone else, had no answer. Devilish and effective - you have to say.
3-1 to Mark.
The second semi final was perhaps the surprise of the week with Andy Silver giving Tim Gorman a bit of a scare. Tim started well enough commanding the court and the game comfortably for two and a half games. Andy came back with a large number of wizzers
and frankly, some unusual shots. Tim, somewhat frustrated, and I don’t think he’ll mind me saying this, lost his way with a handful of unforced errors. Very un-Tim like. It was suddenly 2-2.
There was notable tension on the balcony, an upset a real possibility. Tim rallied, in every sense and began to tidy thing up, 15-9 in the 5th is how it turned out. Not sure Tim would have wanted this had he known how the final would go.
Friday 6th Finals Night
The B Final kicked off shortly after 6pm, it was all over before half past. Mark Knott was simply on fire and he was not going to change how he played irrespective of the calibre of his opponent.
Tim Gorman is a fine squash player but in this match he simply had no answer to Mark’s strategy and execution. The vast majority of the points won were out and out kill shots taken early and delivered to the front of the court with outstanding accuracy.
Tim just couldn‘t live with them, not many would. It ended 15-8,
15/7 and 15/11.
A Final
Ian Morton continued his good form also. Against a very agile, very quick Matt Guthery, Ian played intelligent ’placed’ shots making Matt sweep across the full extent of the court for little reward and the loss of much energy. Ian noticeably eased off towards the end of the 2nd and nearly paid the price with Matt coming back strongly demonstrating that he wasn’t that’ far away. A good game all the same, Ian won 3-0 (9,14 and 7)
The night was rounded off with a few beers and a curry (for some)
Thank you to all the players who marked games and as ever, a big thank you to Bill Johnson who saw it all.
Watch out for the Christmas Handicap probably early December and to fit in with the team fixtures. It would be nice to see a bigger turn out, particularly those in the lower leagues. They are fun nights, primarily a social event, give it a go.
Ian Mc
A slightly smaller field this year with some notable absences,
Tony Hedley being the stand out player not in the line up.
For the organiser it was a convenient 16 names in the draw, except I missed out Keith Grey. Not the first time this has happened, an age thing I guess. 17 now !
With some unlucky players looking to have to play pre-lims, all came good when Graeme Sneddon had to withdraw with Covid.
Back to 16 and 8 games to look forward to.
Thank you to Nick Humphreys and Keith Grey for doing the actual draw.
In no particular order this is a summary of Monday’s openers.
Matt Guthery was keen to get his game played asap, up against Rob Owen it wasn’t going to be over anytime soon, it was 3-1 in the end but during the game it was hard to predict which way it would go. Matt started strongly 15/8, 15/8 but Rob came back fighting and pipped him in the 3rd 15/13. With both players wanting to hit the ball into next week, it was a bish, bash, bosh affair and
only errors at key stages determined the outcome. Matt came good- 3-1.
Ian Morton was simply too accurate and too mobile for Peter Edney, a 3-0 result was inevitable. To be fair to Peter, he hasn’t been able play much squash this year and was always up against it. For all of that, he still showed us what he can do with some intelligent placement and outrageous winners.
In what was expected to be the highlight of the evenings matches,
Charlie Nolan against Tim Gorman didn’t disappoint.
Some intense rallies and a very competitive edge to the match made for good viewing. Charlie took the first with Tim coming back to go 2-1 up. The 4th was tight and the battle for court position meant a cagey exchange with some ‘T’ congestion. At some point (and as marker I didn’t see it) Tim’s right foot was stood on and as Charlie squared things at 2-2, Tim retired injured. Not the ideal end we hoped for but never mind.
Andy Lawrence was simply too strong and too quick for Paul Blakely and 3-0 was the result. Andy’s retrieving can only be admired.
With Chris Brock withdrawing at the last minute, Peter Irlam had a bye, oh well, a few beers with the supporters instead.
Monday night also saw Martin Davison drawn against Mark Knott, I think it would be fair to say it was not the draw Martin would have wished for.
Mark is playing some very effective if unorthodox ’quick finish’ squash with unerring accuracy taking everything super early and killing it at the front on both sides of the court. 2 shot rallies were the norm but credit where it’s due, Martin found a way of getting the ball past Mark and playing his own winners at the front.
As a spectator it was difficult to predict where the ball was going next or who might win the rally. Martin took the first game 15-9 with Mark coming back strong to level it 15-6. The next 2 games were as close as they come and impossible to predict. As it happened 15-14 to Martin in both.
The most improved player in our club over the last 18 months has to be Dave Macrae. Keith Grey was his 1st round opponent and Keith had a giant mountain to climb (see what I did there ?) Playing a lot more orthodox length squash and making the most of his reach, Dave is a worthy adversary. Keith did manage to take a game levelling at 1-1 but after that Dave took control. 3-1 to Dave.
Probably the tightest game of the evening, Martin Dowd and Andy Silver put on an excellent display of determined battling squash both taking hard earned points from each other. A great game to watch, 3-2 to Martin.
Tuesday 2rd Round
A’ Competition.
Might as well start with the match of the evening, in fact the match of the entire tournament with Andy Lawrence playing Martin Davison in the 2nd round. It’s fair to say these 2 have played each other many times and know each others game fairly well. It showed with scores of long battling rallies and unbelievable retrieving from both players. 3-2 to Martin in the end, did it take too much out of Martin before his next match ? We‘ll see.
Dave Macrae was up against Matt Guthery. I was unable to see much of this match but I’m reliably informed that although Matt won it, Dave gave it a good go.
Peter Irlam entered the arena with his first game and against Martin Dowd. Martin was the first to admit he was well beaten,
Perhaps Peters fresh legs gave him the edge, 3-0 to Peter.
Charlie Nolan against Ian Morton looked an intriguing 2nd round match, both with quality in abundance. Unfortunately for Charlie, Ian was well up for it and commanded proceedings throughout.
Charlie just couldn’t live with good placement and good length.
B Competition.
In their 1st round match of the ‘B’, Rob Owen was dominant in his game against Keith Grey. They know each others game so well and both had flourishes of 7 and 8 points in a row but Rob steamrollered through. Keith graciously accepted he was well and truly beaten on the night.
Similarly Mark Knott had no problem overcoming Paul Blakely’s promising start taking the first game off Mark 15-10. Thereafter Mark employed his ’quick squash’ methods and dropped Paul out of sight, Mark won 8, 9 and 9.
Poor Peter Edney had no luck in the draw and in the ’B’ was up against Tim Gorman. Tim was happy to keep it going with steady length and Peter just ran out of steam. 3-0 to Tim.
Andy Silver had a bye in this round, due to play Tim on Wednesday.
Wednesday 4th Semi Finals
A Competition
Matt Guthery made light work of Martin Davison who, indeed had probably played a game too far after the epic with Andy the night before. He was in it and gave Matt plenty to think about but, alas, dragged around the court, fatigue told in the end. 3-0 to Matt.
Ian Morton looked on form against Charlie Nolan the night before and Peter Irlam found nothing had changed. He did however take the first game, the only person to take a game off Ian all week.
Ian stepped up and took the next 3.
B Competition
Mark Knott marched on with his ‘quick squash’ and blew Rob Owen away after a slightly shaky start. Rob took the first game but whatever he did to win it, couldn’t replicate the process.
Rob could not get the ball past Mark who simply dinked everything to the front for a winner. It’s no fluke, Mark ended the rally time and time again with very accurate ’kill’ shots. Rob, like everyone else, had no answer. Devilish and effective - you have to say.
3-1 to Mark.
The second semi final was perhaps the surprise of the week with Andy Silver giving Tim Gorman a bit of a scare. Tim started well enough commanding the court and the game comfortably for two and a half games. Andy came back with a large number of wizzers
and frankly, some unusual shots. Tim, somewhat frustrated, and I don’t think he’ll mind me saying this, lost his way with a handful of unforced errors. Very un-Tim like. It was suddenly 2-2.
There was notable tension on the balcony, an upset a real possibility. Tim rallied, in every sense and began to tidy thing up, 15-9 in the 5th is how it turned out. Not sure Tim would have wanted this had he known how the final would go.
Friday 6th Finals Night
The B Final kicked off shortly after 6pm, it was all over before half past. Mark Knott was simply on fire and he was not going to change how he played irrespective of the calibre of his opponent.
Tim Gorman is a fine squash player but in this match he simply had no answer to Mark’s strategy and execution. The vast majority of the points won were out and out kill shots taken early and delivered to the front of the court with outstanding accuracy.
Tim just couldn‘t live with them, not many would. It ended 15-8,
15/7 and 15/11.
A Final
Ian Morton continued his good form also. Against a very agile, very quick Matt Guthery, Ian played intelligent ’placed’ shots making Matt sweep across the full extent of the court for little reward and the loss of much energy. Ian noticeably eased off towards the end of the 2nd and nearly paid the price with Matt coming back strongly demonstrating that he wasn’t that’ far away. A good game all the same, Ian won 3-0 (9,14 and 7)
The night was rounded off with a few beers and a curry (for some)
Thank you to all the players who marked games and as ever, a big thank you to Bill Johnson who saw it all.
Watch out for the Christmas Handicap probably early December and to fit in with the team fixtures. It would be nice to see a bigger turn out, particularly those in the lower leagues. They are fun nights, primarily a social event, give it a go.
Ian Mc
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