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Concordia Squash Club Closed Competition 2024Monday, 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 Concordia Squash Club Closed Competition 2023Finals Night. Friday 21st April.
Bill Johnson had a good few companions on the balcony to watch 2 entertaining games of squash. First up was Chris Brock against Dan Cusack. Dan was always going to be up against it facing a (relatively) young and fit opponent who relishes long orthodox length exchanges. And so it panned out. Dan spent forever at the back of the court retrieving length ball during many 20 and 30 shot rallies. Dan worked very hard and occasionally got the opportunity to cut out the drives and play some good drops. Unfortunately for him, Chris picked many of them up and so the rallies went on. Many on the balcony were pleased it was Dan and not them. 3-0 to Chris but lets not take anything away from Dan, he stuck in and battled to give us a game to enjoy watching. In the A competition Matt Guthery had the unenviable task of playing our 9 times club champion who although hasn’t played a lot of squash this year, is still as strong as ever. No disrespect to Matt but the first game was both a surprise and a credit to him. Tony Hedley started steady enough and appeared to be prepared to let a few drops go, I’m guessing just easing into the game for fear of over doing it early on, Tony is getting on a bit now and old squash players do this ! Matt had a different approach and took full advantage of what could be called a ‘cagey’ start. Matt attacked the ball and took it as early as possible every time, cutting it out with effective drops and he did this throughout the first game. 15-10 to Matt and a bit of a wake up call for Tony. Very few in the club manage to take a game from Tony so this was no small feat. All change in the next 3 games where Tony came back on court with a few amendments. He worked on his length with a little added pace and found the width. Some lobs thrown in for good measure meant Matt couldn’t volley anything. From mid way through the 2nd game Matt often found himself at the back of the court and vulnerable to the drop shot. Curiously Tony didn’t play too many of those until later in the game working Matt very hard with accurate length and line squash ending with the inevitable loose one which Tony dispatched. Matt played well and worked very hard to help provide a very entertaining game. 3-1 to Tony but there is much promise from Matt. Beer and curry followed and a good night was had by all. Just a note on the weeks event as a whole. Some great squash and good social interaction. For me it was good to see some new players, Eric Tolman and James Templey and a much improved Dave McCrae. Of course there are the usual ‘die hards’ (you know who you are) who always make the competitions what they are. Look forward to doing it all again. A handicap competition is scheduled for 7th July where I hope all the players in all of our leagues will get stuck in. Playing squash is what it’s all about. Thank you to all those who marked games this week, to Andy Silver and Graeme Sneddon for their help with the Monday night conundrum and to the ever present (and wise) Bill Johnson who watched and supported every encounter this week. Ian Mc Semi Finals Night It was good to see a crowd joining Bill Johnson to watch the 4 games on offer on Wednesday evening. First up was Peter Archbold against Tony Hedley. A daunting task for Peter who knew what was coming. Tony was in another zone in this match playing powerful controlled and accurate squash. Unfortunately for Peter his opponent found good width and length with every shot and had Peter under pressure from virtually every serve to the inevitable rally ending. Peter battled as he always does and made a match of it but the result was never in any doubt. 3-0 to Tony. In the other semi, Andy Lawrence was up against Matt Guthery. Previous league encounters were a mixed bag with both players coming out on top on different occasions. In other words- a difficult one to call. As it turned out Matt won it 3-1 with enough shots put out of Andy’s reach to finish the rallies. A good contest. In the B competition Dan Cusack worked out how to overcome his older opponent Steve Ross. Steve is an experienced player having won the competition in 1998 as well as last year (2022) and has a number of shots to confuse. Oh that boast. Steve won the first came before Dan started to mix it up and play many more drop shots and boasts of his own- enough of them out of Steve’s reach. 3-1 to Dan. In the final match of the night Rob Owen put in a great performance against Chris Brock. As is his way, Chris played much orthodox length squash trying to keep Rob at the back of the court, Rob had other ideas. Apart from his hard hitting- Rob played many out right winners from all over the court making the result of this game very unpredictable indeed. At 2-2 it was anyone’s. The last game of the night was nip and tuck all the way with neither player getting any sort of foothold. It was probably 2 or 3 unforced errors from Rob mid way through the game which determined the result, 15-13 to Chris in the end. A great way to finish the evening. Thank you to those who marked, particularly Graeme Sneddon who stayed the distance and marked to the end. Finals start at 6pm on Friday (21st) ) followed by a few beers in the village and a curry for those who want one. 1st Round Monday 17th April There were 20 entries for this years competition. Not a helpful number when sorting out who plays who. What I should have done was arrange qualifiers a week before the event to get the entries to a handy 16. Eight to go through and 8 to enter the B competition. I didn’t. What then transpired (on the night) was a very mixed bag of names out of the hat and a post 1st round eliminator played by some tired entrants. It got even more confused when Simon Long and Lewis Harding pulled out, Eric Tolman was added, my fault I hadn‘t included him in the first place, and Martin Davison delayed without an ETA when his wife had to attend hospital - thankfully nothing too serious. More consternation with one or two players on an Anniversary meal deadline or some other appointment and players arranging amongst themselves that they would play a little later ! Not to worry, it all fell into place on the night but not without the help of Andy Silver and Graeme Sneddon. So...... the squash itself. Mark Knott gave Rob Owen little chance winning 3-0 and playing any number of devastating drops which Rob just couldn’t cope with. The added bonus was that Rob went on to mark other games for the rest of the evening. Cheers Rob. Andy Lawrence went through against Peter Edney but didn’t have it all his own way. Peter took the first game but had to work too hard to get it. His variety of shots are a joy to watch but stamina is the Achilles heel. The next three were 4, 8 and 4. 3-1 to Andy. Two new entries, (always a joy to see) Eric Tolman and James Templey played their first Concordia competition game and with a marker. Eric was too experienced for James but a good game all the same. Martin Dowd put up a good fight against Steve Ross, something that Steve would regret later, Steve did get through however. Matt Gutherey proved too strong for Keith Grey and won 3-1. Shot for shot they looked even enough but whether Matt realised it or not, his shots with pace put Keith on the back foot struggling to get his racket to the ball. Good squash. Andy Silver looked comfortable against Graeme Sneddon mainly due to his court coverage. Graeme has all the skills and ability but the ball was all too often out of reach. Tony Hedley beat Dan Cusack in relatively straight forward fashion. There was some quality squash played late on when Peter Archbold went head to head with Chris Brock. Peter took the spoils but it could have gone either way. All the games got to 14-14, they don’t come closer. Great to watch. In order to even up the draw there was a need for an elimination game. Steve Ross and Dave McCrae were the unfortunate players having to play again. Dave was going into the contest having made light work of Nick Humphrey in his first round match-proper. Dave made few mistakes. As mentioned, Steve had a tough one against Martin Dowd so beating Dave straight after wasn’t going to be a stroll. And so it proved. Dave made the most of both his youth and his reach. He just stuck in and retrieved relentlessly. Steve ran out of steam, a shoulder strain didn’t help either but we mustn’t take anything away from Dave, he played so well. His reward is a 2nd round match against Matt Guthery. Should be interesting. 2nd round matches start 5.20pm on Tuesday 18th April. A Competition 2nd Round Matches and the B Competition on Tuesday 18th April. No complication with the A draw. 8 players to battle it out. Dave McCrae continued with his good form and gave Matt Guthery something to think about. In truth Matt was too strong throughout but had a lot of running about to do in order to close out the rallies. Some thoughtful squash from Dave, alas 3-0 to Matt. The Tony Hedley v Mark Knott match had the potential for being an interesting encounter but only if Mark had his ‘eye in’ and could play those winning drops from anywhere on the court. A combination of Tony’s placement and too many errors from Mark ended up with a 3-0 to Tony score line. Some good rallies along the way ! Andy Lawrence played steady controlled squash which was simply too much for Eric Tolman in the 3rd A competition match. Despite this, Eric gave 110% to make it a game of squash well worth watching. Great effort. Similarly, Peter Archbold dealt with Andy Silver in tidy fashion. Andy has some great shots up his sleeve and started the contest strongly, there were some very entertaining and evenly matched rallies. Overall Andy had too much to do and gradually ran out of steam. 3-0 to Peter and a well entertained crowd. The B Competition needed 2 play off games to fight for the last 2 places in the draw. Dan Cusack was up against Keith Grey and Martin Dowd had to play Peter Edney. First though, the other matches played out. Steve Ross comfortably dealt with James Templey winning 3-0. James is a newcomer to squash and has much potential, we look forward to seeing his progress and climb up our club ladder as I’m sure he will. Rob Owen played Nick Humphrey and took the game 3-0. There are few in the club that hit the ball harder than Rob and this power had Nick in some difficulty too often. As always, Nick gave it his all and took it all with a cheery smile-a great Ambassador for the game. Dan Cusack and Keith Grey battled it out in the first play-off game. Someone forgot to remind them this was the best of 3 ! So followed a monumental 5 setter. Both know each others game very well and this showed as many of their better shots were anticipated and the rallies stretched. Dan battled to the win 15-10 in the fifth. Peter Edney was running late and on arrival seemed unsettled. His play-off match against Martin Dowd was cut short as he had to pull up injured. Get well Peter. On the face of it, Martin had a slight advantage going into his B match proper against Dan Cusack. (Dan had just had the 5 setter) but Martin had already played a league game earlier in the day, would you believe- against Keith Grey ! Martin and Dan put on a great display of gritty ‘never say die’ battling squash which was great to watch. Another 5 setter for Dan ended in triumph 15-12. Could have gone either way, well played Martin. Martin Davison and Chris Brock must have decided they would leave the best until last by putting on a very intriguing battle of quality squash. Chris stuck to his game plan of orthodox length squash trying to keep Martin at the back and denying him any ‘volley-kill’ opportunities. More often than not it didn’t work out like that and Martin had Chris running in all directions and pulling him to the front of the court. The balcony had no idea where the ball might end up, never mind Chris. Both players put in a monumental effort to provide quality entertainment. Stamina was the key and Chris showed the stronger in the last few rallies. A joy to watch. Thank you to all of those players (and non players) who marked games and to those who came along to join Bill Johnson on the balcony. It was one of those nights which made everything worthwhile. Semi finals to be played on Wednesday 19th April, 5.20pm start. Come along and support the event. Ian Mc Club Handicap Event - 24th September 2021There has not been anything written on this website for a very long time, Covid 19 and everything that came with it saw to that.
Although the club leagues have been up and running for a while, for me the handicap event last Friday night reinforced a sense of ’normal’ after such a long period of uncertainty and our Government’s drip fed misery. So…. after a few tweaks the format was that of two teams of 7 (Hedley’s Hero’s and Brock’s Bronco’s was the best anyone came up with) each of the players against their opponents on an ad-hoc basis and for only 10 minutes per match. It worked out that most players got to play at least 4 games. The allocated handicap’s raised a few eyebrows but there weren’t too many landslide results (not like the Ryder Cup) Quick fire turn around and a willingness from everyone to mark games meant we rattled through the matches. By 7.30pm, 2 hours after the start, everyone was ready for the bar. Actually a certain Mr Gorman was ready well ahead of that time ! There were some notable contests, Rob Owen, one of Hedley’s hero’s battled in every game he played and scored well. With reverse angles galore, it was entertaining stuff. The Bronco’s - Martin Davison and Peter Irlam were also good value for money, determined and tireless they too scored heavily. Centre stage was Peter Edney who played some outstanding squash, particularly in his games against Peter Archbold and Michael Jones. Peter was another to score 80+ points for his team. The result was an overwhelming win for Brock’s Bronco’s 537 points to 410 from Hedley’s Hero’s. In team terms I’m not sure anyone was bothered about the result. A few beers at Spoon’s and a curry to follow ended what was a great night. It only served to remind us how good things had been before March 2020. Hopefully, despite a near certain set of new restrictions late 2021, we can look forward to better times. Watch out for the 1st team home games this coming season, I’ll put a list out at the back of the courts. Come along and support the team. (Bring your own refreshments, the bar will not be open. Individual Handicap Competition Final
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Finalists;- Team Gangnam Style: Keith Grey, Don Pattison, Andy Lawrence,
and team, Norfolk and Chance; Roland Smith, Peter Edney, Dave MaCrae
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Winners:- Keith Grey, Andy Lawrence and Don Pattison receive the winner's plaque. Presented by Tony Hedley.
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Sunday the 8th September saw some exciting squash played at Concordia as the finals of the mini leagues took place.
Team Norfolk and Chance; David MaCrae, Peter Edney and Roland Smith played Team Gangnam Style; Keith Gray, Andy Lawrence and Mark Knott
In the first game Andy Lawrence played David MaCrae. Despite a huge effort from David to stay on terms, Andy managed to claw back the handicap points and go on to win 21-12 and 21-14.
The second game was a very close, hard fought match between Don Pattison and Roland Smith. Don won the first game 21-20 and looked to have the match in the bag when he took the second game to 19-16. However, Roland pulled it back to 20 all, and then took the game 21-20. The match was decided in a gruelling 3rd game which Roland stole at the end on 21-19.
The final match was between Keith Grey and Peter Edney. Both players showed plenty of skill and determination and some long rallies ensued. In the end Keith managed to keep it tight and pulled off a well deserved victory 21-16 and 21-19.
This sealed the victory for Team Gangnam style. Congratulations go to Andy, Don and Keith for an excellent team effort and to David, Peter and Roland for providing some stiff competition and an entertaining evening.
Everyone really enjoyed the competition and all look forward to the next mini league competition. Thanks go out to Don and Mark for scoring, and to the spectators who turned up and gave plenty of support to the players. And a big thank you to Ian for organising it for us.
Team Norfolk and Chance; David MaCrae, Peter Edney and Roland Smith played Team Gangnam Style; Keith Gray, Andy Lawrence and Mark Knott
In the first game Andy Lawrence played David MaCrae. Despite a huge effort from David to stay on terms, Andy managed to claw back the handicap points and go on to win 21-12 and 21-14.
The second game was a very close, hard fought match between Don Pattison and Roland Smith. Don won the first game 21-20 and looked to have the match in the bag when he took the second game to 19-16. However, Roland pulled it back to 20 all, and then took the game 21-20. The match was decided in a gruelling 3rd game which Roland stole at the end on 21-19.
The final match was between Keith Grey and Peter Edney. Both players showed plenty of skill and determination and some long rallies ensued. In the end Keith managed to keep it tight and pulled off a well deserved victory 21-16 and 21-19.
This sealed the victory for Team Gangnam style. Congratulations go to Andy, Don and Keith for an excellent team effort and to David, Peter and Roland for providing some stiff competition and an entertaining evening.
Everyone really enjoyed the competition and all look forward to the next mini league competition. Thanks go out to Don and Mark for scoring, and to the spectators who turned up and gave plenty of support to the players. And a big thank you to Ian for organising it for us.
May 2013 Open Competition Finals Results
The 2013 closed competition finals got off to a great start with the 'B' match between Mark Knott and Nick Fecitt.
Mark has made much progress this season and his boundless energy and enthusiasm made for a good contest which thoroughly entertained the crowd. Nick' shot selection kept him in control most of the time and he came through to win 3-0 however Mark didn't make it easy for him.
The 'A' final was always going to be a big ask for Ian Morton to take anything from Tony Hedley who had already shown his overall fitness and speed around the court in his semi against Jamie Morton. Early exchanges demonstrated both players ability to rally and also finish them with some great drives finding the nick. Unfortunately just as the contest was hoting up Ian suffered a pulled calf and could not play on. I'm sure Ian will come back stronger next season.
Thank you to Jamie Morton who stepped up to give Tony a game for the spectators.
The short presentation took place in Concordia bar. Thank you to all who came up to support the event.
Ian Mc
Mark has made much progress this season and his boundless energy and enthusiasm made for a good contest which thoroughly entertained the crowd. Nick' shot selection kept him in control most of the time and he came through to win 3-0 however Mark didn't make it easy for him.
The 'A' final was always going to be a big ask for Ian Morton to take anything from Tony Hedley who had already shown his overall fitness and speed around the court in his semi against Jamie Morton. Early exchanges demonstrated both players ability to rally and also finish them with some great drives finding the nick. Unfortunately just as the contest was hoting up Ian suffered a pulled calf and could not play on. I'm sure Ian will come back stronger next season.
Thank you to Jamie Morton who stepped up to give Tony a game for the spectators.
The short presentation took place in Concordia bar. Thank you to all who came up to support the event.
Ian Mc
Andy Pattison invites Concordia Squash club members to enjoy a 10% discount at his new premises
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