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Closed Competition 2017 Part 1

12/9/2017

              Closed Competition 2017

You have to say Steve Goldie has had to do it the hard way with his name out of the hat first on two occasions.
The competition started on Friday 1st September when 2 preliminaries were needed to bring the main draw down to 16.
Only 18 entries this year, I’m hopeful that more lower leagues players will enter the Handicap competition in December.

Steve Goldie was one of four involved in the Friday pre-lims and up against Ian Morton. Played at 8pm it was a real shame that there were very few to watch what was a great match. The games swung one way then the other and lead to a 2-2 deadlock with a last game finale which didn’t disappoint. Ian came through 15-11 but both players gave it all. Steve can look forward to a good season with new found levels of fitness.
Earlier in the day Bill Johnson was up against it with the much improved Peter Archbold to contend with. Bill got off to a good start with many kill shots off Peter’s serve. Peter had to work hard to even things up- the first game was close. Peter was the eventual winner keeping the ball away from wily old Bill. This meant he and Ian went into the main competition starting Monday.
Bill and Steve into the plate starting Tuesday.

Monday 4th
All the 1st round matches pretty much went to form. Tony Hedley gave Peter Irlam a right run around but to his great credit Peter battled and battled. 150% effort and no one could ask for more.
An expected 3-0 result but it was still a good match to watch.
Luke Fecitt demonstrated his real potential and played some good squash in parts against a much stronger John Ormsby. Won’t be long before Luke turns around the 0-3 score line.
Bruno Gaultier’s good length shots proved too much for Jonny Woodhouse and he took the game 3-0.
Ian Morton beat Keith Grey who like Peter Irlam gave it his all.
With true grit Keith took 2 games off Ian, 15-14 in both which shows how he battled. 4-15 in the last game tells the tale, Keith just ran out of gas. Great match though.
Mark Knott, coming back from injury, couldn’t quite hang on during long rallies orchestrated by Dave Hall. 3-0 to Dave.

Chris Brock seems to get quicker and quicker about the court and despite some good looking winners from Nick Fecitt, they weren’t !
Chris got so much back, Nick couldn’t keep momentum after taking the 1st game. Chris came through 3-1.
On paper Peter Archbold’s game against Jamie Morton looked an interesting contest. It was. Again games went one way then the other with some great rallies and of course some great ’nick’ winners from Jamie. Peter just couldn’t keep the ball away from Jamie enough while working so hard to retrieve.
Perhaps a bit harsh to say but Peter hit the wall in the last and the game was Jamie’s 15-5.
Simon Long was looking for court time and played steady squash to work Dan Cusack very hard. Although carrying an injury Dan retrieved well and even took the second game. Looking comfortable, Simon rallied his way to a 3-1 win and kept Dan at the back of the court much of the time. Good effort form Dan despite the score line.

Tuesday 5th
All 1st round losers went into the Plate draw along with the two losers from Friday. Once again the 1st four names out of the hat would have to play a pre-lim and if successful play their 1st round game the same night.
Yes, Stevie G’s name was first out. He needed to play Mark Knott.
Keith Grey against Nick Fecitt was the other pre-lim.
Both games went to form, Steve and Nick in the plate 1st round proper.

In the main competition what were effectively quarter final matches, all went to form. Tony did to John Ormsby what he did to Mr Irlam, a gut busting 3-0 run around.
Ian Morton proved too strong for Bruno although he did drop one game. 3-1 to Ian.
Dave Hall was the next player to try and deal with Chris Brock’s retrieving capabilities. Chris simply too strong. 3-0.
Can’t say how things went with the game of Simon Long v Jamie Morton as they played late Tuesday evening. As per the form book Simon came through 3-1.

1st round Plate games also went with the form book.
Because of the need for pre-lims it was only fair to keep the matches best of 3 and not 5.

Dan was too strong for young Luke Fecitt, Pete Archbold too tidy for Jonny Woodhouse and likewise, Nick Fecitt too much for Bill Johnson. Playing his second game of the night- Steve Goldie
Also went through to the last 4 beating Peter Irlam.

The semi final line up looks like this
Tony Hedley     v     Ian Morton
Simon Long      v    Chris Brock

Dan Cusack     v    Peter Archbold
Steve Goldie    v    Nick Fecitt

It’s a 6.40pm start Wednesday 6th September.
Finals on Friday 8th, drinks and a curry after for those who can make it.
A finals report to follow.
Ian Mc

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CONCORDIA CLOSED COMP 2017 Part 2

11/9/2017

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Wednesday 6th Sept’ Semi Finals Night

No shocks or surprises on this night although there was some good squash to watch.
In the A event opener Tony Hedley pushed Ian Morton about the court and ground him down. Some quality rallies but Tony’s fitness carried him through without too much trouble. 3-0 Tony.
In the 2nd semi Simon Long was surprised to see just how much Chris Brock had come on and Simon didn’t have it all his own way. Chris’s retrieval was relentless and he battled to take the
first game 15-14. Simon knew he had a game on his hands and steadily worked the whole court. Chris hung on in there but Simon’s quality width and length was too much. 3-1 Simon.

In the B competition Peter Archbold kept it tidy enough and picked up many of the drop shots offered up by Dan Cusack. Like Chris Brock, Peter has greatly improved over the last 12 months. 3-0 Peter.
Steve Goldie’s efforts continued with a tough contest against Nick Fecitt. Steve started well enough going 2-0 up but Nick came back strongly and levelled the match.
An early exchange of points in the 5th changed when Steve put together a really controlled spell going from 4-5 down to 9-5 up.
Nick didn’t really recover from that spell and only managed 2 more points thereafter. 15-8 to Steve after nearly an hour of play. Great to watch.

Friday 8th Sept’ Finals Night.
The B competition final was a repeat of the 2015 encounter between Steve Goldie and Peter Archbold.
Peter didn’t seem too confident before the match but I’m not sure there wasn’t a little ‘kid-ollogy’ going on- Peter much fitter this time round.
As it turned out, Steve went 2-0 up without being under too much pressure but he had to work for his points.
Peter came back in the 3rd when it seemed Steve took his foot of the gas.
The 4th game was the clincher and went point for point all the way to 13 all. One Archbold error to give Steve match ball was all it took. It was that slim, Steve didn’t miss out on the opportunity.
15-13 and his name on the trophy once more.

Because I’m a smarty pants I predicted exactly how the A competition would unfold, not the final result because that could have gone either way in the end. but with Tony Hedley and Simon Long seeded 1 and 2 respectively, a failure of either to make the final would have meant a huge shock result or a significant injury.
The final itself was how I expected as well.
No shocks and no injuries.
Both players knew each other’s game well but that was never going to help. What this was, was a contest of skilled placement, great shot selection and impeccable technique against a supremely fit, quick and resilient ’battler’ who’s defiance knows no bounds.
With 2 let decisions before a single return of serve was played says something about how the game was going to go. And that’s how it was with many instances of ’contact’ or interference to some degree. Many let decisions, some accepted some queried with vigour made for a long night for the marker/referee.
Can’t be denied, this was a truly great match to watch and on many occasions both players showed that they didn’t always need a marker, not enough occasions in my book. Both also played good shots and clever squash.
One ugly scene tainted what had been a serious if slightly aggressive squash match with both players giving 100%.
Tony’s response to being hit with the ball, a rare event indeed at this level, was, as Tony would later concede, was not his finest hour.
From that point on the match was a straight forward rally by rally contest.
For the record, Simon went 2-0 up. After a few uncharacteristic errors, Tony made most and took the 3rd . At 13-10 up in the 4th Simon should have closed the game out but didn’t. Two all.
The last game could have gone either way and finished 15-14 to Tony. This was an hour and 20 minutes of intense and hard fought squash, a game which will be talked about for a long time I think.
Ian McAllister

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Closed Competition 2017 Part 1

CONCORDIA CLOSED COMP 2017 Part 2

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