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2017 individual handicap final report

19/12/2017

Individual Handicap 2017 The Final

Martin Davison v Steve Goldie
A first game score of 21-9 suggests an easy start for someone. Not Quite. Steve had 6 points to make up from -11 and Martin simply wouldn’t let him. All well and good but Martin had to work so so hard to do it. The question was going to be how much this first game had taken out of him. As it turned out the issue of tiredness was irrelevant. From the start of the second game to the very end, this was a monumental spar, both players drawing upon reserves of guts and energy from nowhere.
At 12-4 down in the second you might think Martin would let the game go and concentrate on the third….Nope.
Fighting all the way, Martin dragged it out to finish (but lose) 21-17. Both had played some great squash- we would have gladly paid to watch this.
The decider was more than we could ever have expected. The encounter continued in the same vain with long rallies, never say die retrieval as well as some well placed winners. There was no way of knowing who was going to clinch it. Steve had the better start bringing the score to 0-0 thus getting rid of that handicap. From then on it was neck and neck.
A great game and a fitting 20-20 nail biting finish.
A rare tin from Martin at the end gave the game to Steve. 21-20.
A great effort from both players.
Ian Mc

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2017 Individual handicap semis

19/12/2017

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Individual Handicap Competition 2017 Semi Finals

Andy Lawrence v Martin Davison
With only 1 point between them on paper this match looked a close one. Both play a similar kind of squash, retrieval being one of their mains strengths. Frantic stuff.
In the first game Martin got off to a good start quickly getting rid of the minus points and getting to 6-1 up. Andy battled but never looked like making up the deficit. 21-14 to Martin.
At the start of the second, the complete opposite. With Andy at 8-0 up everyone was looking at how tired each player was to in order to cope with the decider. Martin had other ideas. From 0-8 down he turned the whole game around letting nothing get by and at 17-10 looked to have it. Andy fought back briefly keeping Martin at 18/19 while he made up 8 points. Alas it wasn’t enough and Martin clinched it 21-18 to make it a 2-0 win. Great entertainment.

Dan Cusack v Steve Goldie
Dan only had 3 points to play with. From -8 he was down to love in no time. Great start and not what everyone expected. At 7-1 up Dan had created a solid platform to keep the pressure on- Steve always playing catch-up. The odd error from Steve not to mention an occasional nick from Dan just added to it. Dan held out and took the first game 21-16.
Score wise the 2nd game was tighter with no more than 2 or 3 points between them either way a lot of the time. That is, until 12 all.
Steve just slipped in an extra point here and there to get to 17-13 then onto 19-13 and finish 21-15. It was a lot more marginal than the scores suggest.
Credit to Dan in the 3rd. A terrible start going -6-0 down before fighting back. Can’t say anything else other than Dan worked his socks off while Steve played tidy length squash. Dan battled, always trying to claw his way back. 11-14 down was as good as it got for him while Steve managed to keep that 3 point safety margin. 21-16 in the end.

Ian Mc

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handicap quarter finals

14/12/2017

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Individual Handicap Competition 2017 Quarter Finals

Robin Ritchie pulled the names out of the hat.

Dave Hall                       v                   Dan Cusack
Steve Goldie                  v                   John Ormsby
Andy Lawrence              v                   Steve Lavery
Martin Davison               v                   Rob Owen

There was definitely an air of ’it’s anyone’s title.’

Dan Cusack against Dave Hall. Funny old game this one.
It was neck and neck throughout. There was virtually nothing between them- point for point except for one decisive spell in each of the 2nd and 3rd games. Dave might want to have a look at how he allowed two spells of losing 6 points in a row, many from a failed return of serve, which gave Dan control. The two spells were totally at odds with the rest of what had been a very close and fiercely fought match. Great to watch though.

Steve Goldie against John Ormsby was a demonstration of precise length play which gives an opponent little chance to return. John Ormsby’s trade mark speed serve was easily dealt with by Steve, often with a tidy straight length ball. John couldn‘t respond and this happened too often for John to have any chance. 2-0 to Steve.
Valliant effort from John all the same.

Steve Lavery found Andy Lawrence too good on the night. Steve played well. Apart from the odd unforced error he played intelligent squash dragging Andy all over the court. Despite this Andy retrieved well, often with interest. As Steve said himself, Andy was too good on the night, made no mistakes and was simply too strong. 2-0.

Rob Owen against Martin Davison was everything people expected. Martin ran, Rob kept him running. 21-18 in the 1st,
21-18 in the second. Honours even. Martin still ran. Not sure if Rob ran out of steam but beyond 8-8 the score suggests classic fatigue. Slowly the game went away from Rob. There were many hand ins during the final stages but gradually Martin crept ahead. 21-14 in the end, Martin (with a cold) the victor.

Ian Mc

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HANDICAP ROUND ROBIN

14/12/2017

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Individual Handicap Competition December 2017

The now regular first round 3 man ‘Round Robin’ format saw two nights of good banter and some great squash.
With matches being played as and when players were available there was no real pattern or order of play. In brief, nearly all the group winners went through with maximum points having won both their games.

Group 1.
Keith Grey got off to a shocking start in his match against Rob Owen but as you would expect, came back strongly. The game went right to the wire ending 21-20 in the 3rd. They don’t get any closer. Keith will have to look to next year.
Keith and Rob’s game was effectively the decider for the group because a below par Peter Archbold struggled to get going against either of his opponents. His calf injury definitely played it‘s part and I for one am grateful he has soldiered on playing magnificent squash for the 2nd team throughout. Next time Peter.

Group 2.
A slight mess this one.
John Ormsby put much effort into both his matches against your’s truly (standing in and still crocked) and Chris Brock however John lost both encounters.
The game between Chris and I didn’t finish. A keen Mr Ormsby had sufficient points to go through.

Group 3.
Fiercely contested this one. Les Carr, Martin Davison and Peter Irlam all battled against each other in equal measure. Despite having a cold which he did mention once or twice, Martin did what Martin does- getting a lot back and putting the ball in unexpected places. Martin went through with maximum points.

Group 4.
Firstly a big thank you to Mark Knott and Harry Smith for standing in at relatively short notice to make up this group. Both were up against the terrier Andy Lawrence who just wouldn’t lie down. Both Harry and Mark have great drop shots from the back of the court and they won many points with them- but not enough. To his credit Andy picked up what he needed to get through. Maximum points.

Group 5.
The first of our 2 juniors in this one. Young Luke Fecitt was up against Dan Cusack and Phil Gibhard, both experienced players.
Neither of the old timers (Dan has earned that description, he turned 50 last week) had it their own way, Luke showed his promise and kept them going in some long rallies. Their experience and a few unforced errors from Luke saw them triumph. Dan won the group with a steady and convincing win over Phil.

Group 6.
Adam Rowe was the other junior in the show and after a shaky start demonstrated that he will be a handful very shortly. Adam was up against Dave Hall in his first game and for a time held his own however at 10-12 down Dave changed tack and began to mix it up with reverse angle boasts and some other quirky stuff which threw the youngster. A run of 10 points resulted. 21-14 to Dave.
2nd game- Adam found his feet and started to move. A real battle and the 21-20 score tells all. Dave was smiling with relief (and a fantastic shade of red) when he came off court not having to play a decider. 2-0 to Dave. With his squash head now firmly in place Adam gave Nick Fecitt a good knock. A game played with much mutual respect and grace, both showed their ability to play orthodox squash. It was very close with Adam just coming out the victor 21-20, 21-19.
Had Nick took the win against Dave the group would be decided on points against, a very close group indeed. As it was, Dave took the game against Nick 2-0 to go through with maximum points.

Group 7.
Steve Lavery’s mobility proved to be too much of a hurdle for Peter Edney and Jonny Woodhouse and Jonny is not slow. Peter played some neat tidy squash to length and threw in some devilish cross court drops, often from a volley but Steve still managed to retrieve.
With 2 wins, Steve went through but this didn‘t prevent a late evening Edney/Woodhouse battle. The game, the last one of the night gave us entertainment to the end. Jonny taking the spoils in the 3rd- 21-14.

Group 8.
Perhaps the mad group of the night, (I just mention Bill Johnson and all know what I mean.) Demonstrating the extremes of handicap squash Bill won’t mind me saying he’s no spring chicken.
Playing off +10 and in possession of a wicked drop shop off serve,
It’s not an easy game against Bill. For s second year in a row Robin Ritchie faced Mr +10 and struggled. Coming back from zero Robin dug in but never quite got there. Good to watch though with the now customary ‘on court’ commentary from Bill, 21-18, 21-15 tells the story. Steve Goldie on -11 was next up against Mr +10 and he too struggled, losing the first game to 16. Steve got tighter and tidier in the 2nd and in the deciding game and with no room for errors, managed to get through. (16-21) 21-18, 21-17.
I’ve saved the best until last, pure fluke by the way. Probably the game of the tournament so far, Robin Ritchie against Steve Goldie was simply a great game of squash which highlighted what handicap squash is all about. It finished 18-21, 21-16, 21-19 but the game ebbed and flowed with spells of confidence, nervy defensive (and loose) ones and some clearly identifiable spells of all out attacking play from both players which provided great entertainment. The fact that both tend to play an orthodox length game helped provide some great rallies. Steve Goldie went through but Robin has to be pleased with his efforts if not the result.
The draw for the final eight followed late Tuesday evening.
Ian Mc

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CONCORDIA HANDICAP QUARTER FINALS

14/12/2017

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Concordia Squash Players,
                                       Took place Wednesday evening when Dave Hall played Dan Cusack, Rob Owen played Martin Davison, John Ormsby was up against Steve Goldie and Steve Lavery played Andy Lawrence.
There will be a match report on our website.
Tonight's semi finals; 6.40pm prompt
Dan Cusack             v         Steve Goldie
Martin Davison         v         Andy Lawrence
It's still wide open................so is the bar. Come along.
Ian Mc

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HANDICAP COMPETITION 1st ROUND

13/12/2017

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Concordia Squash Players,
                                            Monday and Tuesday Night saw the 'Round Robin' stages unfold. Some good banter and some very good squash.
A big thank you to those who supported the event thus far and to those who marked games. I'll put a full match report on our website.
Most results were straight forward in the sense that group winners won both their games and went through with maximum points- group 2 being the exception. The competition is wide open, any of the 8 players could win it.
The draw for the quarter finals came out as follows;
Dave Hall                   v                   Dan Cussack
Steve Goldie              v                   John Ormsby
Andy Lawrence          v                   Steve Lavery
Martin Davison           v                   Rob Owens.
Matches start at 6.40pm tonight (Wednesday), winners play their semi final on Thursday 14th December, also at 6.40pm. Please come along and support the event.
The final is on Friday 15th, followed by a few beers in the village.
Ian Mc

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2017 individual handicap final report

2017 Individual handicap semis

handicap quarter finals

HANDICAP ROUND ROBIN

CONCORDIA HANDICAP QUARTER FINALS

HANDICAP COMPETITION 1st ROUND

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