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Concordia Closed 2018- Semi Finals and Finals

17/4/2018

Concordia Closed 2018- Semi Finals and Finals Night.

In brief there were no real surprises in the semi finals played on Wednesday night.
Dave Hall and Mark Knott were first up and Mark got off to a flyer with many of those short cross court kill shots that everyone enjoys playing against. Dave had no answer and lost the first game 9-15.
For some reason Mark stopped playing those winners and slowly Dave got back into the game winning 3-1. Dan Cusack and Peter Edney (yes Peter was playing again tonight) was the other semi in the B competition. It was 3-0 to Dan but there was more to it. Dan had to work hard and the 2nd game was very close 15-14. Peter has provided solid entertainment throughout this competition as well as being there throughout and marking many games. Great contribution.
Ian Morton was up against it in the 1st of the two A semi finals against Simon Long. He battled well and it was only in the last game that Ian showed signs of tiredness, Simon was just too tidy playing great length to sap his opponents energy. Intelligent squash from both players at times.
The battle of the night was between Jamie Morton and James O’Neill and no one was surprised to see the game go to the wire.
Some great ball striking from Jamie and great resilience from James who just wouldn’t let go. Both players were sharp around court and no one could predict the outcome. 1-1 then 2-2 says it all.
It ended 15-10 to James in the 5th however that only came about through the very occasional error or nick shot as the game progressed. Great squash played by 2 very sporting players.

The Finals
Dave Hall v Dan Cusack in the B final saw a straight forward 3-0 win to Dan however Dave would be the first to admit he was slightly under the weather. He started slowly, those on the balcony putting it down to nerves but Dave never really got going. The tough games played earlier in the week seem to have taken their toll and although it wasn’t a totally one sided affair, Dan had much control of the rallies and was able to manage the score relieving pressure when he needed to. Good to watch all the same, and a pleasure to mark/referee.

The A final ended with the same score line, Simon Long demonstrating his overall technical superiority. James O’Neill worked very hard to make it an entertaining spar with some great rallies and almost ‘exhibition style’ exchanges. There were no disappointed spectators and a new name on the Trophy.
The Finals night ended what had been a great week of squash for our club (I’ll try to make sure the competitions don’t clash with the school breaks next time but it isn’t always possible)
Thank you to all who supported and marked games, some not even playing on the night but happy to help out.
I look forward to the next one.
Ian Mc

Concordia Squash Club Closed 2018

11/4/2018

1st and 2nd Round of Concordia Squash Club Closed 2018.

Ever more complicated lives threw up more anomalies in this years competition. Organising the event on what turned out to be the second week of the Easter break didn’t help with entries down on last year. Defending champion Tony Hedley didn’t enter this year either due to injury.
With the preliminaries out of the way, the last 16 played on Monday night.
To be fair all the games went to form, no shock results or even ‘near shock’ results.
Simon Long gave Mark Knott a thorough run around although Mark said he enjoyed the game.
Steve Goldie beat Dave Hall, Ian Morton beat Martin Davison who, by his own admission was below par with some uncharacteristic errors.
Jonny Woodhouse made sure he offered up nothing to Bill Johnson who can kill the ball given half a chance, Bill‘s return of serve not working so well on the night either.
Despite many closer Monday night encounters, Rob Owens switched to his ‘A’ game and dispatched Keith Grey to 10, 5 and 5, perhaps Rob preserving his energy.
For about the 10th season in a row, Robin Ritchie was drawn against a very tough opponent, this time it was James O’Neill. 3-0 to James.
A strong Gary Story made life hard for Peter Edney who battled hard, alas to no avail. 3-0 to Gary.
Even with much improvement this season, Peter Archbold could not knock Jamie Morton out of his stride, Jamie blasted the ball all over the court, the pace unsettling Peter at times, Peter still battled and the scores (15-12, 15-13 and 15-11 ) demonstrated that Jamie didn’t have it all his own way.
A bonus match was offered up this Monday night when Gary Story and Jamie Morton decided to play their 2nd round match early. Both wanted to burst the ball so it was a fast and furious exchange. Jamie looked in control always holding the lead in the first 2 games, 15-9, 15-10.
Gary came back strongly in the 3rd and took it 15-8.
The 4th could have gone either way with the marker calling “game or match ball” - nothing like a bit of tension.
Gary took it to a 5th game and the pace didn’t falter. It was neck and neck up to 10 all before Jamie opened up a lead with a super nick and a dead length. Gary pulled it back to 12-14 but that was as good as it got. 15-12 to Jamie.
A great game to watch and those who stayed were well rewarded.

2nd Round of the A Competition.
Once again there was no need to re-write the form book.
Simon Long’s accurate and controlled squash just had the edge over Steve Goldie, a good match for the purists, both playing excellent shots from all over the court.
Ian Morton’s ability to keep the ball away from his opponent meant very hard work for Jonny Woodhouse,
3-0 to Ian.
Rob Owen’s energy saving wasn’t enough to keep up with James O’Neill who looked comfortable in the main. Rob still managed some good shots which had James scratching his head at times but still 3-0 to James.
(Jamie Morton beat Gary Story on Monday night)

1st Round of the B competition.
Mark Knott took a leaf out of Jonny Woodhouse’s book and made sure he kept the ball well away from Bill Johnson during their match. Bill’s return of serve was better, as was his vocal cords, expressing much appreciation for Mark’s winners-erh…sort of.
Dan Cusack, in the B because of an unforeseen drop out played a hard game against Martin Davison. It was close in every respect up until 2 all however Dan came out stronger in the 5th with some reserve energy. Too strong for a tiring Martin. 15-5 to Dan.

It seemed Peter Edney was always on court this week and last and here he was again against Keith Grey. Peter really can put the ball away if he gets to it, tricky shots and they are no fluke. Despite losing the 2nd game, Peter always looked comfortable with an ability to anticipate many of Keith’s shots. 3-1 to Peter.
Dave Hall and Robin Ritchie served up a real war of attrition, both playing similar style squash. This match was simply about who made less unforced errors, nothing in it.
2 all was no surprise and the 5th game was equally close.
Dave took it 15-10 in the end. Good match for the spectators.

The semi finals to be played on Wednesday 11th April,
6.40pm start.

Ian Mc

2018 Closed Competition PRELIMS

9/4/2018

2018 Closed Competition Preliminaries.

Unfortunately with 20 entries this year is was necessary to bring the 1st round to a neat 16 so there were 4 preliminary matches and it was names out of the hat for who those players would be. Dan Cusack had the honour of blindly picking them out. Didn’t he go and pick his own name, only to play Jamie Morton to boot!

Might as well start with that game. Can’t help saying but Dan was always going to be up against it, Jamie hits the ball so well and he looked pretty sharp around court too.
Dan battled well and took the third game to give Jamie something to worry about. The fourth game was even up to 7-7 but Dan was showing signs of tiring. 15-8 and a 3-1 win to Jamie.
Peter Edney had an even bigger ask when up against Simon Long. Peter gave a very good account of himself although the score doesn’t suggest that. Peter surprised Simon on many occasions with some great kill shots, he couldn’t afford to give Peter anything loose. Great physical effort but Simon just too strong, 3-0 to Simon.
The third game looked like it could go either way. Steve Goldie against the ever improving Chris Brock. And so it turned out. A battling encounter with Steve hitting many crisp an good length drives. Chris wouldn’t let anything go and it really was a game of attrition. At 2-2 all on the balcony were unsure what the result would be. Chris had worked incredibly hard throughout and this must explain how he just ran out of steam, mentally as well as physically.
15-3 to Steve who I have to say is hitting the ball better than ever. Great game to watch.
The fourth game between Dave Hall and Jonny Woodhouse had to be played on Saturday morning and unfortunately I didn‘t see much of the game. 3-1 to Dave Hall.

Due to some very late drop outs, all four preliminary losers’ names were back in the hat, Peter Edney and Jonny Woodhouse have a second bite and are in the 1st round proper.
No getting away from it, both Dan Cusack and Chrs Brock have had a rotten run of luck.
Ian McAllister.

Concordia 3rd team promoted!!

31/3/2018

Concordia 3rd Team PROMOTED!!

It must be said, but a great achievement from all who took part in this seasons campaign to secure promotion at the 5th time of asking. A massive thanks to everyone who had a part to play and played their part when called upon. Northern kept us on our toes for the last 3 months, so a great team effort when required, and a big thanks for any team member who played even when asked at very little notice. I think you'll agree that the win at Primrose in March was unlikely but showed that we were as good as the top team when it really mattered.
I'm looking forward to next season already with the same team again if you are all willing??
Dan Cusack

Check out team game home fixtures

11/1/2018

Check out the home fixtures list (on notice board) for our 4 teams in the County leagues, there are some great games coming up, come along and support.
Ian Mc

Squash league points allocation

11/1/2018

LEAGUE game points are allocated as follows; 2 pts for turning up, 1 pt per game won and a bonus pt for the win.
Problems have arisen when a player pulls out mid session denying some in that league the potential to gain maximum points. So, if this situation crops up can the injured person please notify Roland or myself. In the interest if fairness, all in the group will then be awarded 3 pts against that injured person, whether they played and won or lost or didn't play at all.
Ian Mc

Concordia closed comp 2018

11/1/2018

Concordia Squash Players,
The 1st round of the Closed Competition is proposed to be Monday 9th April 2018. (One week after the Easter weekend) Depending on entries, the final could be Friday 13th.

Entry is free, ASAP please for court bookings etc.
Ian Mc

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

2017 Individual handicap semis

19/12/2017

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

handicap quarter finals

14/12/2017

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

HANDICAP ROUND ROBIN

14/12/2017

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

CONCORDIA HANDICAP QUARTER FINALS

14/12/2017

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

HANDICAP COMPETITION 1st ROUND

13/12/2017

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

Individual handicap comp 2017

14/11/2017

Week commencing Monday 11th December and Tuesday 12th for the round robin stages. 7 group winners and one highest scoring runner up goes through to the last 8 on Wednesday. Semi's on Thursday, final on Friday 15th followed by Christmas night out.

There are 3 team games the first week in December and the week ending 22nd December was deemed to be too close to Christmas hence the whole event is crammed into the one week.
The court costs will be just short of £200, I propose £3 per man at the round robin stage only, just to help offset the overall bill. Trophy and prizes courtesy of the club!
Good Luck
Ian Mc

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

CONCORDIA CLOSED COMP 2017 Part 2

11/9/2017

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

Team Handicap 2017.

17/4/2017

The usual Monday round robin and following Monday knock out format really demonstrated what complicated lives we all now seem to live. There were many changes to team line ups simply through unavailability (mostly work related) I understand and know that squash doesn’t pay any bills, work (and wives) have to come first.
Nine 3 man teams played the 1st round robin. One highest scoring runner up would make up the 3 group winners for the semi final knock out. Unfortunately all the matches were not finished on the night, Jack Davis kindly stepped in to play the outstanding matches later that week. Long story short the final was between Cunning Stunts (Dan Cusack, Peter Edney with Mark Livingstone standing in) who played The Good Bad and Ugly (Andy Lawrence- the only original player, Bruno Gaultier and Keith Grey.)
Cunning Stunts took the title, only just, winning by 2 points. 117 to 115.
Peter Edney played some outlandish winners but they kept coming and he always looked composed. These were no ‘flooks.’ Ask Robin Ritchie from the previous round, Robin simply had no answers to Peter’s placement. Great squash throughout.

Watch out for future competitions, it’s a great opportunity for all players to mix it with those above them. Give it a go.

Ian Mc

'Seniors' 3 Counties tournament at Jesmond

11/11/2016

There is a 'Seniors' 3 Counties tournament at Jesmond starting at 11am on Saturday 12th November 2016. Our own Tony Hedley will be playing alongside Brian Beeson and John Evans. There are some Nationally ranked players representing Durham/Cleveland and Yorkshire.

There will be some high calibre sqaush on offer and the bar will be open.
11am Northumbria play Durham, 4pm Northumbria play Yorkshire.

Ian Mc

Congratulations Tony

27/10/2016

Our enigmatic Tony Hedley entered the North of England Masters over 50's tournament held in Pontefract during the weekend of 21st October 2016. This is one of six fixtures where players from all over the country compete. In what is a National competition Tony was unseeded and drawn against 3/4 seed Peter Lonsdale.
After a close hour long battle Tony lost 2-3, however he went onto the Plate competition where he won both his matches (Ian Gould3-2 and Shaun O'Donaghue 3-0 to secure the plate title. No small achievement with a strong National field.
Tony's aim is to accumulate sufficient ranking points to enter future events as a seeded player. Every little helps.
Well done Tony.

2015/2016 in summary

4/4/2016

Concordia Squash Players,
Personally speaking I'm glad to see the back of the 2015/2016 season. Early promises of minimal disruption were entirely false, progress painfully slow and even now work is still incomplete. Apart from the court heating on/heating off, heating on/ heating completely gone' saga', we then had delayed temporary heaters which were never switched on. On the rare occasion they were they couldn't be felt.
We have chewed dust, sat in dust and skated on dust. Following the eventual fitting of new heating panels ( 2 weeks lost after delivery of the wrong panels) in the court ceilings, we now have the smoothest floors in Britain - the floors still not sorted.
It was unfortunate timing that we also lost a court glass door.
Lack of suitable changing facilities and no bar hasn't helped things either, team squash matches were severely disrupted with many home games played away. I don't think anyone has enjoyed their team or league squash at Concordia this season.
On a positive note we can look towards a better 2016/2017 season. By September the bulk of the refurbishment work should be complete. Our court floors should be sanded off by then and there are plans in place to have the court walls painted.
Thank you to Mark Knott and Steve Goldie who took up the roles of team captain in the wrong season. Both the men's 2nd and 3rd team have avoided relegation during the turmoil and their teams can look forward to a less stressful campaign this Autumn. The men's first team and also the ladies team held on mid table.
Watch out for the club competitions which I'll only start to organise when I know for sure the courts are good to play on.
Roland continues to do a great job running the leagues and our website, good luck to those continuing to play in the summer leagues.
Ian Mc

Heating Progress 26/2/16

27/2/2016

On Thursday 25th February I popped into Concordia to see how the work was progressing on our squash courts.
I'm no construction expert but it looks slow to me. Scaffolding work is still ongoing and this is day 4 of the project.
The heating work cannot begin until the scaffolding is securely in place and it isn't.
Don't be surprised if the work over runs well beyond 7th March.
Mr Scurfield has informed me that the work on our floors will take place after the heating work, the suggestion being there is no need to wait until the new financial year- Unless of course he knows just how long the courts are out of action !
I know some players are making the most of Blyth and Newbiggin courts, all I can say is that we need to be patient and optimistic that all this disruption will be worth it in the end.
I'll keep you posted.
Ian Mc

Heating off just as weather turns cold!

14/1/2016

Concordia Squash Players,
Just to give you the heads up. The squash court heating system has been dismantled. I have no idea what the plan is or how long we will be without heat. I'll let you know as soon as I know.
In the mean time take your thermals or cancel however it might be that this is a very short term issue. Fingers crossed.
Newbiggin courts are a viable alternative
Ian Mc

hot topic, Concordia squash court heating, update.

12/1/2016

Concordia Squash Club’s Battle for Heat
2015/2016 has seen a huge transformation for Concordia Leisure Centre with a four and half million pound refurbishment which offers huge insight into where Northumberland County Council are headed in terms of providing sports and leisure facilities to their Council Tax Payers.
We at the squash club have always been assured that our future is safe and that our squash courts would not experience disruption.
To a fuller extent that has been the case but for some dust and cold spells while major alterations took place.
Our 2015/2016 winter season didn’t get off to a good start with the heating system inoperable. It took a while but by mid-November things got decidedly better. The courts have generally been warm.
The most recent setback w/c Monday 4th January 2016 and how things have developed since then got me thinking that Concordia Squash Club and its life long battle for heat is worth documenting, for posterity if nothing else.

Where we are right now.
The recent setback mentioned above was the result of workmen starting to dismantle our heating system. It appears that the Architect, Project Manager and all those under their direction had no idea our heating system was still in use and much needed.
After an emergency meeting the heating system was put back together and by Friday lunchtime (8th January) was up and running again. As I understand it this is a temporary measure.
The old system is too bulky and is taking up ceiling space needed for the new ’cinema style’ spinning studio planned to replace the judo/soft play area behind the squash court viewing gallery.
Nothing is certain at this stage but it appears the squash courts are going to get a new system whether it be a stand-alone one or is hooked up to the brand new heating system servicing the rest of the building. Theoretically this should see an end to our heating woes.

A Potted History.
Concordia Leisure centre opened some 40 years ago with 3 fully enclosed squash courts. The 3 glass back courts were added later. From its opening, the centre overall and the squash courts were very warm.
When the new glass back courts were added the heating system, situated in the roof space above the original 3 courts, was adapted
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so that it fed heat to all 6 courts. This worked well and for several glory years Concordia Squash Club was considered a great venue with 6 of the warmest courts in the County and a great viewing gallery. Several County events were hosted here.
It all went horribly wrong when the 3 original (enclosed) courts were converted to a dance studio on the lower floor and a judo/soft play studio upstairs (as it is presently) Not only did the club lose 3 courts but the heating system has never been the same again.
I have copy correspondence as far back as 1995 referring to complaints of cold courts and other issues.
It is fair to say that from 1995 and well into the new millennium squash was in decline and many of those ‘seventies’ players who founded the club began to retire from the sport, there were very few new players coming through and the junior section faded when coach Alan Metcalfe moved on. Club membership dwindled. For whatever reason, management did not respond to the club’s requests for cleaner and warmer courts and relations between the two camps deteriorated. I’m not prepared to go into how this came about, others may judge but for many years Concordia had the reputation as being a very cold venue to play squash and not popular with visiting teams.
My personal view is that non squash players will never grasp the fundamental importance of a warm court and how a few degrees of heat changes the dynamics of the game so widely, particularly for everyday club players. Unfortunately there were no managers with such insight or experience of squash. Other priorities left us sidelined.
Despite all of this the club continued to exist and has slowly built up its membership to a healthy 60 plus.

It all changed during the 2013/2014 season when the courts’ heating system was turned on and stayed on! Not only was it on but it was on ‘full blast’. One or two club players took a wee while to get used to the new heat and the odd casual non squash player complained to reception staff that the courts were too hot.
The roller coaster ride continued when the heating system was switched off in March 2014 when the clocks went forward.
Back to cold courts and things didn’t really improve until November 2015. Throughout this period we had a variety of court conditions with cold and occasional warm air blowing randomly. We also had any number of explanations and/or reassurances from the centre’s management that things would improve.
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And so we are somewhere near to the present.
A fair assessment is that the system has not been fit for purpose since those changes in the mid 1990’s but with no available funding nothing was going to change.
With a four and a half million pound refurbishment in the pipeline I had hoped some money might be put to one side for the squash courts which have been neglected for the last 20 years. No so.

The Architect and on site Project Manager involved in this four and half million pound refurbishment have been using the original building plans going back to the 1970’s. Plans and documents showing the various alterations to the centre during its lifetime are not available. This seems to be the main reason why, by default, we are going to get a new system after all.
Forgive my lack of knowledge and technical jargon but with the ceiling tiles removed for the refurbishment work you can see the 2 heat exchange units (Yes there are 2) and the way in which they have been modified.
The current project at Concordia is a big one and things change all the time however my belief is that our court floors are going to be sanded down in April and this may coincide with the fitting of the new heating. Let’s hope so.
Ian Mc
12th January 2016

enter now for Concordia 2016 handicap competition starting 25/1/16

5/1/2016

Concordia Squash Players,
As promised I'm sorting out this seasons individual Handicap Competition for the end of this month. The team fixture lists look favourable so it works out well.
I've considered a few formats but would like to stay with the 3 man round robin format (1st round only) I'll see how the entry list looks. On that note can I have entries ASAP, closing date is Friday 15th January.
First round matches will be on Monday 25th January, group winners (possibly a runner-up or two) will go on to play single knock out matches on Monday 1st February. I will not confirm the dates for the latter stages until I have all the entries in.
This is an opportunity for players of ALL standards from ALL our leagues to have a go at playing those above and below you.
Your name could be on the trophy. Get your entries in.
Ian Mc

2015 Concordia Closed Finals

24/12/2015

The A, B and C finals took place on Tuesday 22nd December and this is how it all unfolded.
Unfortunately Andy Dolan, having been ill for the best part of a week, turned out at less than 100% and his match with Tony Hedley in the A final wasn't quite the battle we anticipated. These things can't be helped and I'm very grateful that Andy turned out at all. He still played some entertaining squash testing Tony along the way. 3-0 to Tony, his eighth win.
In the B final Steve Goldie's quality shots proved too much for Peter Archbold. A good contest with a 3-0 scoreline but all were close games, no shortage of effort from Peter.
In the C final Keith Grey, always the battling entertainer, and Martin Davison provided us with a match difficult to predict.
Looking at results against other club players you would say Martin had the edge. Tell that to Keith Grey !
It ended 3-2 to Mr Davison but it was far from easy and both players gave us a great contest to watch.
After presentations, a trip to the village, beer and curry flowed, the world was put right and financial plans put in place for a new squash club in Cramlington. Where the £1 million + was to come from to do this was never quite resolved.
A good night all round........ I think. Thank you to all who came along to support the event and to Jamie Morton for taking the helm for the A final.
Look out for the Handicap competition around late January/February and the 2016 Closed will hopefully be back at it's regular spot in April.
Enjoy your squash.
Ian Mc .