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
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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