I had 24 entries this year and due to scheduled County League matches had to split the 1st round ‘Round Robin‘ games between Monday 3rd and Monday 10th December.
Group’s A to D played their matches first on courts that started off on the cool side and got colder as the night progressed.
The situation regarding the lack of heating on our courts grinds on with little hope of improvement but we continue to campaign.
Group A
Dave Collis as a new comer and with a +10 handicap could have caused an upset. He nearly did. First match to get going saw John Ormsby loose 12-21 to Dave. John (off scratch) had to work hard to turn it around and won the next two 21-20, 21-19. It meant Dave had only dropped 3 points. A great start.
Another Dave (Hall on -8) was next up against Dave Collis.
A similarly good exchange.
Dave Hall came through 21-17, 21-14.
It was winner take all in this groups final match between John Ormsby and Dave Hall. It went to the wire. Dave took it 21-20 in the third….that close. (11-21,21-14, 21-20)
Group B
I‘m proud to say this group saw a much improved ‘junior’ give two experienced stalwarts a run for their money.
Adam Rowe off only +4 was first up against Mark Knott.(-5) It‘s fair to say Mark ’s unorthodox play meant Adam had to work extremely hard. Adam seemed to work things out and after losing the first game 18-21 was very much on top in the second, at one stage 13-6 up. Credit to Mark who didn’t panic, came back well to take the match 21-18.
Adam was next up against Dan Cusack (-8). A great battle which was to have consequence later for Dan.
Adam took the first game 21-19. There wasn’t much in it point for point but Dan came through the next two games 21-17 and 21-18.
Well played Dan but he had to play Mark Knott to decide the group winner.
-2-
Dan and Mark have played many matches against each other. (This is because they are old)
They know each others game well and it was always going to be a close thing, (-8 against -5 respectively) errors and/or stamina was going to be key.
And so it was.
Mark took the first game 21-20, Dan took the second 21-20.
Can’t get much closer than that.
Dan’s earlier effort took it’s toll and he hit the wall. 21-11 to Mark in the third. A great match to watch.
Group C
Another new comer to the club and to these events, Nick de Pinna had already shown his court speed and fitness, I had his +12 handicap woefully wrong. (I hadn’t seen him play or seen any results when deliberating)
After reviewing previous league results Nick was docked and given +4. Fortunately this was about right.
Nick was first up against Peter Irlam (-4) who I suspect was just after value for money, he seemed to be on court most of the night.
This was a monumental battle with Nick unprepared to give anything up. The scores were 21-16 to Peter, 21-18 to Nick and Peter came through 21-15 in the third but was left in no doubt what a fierce competitor our newest member is.
Nick was next up against Ian Morton (-13) and continued to return just about everything but not without a huge workload. First game to Nick 21-20. Ian remained cool and always placed the ball where Nick had to work the hardest, this took it’s toll and Ian won the next two games 21-16, 21-15. A long and interesting game to watch.
The marathon that was the group C decider was the last match of the night, always seems to be the best saved until last.
An intense battle between Peter Irlam and Ian Morton took us near to 9pm. Both players had worked hard against Nick de Pinna so stamina would be key or so you would think. In actual fact many of the rallies were won with great ‘winners’, particularly in the first two games. 21-18 to Ian then 21-20 to Peter. (Ian had 3 match balls but Peter wouldn’t give them up.)
Then the stamina thing did kick in, only because Mr Irlam had been on court most of Monday evening. The third game ended 21-8 to Ian. Great squash.
Group D
An ever improving Chris Brock was simply too strong for this group despite a -11 handicap. He was up against Andy Lawrence (-6) and Keith Grey (-2) On reflection Chris should have had a ’higher’ handicap.
Chris was relatively comfortable beating Andy 21-12 and 21-13.
Similarly Andy looked comfortable against Keith Grey, 21-14 and 21-10.
The last game in this group saw Chris beat Keith Grey but the plummeting court temperatures seemed to affect Chris in the second game. Keith’s boasts and even his drops (not well known for his drops) had Chris struggling. After a straight forward 21-10 first game, Chris just hung on 21-20 to win the match. Great effort from Keith Grey who nearly caused an upset making the most of the conditions.
I must offer a big thank you to all those who marked games, especially Peter Edney and Martin Davison who marked all night.
The second half of the ‘Round robin’ first round is on Monday 10th December, please come along and support.
Ian Mc
Group’s A to D played their matches first on courts that started off on the cool side and got colder as the night progressed.
The situation regarding the lack of heating on our courts grinds on with little hope of improvement but we continue to campaign.
Group A
Dave Collis as a new comer and with a +10 handicap could have caused an upset. He nearly did. First match to get going saw John Ormsby loose 12-21 to Dave. John (off scratch) had to work hard to turn it around and won the next two 21-20, 21-19. It meant Dave had only dropped 3 points. A great start.
Another Dave (Hall on -8) was next up against Dave Collis.
A similarly good exchange.
Dave Hall came through 21-17, 21-14.
It was winner take all in this groups final match between John Ormsby and Dave Hall. It went to the wire. Dave took it 21-20 in the third….that close. (11-21,21-14, 21-20)
Group B
I‘m proud to say this group saw a much improved ‘junior’ give two experienced stalwarts a run for their money.
Adam Rowe off only +4 was first up against Mark Knott.(-5) It‘s fair to say Mark ’s unorthodox play meant Adam had to work extremely hard. Adam seemed to work things out and after losing the first game 18-21 was very much on top in the second, at one stage 13-6 up. Credit to Mark who didn’t panic, came back well to take the match 21-18.
Adam was next up against Dan Cusack (-8). A great battle which was to have consequence later for Dan.
Adam took the first game 21-19. There wasn’t much in it point for point but Dan came through the next two games 21-17 and 21-18.
Well played Dan but he had to play Mark Knott to decide the group winner.
-2-
Dan and Mark have played many matches against each other. (This is because they are old)
They know each others game well and it was always going to be a close thing, (-8 against -5 respectively) errors and/or stamina was going to be key.
And so it was.
Mark took the first game 21-20, Dan took the second 21-20.
Can’t get much closer than that.
Dan’s earlier effort took it’s toll and he hit the wall. 21-11 to Mark in the third. A great match to watch.
Group C
Another new comer to the club and to these events, Nick de Pinna had already shown his court speed and fitness, I had his +12 handicap woefully wrong. (I hadn’t seen him play or seen any results when deliberating)
After reviewing previous league results Nick was docked and given +4. Fortunately this was about right.
Nick was first up against Peter Irlam (-4) who I suspect was just after value for money, he seemed to be on court most of the night.
This was a monumental battle with Nick unprepared to give anything up. The scores were 21-16 to Peter, 21-18 to Nick and Peter came through 21-15 in the third but was left in no doubt what a fierce competitor our newest member is.
Nick was next up against Ian Morton (-13) and continued to return just about everything but not without a huge workload. First game to Nick 21-20. Ian remained cool and always placed the ball where Nick had to work the hardest, this took it’s toll and Ian won the next two games 21-16, 21-15. A long and interesting game to watch.
The marathon that was the group C decider was the last match of the night, always seems to be the best saved until last.
An intense battle between Peter Irlam and Ian Morton took us near to 9pm. Both players had worked hard against Nick de Pinna so stamina would be key or so you would think. In actual fact many of the rallies were won with great ‘winners’, particularly in the first two games. 21-18 to Ian then 21-20 to Peter. (Ian had 3 match balls but Peter wouldn’t give them up.)
Then the stamina thing did kick in, only because Mr Irlam had been on court most of Monday evening. The third game ended 21-8 to Ian. Great squash.
Group D
An ever improving Chris Brock was simply too strong for this group despite a -11 handicap. He was up against Andy Lawrence (-6) and Keith Grey (-2) On reflection Chris should have had a ’higher’ handicap.
Chris was relatively comfortable beating Andy 21-12 and 21-13.
Similarly Andy looked comfortable against Keith Grey, 21-14 and 21-10.
The last game in this group saw Chris beat Keith Grey but the plummeting court temperatures seemed to affect Chris in the second game. Keith’s boasts and even his drops (not well known for his drops) had Chris struggling. After a straight forward 21-10 first game, Chris just hung on 21-20 to win the match. Great effort from Keith Grey who nearly caused an upset making the most of the conditions.
I must offer a big thank you to all those who marked games, especially Peter Edney and Martin Davison who marked all night.
The second half of the ‘Round robin’ first round is on Monday 10th December, please come along and support.
Ian Mc
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