Match 1 - Ongar Home
After finishing mid-table in the Winter (I can't be any more precise than that cos the Essex League results site was last updated on the 25th November!) we kicked off our 3rd consecutive season in Division 2 with a home tie against old rivals Ongar. But for Colin luckily bumping into John on Sunday, this would have been another report moaning about a no show from Div 2 opponents as this game nearly didn't take place due to a blunder on our published match dates! Anyhow, Ongar duly arrived on time together with a few supporters in tow, and the match got underway.
The No.1's Chris v Malcolm, and No.2's Paul v Mark started proceedings. The warm ups didn't bode well as both Clements players snapped strings - looks like it'll be a busy time for Mr Wallace -, however when the matches got underway Paul started brightly and quickly took the first game. But Mark then raised his game to level at 1-1. During the mid game pep talk, Captain fantastic informed me that Chris was "2-0 up and cruising". Maybe this was going to be a break in tradition and we wouldn't actually be 2-0 down after 2 rubbers....? The 3rd game was rather one sided and the Ongar youngster took a 2-1 lead. And despite some compelling rallies, the 4th went the same way and Ongar were 1-0 up. Still, I was safe in the knowledge that "Chris was cruising" so we should soon be all square at 1-1. Or not as the case turned out. Chris was now locked at 2-2 with Malcolm and was far from cruising! In a highly entertaining decider, the lead changed hands several times until Chris levelled at 8-8, and then pushed to 9-8 to serve for the match. Malcolm's return went straight down the middle of the court with Chris standing right behind. A stone wall stroke if ever there was one, but Chris sportingly didn't take the match on a stroke and a let ball was played. Soon after though and Chris was wishing he had taken it as Malcolm fluked 2 cruel nicks to clinch the match. And unfortunately, once again, Clements were 2-0 down after 2 rubbers!
Next on were the No.3's Dave v Phil and the No.5's Marcus v John. Marcus was feeling under the weather, and had indeed almost pulled out of the match in the morning. However he battled boldly against John and the match was much closer than the 3-0 final scoreline suggested. With Marcus' defeat though, Ongar had assembled an unassailable 3-0 lead and we were destined to start our campaign with a loss. On the other court Dave was playing well and successfully chasing down Phil's drop shots. Dave then produced two trademark top spin backhand drops, much to the delight of the balcony, and soon led 2-0. Phil offered some resistance in the 3rd to narrow arrears to 2-1, but then a steady stream of errors from the Ongar player coupled with further good squash from Dave culminated in a solid victory for the Clements Skipper.
And so the No.4's Colin v Kevin were left to complete the match. A tight first game went the way of Colin. And then the silver haired maestro with the shiny silver shoes showed his true class, and his superior shot making and positional play enabled him to run out a comfortable 3-0 victor and with it put a more respectable look on the final match score. If only Purky had "cruised" all the way to the finish.....!
With our home night now switched back to Monday's, we avoided the clash with the bingo at the Legion. There were some odd post match topics discussed over the buffet. One of the strangest being the state of the new Sainsbury's car park at the Weir, where Dave had been caught for 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon amid a rush for Homebase's 10% off day. Colin aptly summed up the stampede with the matter of fact phrase of "bunch of pikey ******** trying to save a quid off a tin of paint!!" Classic. And Marcus will be pleased to know we are now boycotting Sainsbury's in favour of Tesco's!
Upon the departure of the final Ongar players it was time to settle the bar bill. Unfortunately we were caught short because the majority of our kitty had been spent on Colin's Cucumber Rifles (what the hell are they anyway?!?!) at the end of season curry before Christmas! However the Legion kindly allowed us 3 days credit and with that we sloped off into the night.
Results:
Chris lost to Malcolm McEwen 9-1 9-6 5-9 1-9 9-10
Paul lost to Mark McEwen 9-4 2-9 0-9 5-9
Dave beat Phil Wilkes 9-3 9-5 6-9 9-6
Colin beat Kevin Spencer 9-7 9-3 9-2
Marcus lost to John Faulds 3-9 6-9 3-9
Clements lost to Ongar 2-3 (9-15)
The No.1's Chris v Malcolm, and No.2's Paul v Mark started proceedings. The warm ups didn't bode well as both Clements players snapped strings - looks like it'll be a busy time for Mr Wallace -, however when the matches got underway Paul started brightly and quickly took the first game. But Mark then raised his game to level at 1-1. During the mid game pep talk, Captain fantastic informed me that Chris was "2-0 up and cruising". Maybe this was going to be a break in tradition and we wouldn't actually be 2-0 down after 2 rubbers....? The 3rd game was rather one sided and the Ongar youngster took a 2-1 lead. And despite some compelling rallies, the 4th went the same way and Ongar were 1-0 up. Still, I was safe in the knowledge that "Chris was cruising" so we should soon be all square at 1-1. Or not as the case turned out. Chris was now locked at 2-2 with Malcolm and was far from cruising! In a highly entertaining decider, the lead changed hands several times until Chris levelled at 8-8, and then pushed to 9-8 to serve for the match. Malcolm's return went straight down the middle of the court with Chris standing right behind. A stone wall stroke if ever there was one, but Chris sportingly didn't take the match on a stroke and a let ball was played. Soon after though and Chris was wishing he had taken it as Malcolm fluked 2 cruel nicks to clinch the match. And unfortunately, once again, Clements were 2-0 down after 2 rubbers!
Next on were the No.3's Dave v Phil and the No.5's Marcus v John. Marcus was feeling under the weather, and had indeed almost pulled out of the match in the morning. However he battled boldly against John and the match was much closer than the 3-0 final scoreline suggested. With Marcus' defeat though, Ongar had assembled an unassailable 3-0 lead and we were destined to start our campaign with a loss. On the other court Dave was playing well and successfully chasing down Phil's drop shots. Dave then produced two trademark top spin backhand drops, much to the delight of the balcony, and soon led 2-0. Phil offered some resistance in the 3rd to narrow arrears to 2-1, but then a steady stream of errors from the Ongar player coupled with further good squash from Dave culminated in a solid victory for the Clements Skipper.
And so the No.4's Colin v Kevin were left to complete the match. A tight first game went the way of Colin. And then the silver haired maestro with the shiny silver shoes showed his true class, and his superior shot making and positional play enabled him to run out a comfortable 3-0 victor and with it put a more respectable look on the final match score. If only Purky had "cruised" all the way to the finish.....!
With our home night now switched back to Monday's, we avoided the clash with the bingo at the Legion. There were some odd post match topics discussed over the buffet. One of the strangest being the state of the new Sainsbury's car park at the Weir, where Dave had been caught for 30 minutes on Saturday afternoon amid a rush for Homebase's 10% off day. Colin aptly summed up the stampede with the matter of fact phrase of "bunch of pikey ******** trying to save a quid off a tin of paint!!" Classic. And Marcus will be pleased to know we are now boycotting Sainsbury's in favour of Tesco's!
Upon the departure of the final Ongar players it was time to settle the bar bill. Unfortunately we were caught short because the majority of our kitty had been spent on Colin's Cucumber Rifles (what the hell are they anyway?!?!) at the end of season curry before Christmas! However the Legion kindly allowed us 3 days credit and with that we sloped off into the night.
Results:
Chris lost to Malcolm McEwen 9-1 9-6 5-9 1-9 9-10
Paul lost to Mark McEwen 9-4 2-9 0-9 5-9
Dave beat Phil Wilkes 9-3 9-5 6-9 9-6
Colin beat Kevin Spencer 9-7 9-3 9-2
Marcus lost to John Faulds 3-9 6-9 3-9
Clements lost to Ongar 2-3 (9-15)
posted by Hodgey at 10:59 PM
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