Match 2 - Next Generation Away
Thanks to Captain Dave for this report as I was away for the weekend - I think the subs need to go up again! ;-)
The lead-up to this match had a couple of hitches with Marcus announcing his temporary retirement from Essex League; feeling fed up with the rush to arrive ontime at matches affecting his form, and therefore his general enjoyment of the game; let's hope a break from it all will induce some renewed enthusiasm in the near future. We were also without Paul who was off to Paris to celebrate Lorraine's 30th Birthday. As his Travel Agent and Team Captain, I think Dave/Gem Travel really should have checked the fixtures before allowing him to go.
Anyway, good substitutes in the form of Adrian Bunting and Bob Stone were brought in, and we arrived feeling reasonably confident of putting in a good performance and gaining a result. The Next Generation club was a lively place with many families and adults enjoying some Friday evening relaxation. Their squash team is the old b-----s from YMCA, so it was like renewing a few old acquaintances.
The first matches on were the No. 3s and 5s. Captain Dave immediately felt comfortable and confident on the rather strange sounding courts, and started to take control of the match. His opponent battled hard but could not get a foothold in any of the games, and with Dave working very hard in some long rallies, a 3 - 0 win was secured by the Clements man.
Meanwhile, Bob was taking on Kenny in a tough match that had already reached 2 - 2. The final game saw Bob start to flag abit and lose his length, resulting in a win to the home team to square the overall match score.
Then started the drama with the No. 2s and 4s. Adrian took on the tricky Colin at No.2, and soon found himself 2 - 0 down with some uncharacteristicly poor squash by his normally consistent standards. And with Colin 2 - 1 down and looking uncomfortable in his match against the equally awkward Rob who possessed great touch especially on the volley, it looked like the whole match was slipping away. However, anyone who has played Adrian knows that he never gives up without a fight, and he dragged himself back to 2 - 2, and with Colin finally finding some form to level his at 2 - 2, there were now 2 games on court that could settle the match either way. Despite fighting hard, Adrian could not maintain his comeback and seemed to run out of energy, losing the final game. Meanwhile Colin had pressed ahead and found himself 8-6 up with a match ball; he could not convert this, and also then seemed to run out of steam. The match was lost.
With the first 4 matches all being long affairs, Chris finally entered the fray having announced how hungry he was on arrival, and therefore still not eaten. He was up against the young Luke. The match was full of top quality squash, both players probably relaxed knowing the overall match outcome had been decided. Luke managed to take the first 2 games before Chris started to attack with more venom to secure the 3rd. He then suffered a stitch and could not compete sufficiently to take the match to the wire.
Overall, all 5 matches were full of good competitive squash with the results in the balance throughout.
Next Generation were very generous hosts plying us with drinks and a good chicken curry. Why had it taken this lot so long to break away from the Tea-total environment that was YMCA !?
Results:
Chris v Luke 1-3
Adrian v Colin 2-3
Dave v Scott 3-0
Colin v Rob 2-3
Bob v Kenny 2-3
Clements lost to Next Generation 10-17
The lead-up to this match had a couple of hitches with Marcus announcing his temporary retirement from Essex League; feeling fed up with the rush to arrive ontime at matches affecting his form, and therefore his general enjoyment of the game; let's hope a break from it all will induce some renewed enthusiasm in the near future. We were also without Paul who was off to Paris to celebrate Lorraine's 30th Birthday. As his Travel Agent and Team Captain, I think Dave/Gem Travel really should have checked the fixtures before allowing him to go.
Anyway, good substitutes in the form of Adrian Bunting and Bob Stone were brought in, and we arrived feeling reasonably confident of putting in a good performance and gaining a result. The Next Generation club was a lively place with many families and adults enjoying some Friday evening relaxation. Their squash team is the old b-----s from YMCA, so it was like renewing a few old acquaintances.
The first matches on were the No. 3s and 5s. Captain Dave immediately felt comfortable and confident on the rather strange sounding courts, and started to take control of the match. His opponent battled hard but could not get a foothold in any of the games, and with Dave working very hard in some long rallies, a 3 - 0 win was secured by the Clements man.
Meanwhile, Bob was taking on Kenny in a tough match that had already reached 2 - 2. The final game saw Bob start to flag abit and lose his length, resulting in a win to the home team to square the overall match score.
Then started the drama with the No. 2s and 4s. Adrian took on the tricky Colin at No.2, and soon found himself 2 - 0 down with some uncharacteristicly poor squash by his normally consistent standards. And with Colin 2 - 1 down and looking uncomfortable in his match against the equally awkward Rob who possessed great touch especially on the volley, it looked like the whole match was slipping away. However, anyone who has played Adrian knows that he never gives up without a fight, and he dragged himself back to 2 - 2, and with Colin finally finding some form to level his at 2 - 2, there were now 2 games on court that could settle the match either way. Despite fighting hard, Adrian could not maintain his comeback and seemed to run out of energy, losing the final game. Meanwhile Colin had pressed ahead and found himself 8-6 up with a match ball; he could not convert this, and also then seemed to run out of steam. The match was lost.
With the first 4 matches all being long affairs, Chris finally entered the fray having announced how hungry he was on arrival, and therefore still not eaten. He was up against the young Luke. The match was full of top quality squash, both players probably relaxed knowing the overall match outcome had been decided. Luke managed to take the first 2 games before Chris started to attack with more venom to secure the 3rd. He then suffered a stitch and could not compete sufficiently to take the match to the wire.
Overall, all 5 matches were full of good competitive squash with the results in the balance throughout.
Next Generation were very generous hosts plying us with drinks and a good chicken curry. Why had it taken this lot so long to break away from the Tea-total environment that was YMCA !?
Results:
Chris v Luke 1-3
Adrian v Colin 2-3
Dave v Scott 3-0
Colin v Rob 2-3
Bob v Kenny 2-3
Clements lost to Next Generation 10-17
posted by Hodgey at 5:46 PM
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