Match 3 - Writtle Home
This home match against Writtle was always going to be a tough ask for Clements without :
Our regular No. 1 Chris - late withdrawal after cranking his neck playing football on Saturday - it is a young person's game Chris, and you really should know better.
Our regular No. 2 Paul - Wife Lorraine's 30th B'day, so on some slushy meal out probably.
Our regular top order substitute Adrian - boat blew over in storms and needed fixing or something like that.
Our regular No. 5 Marcus - gone into retirement (and he's only young). In the end, his retirement lasted less than a week cos Skip was getting v. desperate to get a team out - thanks for playing Marcus.
So to the squash - the first matches on were No. 4s and 5s. Despite already having a game arranged at 8.30, Marcus agreed to play tonight at very short notice cos Skip was having trouble getting a team out. After encouraging starts in each of the first 2 games, Marcus couldn't maintain the form against a young competitive Jack from Writtle, going down 0-3. Many thanks again and hopefully you can now enjoy your retirement !
Meanwhile Dan Summers was off to a bad start against Mike, not only going 0-2 down, but also twisting his ankle during this period. Despite the initial pain, Dan manfully got up and played on without medical attention. He has either been to the "Bob Stone School of Feigning Injury", or the phrase "No sense, no feeling" springs to mind....! Anyway it worked a treat, because Dan turned the game on its head, winning the 3rd and 4th games in comprehensive style with a typical whirlwind performance, and despite a little nervous wobble in the 5th, secured an important win.
The No. 3s had got underway on the other court, with another Clements replacement Tony Draper up against Ian Worby. Similar to Marcus, Tony had also answered the desperate Skip's call, and played despite already playing at 7.10 ! Flabbergasted that he was then asked to play No. 3, Tony showed exactly why he was in his rightful position. His opponent used to be a top ranking player, but was desperately out of condition, and if ever there is a player to exploit such a weakness, Draper is your man. Tony managed to secure a tight 1st game 10/8, and then his persistent touch game of lob and drop asked far too much of the immobile Writtle player, winning 3 - 0.
So with Clements now 2 - 1 up in the match, it was obviously going to be an easy matter for the whole thing to be wrapped up at either No. 1 or 2.......Yeah right !
Colin was up against the experience and guile of Andy Russell at No. 2. Although Colin can be an awkward opponent, possessing a combination of good shots and a big arse, his opponent also has both these attributes and abit more. Colin tried valiantly, but went down 0 - 3.
Dave was up against Writtle's regular No. 1 Kris. The start of the first game went the way of Kris , but then Dave won 1 point, then another, then another.... till the score was 7 all. Dave saw potential glory ahead, but could not quite clinch the game. The second saw Dave take a well-earned breather, before again making Kris fight all the way in the 3rd. In the end, Kris won the match 3 - 0, but in truth, the Clements Skipper will look back and feel that the better player clearly did not win this contest; Kris had so many lucky nicks, and somehow appeared to scrape the tight drop-shots up......!!
Anyway, many thanks to both Tony and Marcus for playing at such short notice - true club members. The social afterwards was abit of a damp squib, with 2 players from each team getting an early night. The British Legion regulars didn't mind though when all the excess buffet was handed round.
Results:
Dave lost to Kris 7-9 0-9 7-9
Colin lost to Andy 3-9 4-9 7-9
Tony beat Ian 10-8 9-2 9-5
Marcus lost to Jack 4-9 4-9 1-9
Dan beat Mike 4-9 7-9 9-0 9-1 9-5
Clements lost to Writtle 2-3 (6-16)
Our regular No. 1 Chris - late withdrawal after cranking his neck playing football on Saturday - it is a young person's game Chris, and you really should know better.
Our regular No. 2 Paul - Wife Lorraine's 30th B'day, so on some slushy meal out probably.
Our regular top order substitute Adrian - boat blew over in storms and needed fixing or something like that.
Our regular No. 5 Marcus - gone into retirement (and he's only young). In the end, his retirement lasted less than a week cos Skip was getting v. desperate to get a team out - thanks for playing Marcus.
So to the squash - the first matches on were No. 4s and 5s. Despite already having a game arranged at 8.30, Marcus agreed to play tonight at very short notice cos Skip was having trouble getting a team out. After encouraging starts in each of the first 2 games, Marcus couldn't maintain the form against a young competitive Jack from Writtle, going down 0-3. Many thanks again and hopefully you can now enjoy your retirement !
Meanwhile Dan Summers was off to a bad start against Mike, not only going 0-2 down, but also twisting his ankle during this period. Despite the initial pain, Dan manfully got up and played on without medical attention. He has either been to the "Bob Stone School of Feigning Injury", or the phrase "No sense, no feeling" springs to mind....! Anyway it worked a treat, because Dan turned the game on its head, winning the 3rd and 4th games in comprehensive style with a typical whirlwind performance, and despite a little nervous wobble in the 5th, secured an important win.
The No. 3s had got underway on the other court, with another Clements replacement Tony Draper up against Ian Worby. Similar to Marcus, Tony had also answered the desperate Skip's call, and played despite already playing at 7.10 ! Flabbergasted that he was then asked to play No. 3, Tony showed exactly why he was in his rightful position. His opponent used to be a top ranking player, but was desperately out of condition, and if ever there is a player to exploit such a weakness, Draper is your man. Tony managed to secure a tight 1st game 10/8, and then his persistent touch game of lob and drop asked far too much of the immobile Writtle player, winning 3 - 0.
So with Clements now 2 - 1 up in the match, it was obviously going to be an easy matter for the whole thing to be wrapped up at either No. 1 or 2.......Yeah right !
Colin was up against the experience and guile of Andy Russell at No. 2. Although Colin can be an awkward opponent, possessing a combination of good shots and a big arse, his opponent also has both these attributes and abit more. Colin tried valiantly, but went down 0 - 3.
Dave was up against Writtle's regular No. 1 Kris. The start of the first game went the way of Kris , but then Dave won 1 point, then another, then another.... till the score was 7 all. Dave saw potential glory ahead, but could not quite clinch the game. The second saw Dave take a well-earned breather, before again making Kris fight all the way in the 3rd. In the end, Kris won the match 3 - 0, but in truth, the Clements Skipper will look back and feel that the better player clearly did not win this contest; Kris had so many lucky nicks, and somehow appeared to scrape the tight drop-shots up......!!
Anyway, many thanks to both Tony and Marcus for playing at such short notice - true club members. The social afterwards was abit of a damp squib, with 2 players from each team getting an early night. The British Legion regulars didn't mind though when all the excess buffet was handed round.
Results:
Dave lost to Kris 7-9 0-9 7-9
Colin lost to Andy 3-9 4-9 7-9
Tony beat Ian 10-8 9-2 9-5
Marcus lost to Jack 4-9 4-9 1-9
Dan beat Mike 4-9 7-9 9-0 9-1 9-5
Clements lost to Writtle 2-3 (6-16)
posted by Hodgey at 12:48 PM
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