Match 4 - David Lloyd Home
The team were looking to get back on track after starting the season with three successive defeats, and there would have been no better way than to get one over local rivals David Lloyd! We were back to full strength with the return of our No.'s 1 & 2 Chris & Paul, and then further boosted by the news that David Lloyd were missing a couple of regulars too. It has to be said that David Lloyd were very prompt on their arrival - no doubt wanting to get into our bar bill as quick as possible! ;-)
And so the match got underway with the No.2's Paul v Del and the No.3's Dave v Simon. A hard fought first game with both players displaying good squash eventually went the way of Del. A change of pace in the 2nd game paid dividends for the Clements man though and soon the match was squared at 1-1. Paul started the 3rd in similar fashion with high lobs to the back of the court nullifying Del's speed at the front of the court but then the "wheels seemed to fall off his game" (aptly put afterwards by Ian!) and Del took the crucial 3rd game and then completed a 3-1 victory in a one sided 4th.
The other match was also turning into a close fought affair, with captain Dave trailing 2-1 after the first 3 games. Our skipper looked like forcing a decider as he forged 7-3 ahead in the 4th game, but Simon hung on in there and played some high quality shots and eventually sneaked the 4th and with it wrapped up a 3-1 win too. And so it was again that we found ourselves 2-0 down after 2 rubbers! Seeing as our strength lies in our lower order I really think we need to start playing our matches in the traditional reverse order!
Next matches on were the No.5's Dan v Wayne and the No.4's Colin v Dave. Now Dan is always entertaining to watch and we weren't disappointed this week either. Sporting some 'trendy' headgear he tore around the court in his usual style and took the first game. However, Wayne rallied (literally) in the second and started to cause Dan a few problems with some steady squash and the game reached 8-8. Dan, showing all the bravado of a cocky youngster, called set 1 and promptly lost the game 9-8! Doh! Nonetheless, he regained his concentration and after hitting some cracking drives and launching some Boris Becker style dives went on to claim a 3-1 victory and with it remain unbeaten for us.
Meanwhile Colin had shocked us all upon entering the court in that he wasn't wearing his trusted silver shoes! He had recklessly abandoned them in favour of a new pair of red and black ones. It certainly didn't have a detrimental effect on his squash though as he cruised to a powerful 3-0 victory over Dave. All that we were left to wonder was when he will be bringing his hair into line by colour co-ordinating it again and dyeing it red and black!
With that win secured, the match score was now level at 2-2 and so it was left for the No.1's Ian and Chris to determine the outcome of the match. Having played each other frequently in the past, it made for an entertaining match with some long rallies. But Ian, sporting headgear to rival Dan's in the 'trendy' department, ultimately built a commanding 2-0 lead. Chris fought back well in the 3rd and after bringing the score back to 1-2 there was still some hope of recording that elusive first win of the season. However, unsettled by his troublesome neck injury, he was unable to extend his opponent in the 4th and eventually succumbed to Ian's telling drop shots.
And so it turned out to be another keenly contested 2-3 defeat for Clements. Surely that first win is just around the corner...... hopefully at Maldon next week.
Results:
Chris lost to Ian 5-9 1-9 9-5 2-9
Paul lost to Dell 6-9 9-3 3-9 0-9
Dave lost to Simon 6-9 10-8 3-9 7-9
Colin beat Dave 9-0 9-2 9-2
Dan beat Wayne 9-5 8-9 9-5 9-5
Clements lost 2-3 (9-15) to David Lloyd
And so the match got underway with the No.2's Paul v Del and the No.3's Dave v Simon. A hard fought first game with both players displaying good squash eventually went the way of Del. A change of pace in the 2nd game paid dividends for the Clements man though and soon the match was squared at 1-1. Paul started the 3rd in similar fashion with high lobs to the back of the court nullifying Del's speed at the front of the court but then the "wheels seemed to fall off his game" (aptly put afterwards by Ian!) and Del took the crucial 3rd game and then completed a 3-1 victory in a one sided 4th.
The other match was also turning into a close fought affair, with captain Dave trailing 2-1 after the first 3 games. Our skipper looked like forcing a decider as he forged 7-3 ahead in the 4th game, but Simon hung on in there and played some high quality shots and eventually sneaked the 4th and with it wrapped up a 3-1 win too. And so it was again that we found ourselves 2-0 down after 2 rubbers! Seeing as our strength lies in our lower order I really think we need to start playing our matches in the traditional reverse order!
Next matches on were the No.5's Dan v Wayne and the No.4's Colin v Dave. Now Dan is always entertaining to watch and we weren't disappointed this week either. Sporting some 'trendy' headgear he tore around the court in his usual style and took the first game. However, Wayne rallied (literally) in the second and started to cause Dan a few problems with some steady squash and the game reached 8-8. Dan, showing all the bravado of a cocky youngster, called set 1 and promptly lost the game 9-8! Doh! Nonetheless, he regained his concentration and after hitting some cracking drives and launching some Boris Becker style dives went on to claim a 3-1 victory and with it remain unbeaten for us.
Meanwhile Colin had shocked us all upon entering the court in that he wasn't wearing his trusted silver shoes! He had recklessly abandoned them in favour of a new pair of red and black ones. It certainly didn't have a detrimental effect on his squash though as he cruised to a powerful 3-0 victory over Dave. All that we were left to wonder was when he will be bringing his hair into line by colour co-ordinating it again and dyeing it red and black!
With that win secured, the match score was now level at 2-2 and so it was left for the No.1's Ian and Chris to determine the outcome of the match. Having played each other frequently in the past, it made for an entertaining match with some long rallies. But Ian, sporting headgear to rival Dan's in the 'trendy' department, ultimately built a commanding 2-0 lead. Chris fought back well in the 3rd and after bringing the score back to 1-2 there was still some hope of recording that elusive first win of the season. However, unsettled by his troublesome neck injury, he was unable to extend his opponent in the 4th and eventually succumbed to Ian's telling drop shots.
And so it turned out to be another keenly contested 2-3 defeat for Clements. Surely that first win is just around the corner...... hopefully at Maldon next week.
Results:
Chris lost to Ian 5-9 1-9 9-5 2-9
Paul lost to Dell 6-9 9-3 3-9 0-9
Dave lost to Simon 6-9 10-8 3-9 7-9
Colin beat Dave 9-0 9-2 9-2
Dan beat Wayne 9-5 8-9 9-5 9-5
Clements lost 2-3 (9-15) to David Lloyd
posted by Hodgey at 6:09 PM
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