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Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Match 6 - Clements 3 'Home'

Well, the BIG result of the night is that Hodgey is a DAD !!
A little boy named "James"
Congratulations to him and Lorraine, and we wish them all well.

The minor event happening was Le Crunch Part 2, between the Clements 2nd and 3rd teams, for bragging rights in Division 3.
With Paul withdrawing at the last moment (no team commitment there then !), Chris was drawn in to keep the top end of the order in tact.

First on were the "old warriors" Jim Newman and Paul Kenyon (combined age 156 I think). But who was playing for which team; in fact Jim had been brought in as super-sub for the 2nd team to replace Greg who struggles to understand what "a week on Thursday" means. The odds seemed stacked against Jim - he had already stated that Paul is a bit of bogey man for him (he's not on his own there then), and his allegiance to the 2nd team seemed abit tenuous in that he has played a couple of games for the 3rd team already, and seemed to spend much of the evening cheering on the 3rd team players. Was it a surprise then that he went down 3/0 ? It also turned out that Marcus had put a wager on Paul to win, and Jim seemed to find it no problem in paying the £12 match fee. Further financial irregularities unfolded when it was discovered that the match marker (Paul Clarke) is "in the pocket" of the 3rd Team with under-the-counter payments in kind of cheap food and drink. Match-fixing ? - surely not in Essex League Division 3 East......

Meanwhile, Dave had gone on against Ian Maulkin. It is maybe an understatement to say that Ian would love to "get one over" on the 2nd Team skipper, and it started out in his favour as he raced to a 6-0 and then 7-2 lead. However Dave hung in there, turned it around and served out to nick the opening game 9-7. That seemed to take the wind out of Ian's sails, and Dave took the next 2 games with a solid performance.
Overall match score now 1 - 1.

The next 2 matches on court were then to be crucial. Adrian v Tony Draper, and Colin v Nigel Roskams.
It was one of these occassions when you needed to have eyes on both courts as the drama ebbed and flowed. Colin was coming back after his calf injury, and looked abit cautious in losing the first; however he opened up a 7-0 lead in the 2nd game, and after Adrian and Tony had shared their opening 2 games, Adrian also opened up a substantial lead in their 3rd - Advantage 2nd Team. Within 5 minutes this had been turned on its head, with Nigel storming back to take the 2nd game 10-9, and Tony also recovering to take their 3rd 10-8 - Advantage 3rd Team.
Colin then seemed to find the right tactic to de-rail Nigel, achieving better width and keeping it away from Nigel's deadly overheads, winning the next 2 games to bring their match level; this seemed crucial as Tony was dominating the 4th game against Adrian - at 8-2 up, it looked like Tony's lob & drop had got the better of Adrian's line & length. However, the Fat Lady had not Sung ! Repelling numerous match balls along the way, Adrian clawed his way back to an unlikely 10-9 win, which now levelled this match - Team honours even, although you felt the pendulum had swung back to the 2nd Team. This was born out as Colin continued to dominate his match to open up an 8-3 lead; this time it was Nigel who dug deep, and he defied 6 match balls, all the time eating away at Colin's lead till he was within a point. One retrieving boast from the back corner that died agonisingly at the front, defied belief - you could see Colin wither at the prospect of allowing his winning position to disappear. In the end, Nigel offered up the one mistake Colin needed to secure the match. 2 - 1 to the 2nd Team soon became 3 - 1 as Adrian finally toppled Tony in what had been an epic match of great quality and drama.

And so to the No.1's of Chris v Marcus Allan. With the overall match decided, Marcus seemed relaxed and set off like a train playing some fast and decisive squash which seemed to take Chris by surprise. Marcus opened up a commanding position, only to drop his level at the crucial game-winning stage. Chris managed to settle just in time to establish a foothold and eventually scrape through to win the game. Marcus seemed to have lost that initial gusto in the second, and Chris's superior squash abilty saw him secure that, and then the third.

And so a 4 - 1 win to the 2nd Team, but how different it could have been...........

No hard feelings lead to an enjoyable evening in the Legion. Tony's lost match balls were only mentioned every 5 minutes....!
Dave served up a lovely curry with all the trimmings.
A toast of good luck was made to Paul and Lorraine (baby had not been born at that stage).
Talk of how old Paul and Jim really were, and had they set a new Essex League record for combined age - no, that had been achieved by Paul v Helmut, or was it Paul v Dai Rees, or Paul v ......! We are only jealous Paul, and dream that we will still be able to fly round a squash court like you do.

Chris beat Marcus 9/8 9/5 9/0
Adrian beat Tony 6/9 9/6 8/10 10/9 9/6
Colin beat Nigel 4/9 9/10 9/1 9/3 9/7
Dave beat Ian 9/7 9/3 9/3
Jim lost to Paul 2/9 5/9 3/9

Clements 2 - 17 points
Clements 3 - 7 points

Thanks to Dave for the report again. I'd just like to say that I am committed to the team and that I was only looking out for the future of it! So I'd like to post a picture of the club champion 2025! :-)

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Thursday, November 08, 2007

Autumn 2007 Halftime Summary

Keep it up lads and we'll be back in Division 2...!

Ok cue Dave & Colin start throwing matches...!

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Match 5 - Chelmsford 3 Home

After securing 3 out of 3 matches so far, Chelmsford 3rd team came to visit. We had a feeling this would be quite a tough test, and so it was good to get Chris back. We were still without Colin (calf strain) and Dan (groin strain), so it was also good to have Adrian available to make up what looked like a strong line-up.

First on was Captain Fantastic, who turned out to be Captain Calamitous - not his best performance in an Essex League match, and comfortable loser in 3 straight sets to Alan Burrows. After losing the first 4 points, the Chelmsford man got his game together, and controlled the remainder of the match with a good all-round performance.

Meanwhile, Adrian had started at 3rd string against the sulky but dangerous Sean Lamont. Sean is full of wristy boasts, drops, and lobs, and these proved too good for Adrian in the first 2 games; but the Clements man is nothing if not determined, and never knows when to lie down. He clawed his way back into the match with typical hard endeavour, grinding his way to 2 games all. It seemed that Sean was a spent force as Adrian opened up a 7/4 lead in the 5th, but Adrian could not finish it off, and back came Sean to level at 7/7; it now could go either way, but as has been mentioned before, there is only 1 man you want on your team in this type of situation, and Adrian is that man. Game to Clements.

Paul was enjoying being back at his customary No. 2 position against the evergreen Bernie Bray. Paul seemed more relaxed than of late, and he quickly started to dominate his opponent. He moved his man around the court with good width, opening up many opportunities for winners. Bernie could not cope, and Paul ran out a comfortable 3/0 winner.

Next up was Chris against Mark Gilfrin. Chris has looked in good form all season, and he quickly exerted a stangehold on this encounter. Only the odd lapse in concentration gave Mark any look-in, but the result never looked in doubt - again a 3/0 win to Clements and with it the overall match win, and still unbeaten.

New boy Greg was back at No. 5 for his second dose of Essex League. He was up against Paul Tranter, an experienced and canny campaigner, so it was going to be a tough examination of his credentials. Without knowing that the match had already been decided, the 2 of them conjured up a classic 5 setter. Greg moved his man around the court with his unconventional style of reverse shots, drops and lobs, while Paul kept pace with him with a more conventional driving game. First game to Greg 10/8, the next 2 to Paul, and the 4th to Greg. And so for the 2nd time in his short Essex League career, Greg found himself in a 5 setter. And this one went right to the wire, with match points to both players as the pendulum swung each way at both 8/8 and the 9/9. In the end, the final point went to Paul, followed by both sets of watching teammates erupting into spontaneous applause to acknowledge a thoroughly entertaining match.

Greg had to shoot off, cos he has still not quite realised that Essex League matches involve both food and drink afterwards, and his dearly beloved had cooked him a meal....maybe next time.
The normal buffet again proved too much for everyone, but while scoffing what they could, one interesting discussion arose about the most obnoxious individuals to grace the Essex League circuit. To save any libel cases ensuing (let alone being knee-capped), these people will not be printed here, but it produced a band of arrogant, thuggish, bad-tempered, and unsociable b------s.
Finally, there must be something in the air, or maybe the beer at the Legion; as soon as one of our team starts having babies, then another starts producing....... congrats Chris !

Clements beat Chelmsford 3 3-2 (16-8pts)

Chris beat Mark Gilfrin 9-1 9-7 9-3
Paul beat Bernie Bray 9-3 9-6 9-5
Adrian beat Sean Lamont 5-9 4-9 9-3 9-3 9-7
Dave lost to Alan Burrows 7-9 1-9 6-9
Greg lost to Paul Tranter 10-8 6-9 7-9 9-5 9-10

Monday, November 05, 2007

Match 4 - Triangle Away

Apologies for no Blog report for our last match versus Maldon - I just didn't get round to it !
For the record, Clements beat Maldon 2 by 4 ties to 1 (19 points to 6)

Now on to Yesterday's fixture away at Triangle
With a couple of our regulars (Chris and Dan) unavailable, the team was bolstered by the ever-dependable Adrian Bunting and Greg Barker who was making his Essex League debut; and as the ensuing report shows, the match vey much hinged on their performances.

First up was Clements skipper Dave versus Eamonn at 4th string. Dave had been nursing a back strain all week and was not sure how it would stand up in the heat of battle. Fortunately, the temperature never got anywhere near boiling point, and the Clements man managed to control the pace of the game to run out a fairly comfortable 3-0 winner.

Meanwhile Greg had started his Essex League career against "Grandad" Mick. This was an extremely tight match with neither player managing to dominate the play for any period of time. Greg adapted to the conditions well, slowing the pace down with lobs and drops (not his usual style); this seemed to be working well, and would probably have won the match more comfortably, but for a few mistakes at vital times. First game to Greg, second to Mick, third to Greg, and at 8-6 up in the 4th, Greg had match points; however this was never going to be easy, and again a few mistakes combined with dogged resistance from Mick led to a fifth set. Greg finally got the upper hand to close out the match. Greg has always played the game with both a smile on his face and yet determination, and it was good to hear him say he had enjoyed what had been a close affair.

The First string were on court with Paul ("no roof over my head and having a baby") Hodge against the talented Jason Potter. It was a somewhat one-sided affair, with Jason proving too strong. The only thing Paul came out with was 2 sore hamstrings - let's hope that doesn't affect his nappy-changing technique.

And so Triangle had started a comeback in the match which was furthered when Clements 3rd string Colin withdrew after a game and a half of his match against Richard Latter. Colin is in good form at present and had secured the first game, but a calf strain caused by over-training during the week led to his retirement with the second game poised evenly. If this report is starting to sound like an episode of Casualty, it is probably because we are all getting old (don't know where Hodgy fits into this !)

So at 2 matches all, the 2nd strings got under way knowing the match was in their hands. Now I need to go back an hour and a half or so - it turned out that Adrian had been dropped off by his dear wife at Chelmsford Squash Club, thinking that was where the match was. Unable to raise anyone on their mobiles (yet more evidence that I never take mine anywhere), he spoke to Dave's better half Stacy who informed him the match was at Triangle. Adrian turned this negative into a positive and decided he could re-enforce his day's firearms training with a bit of Commando-style training. Think theme music to "Cadbury's Milk Tray", and put that to our man crossing barbwire fences, allottments, spiked railings, "this council estate wasn't here last time I tried this when I was 16" - "And all because the man loves Essex League !"
Most people would then be ready to lay down and collapse, but Adrian (with usual lack of drop-shot) proceeded to put himself through a draining 5 setter against Triangle skipper Steve Impett. The rallies were long and often followed the same pattern with Steve executing tight drop-shots to Adrian's backhand and the latter forcing himself to go and retrieve them with a crosscourt lob. The marker fell asleep at one stage, both players were exhausted, and the crowd just wanted a beer.... In such a match, there is only 1 person you want on your side, and Clements had that man. And so the overall match went to Clements....

Paul Hodge lost to Jason Potter 0-9 5-9 3-9
Adrian Bunting beat Steve Impett 6-9 10-8 4-9 9-7 9-2
Colin Copeland lost to Richard Latter 9-5 retired
Dave Coates beat Eamonn Wolfe 9-3 9-2 9-7
Greg Barker beat Mick Rolfe 9-6 7-9 9-5 9-10 9-3

Clements 15 - Triangle 10

Bar chat was dominated by the WWF wrestling on the big screen - they are Big Girls Blouses !!
Thanks to Triangle for their hospitality
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