Colets 2 - 3 Bishops Stortford
Nick Matthew 1-3 Anthony Ricketts 3-9, 10-9,
1-9, 1-9
Alex Gough 3-1 Peter Barker
2-9, 9-1, 9-7, 9-1
Danny Meddings 2-3 Iain Higgins
7-9, 9-4, 9-5, 3-0rtd
Paul Davis 3-1 Harry Leitch
7-9, 9-2, 9-1, 9-5
Clive Ewins 2-3 Galen Le Cheminant
9-6,7-9,4-9,9-1,9-10 |
BACK TO COLETS…
 On
the kind invitation of Dave Peck,
pro at
Colets for donkeys years, I was returning to this lovely club
after a very busy
BSPA
last weekend for the quarter finals of the English Club
Championship (for you who do not live in the UK, it’s a competition
that runs all over England, with the eventual winners invited to
play in the European Club
Championships where fun and camaraderie is as least as important
as competition…
Today, Colets, who finished third in the last two European
Championships, was receiving Bishops Stortford, led by Club
Manager Jason Foster. The Club Championship is a big deal for Colets,
and the turnout of over 120 club members to watch the evening was a
perfect illustration of the importance this competition holds here…
Full of hope, the spectators parted themselves in four bunches, as
we were playing on two courts, and that now Colets possesses glass
courts, allowing far more people to enjoy the matches from the
gallery than before, but also from downstairs in perfect seating
conditions…
 I
took position on court one, and on came Clive Ewins for
Colets and Galen Le Cheminant for Bishops. What a weird match
that was. Galen is as famous for his shot making as Clive is for his
hard hitting. But today, the Colets man got sucked in his opponent’s
game, and instead of dispensing his heavy artillery, tried to match
Galen’s short game.
The result? A far too high error rate, and not enough control of the
rallies. But still, it had to go to the decider, which led to a
spectator’s comment, “why on earth don’t we just play the match as
just the best of one then”…
Supporters from both camps saw their heart’s strength fully tested
as Galen got three match balls from 8/5, saved by Clive who then got
a match ball himself at 9/8, but couldn’t return a lovely backhand
boast at the front of the court. And on a stroke, Galen concretised
his fourth match ball at 10/9, giving what would become a decisive
and unexpected point to Bishops Stortford.
 "I
felt good in the first and in the second, but then I lost my
game plan and made far too many errors…
"I lost my way really…"
Clive Ewins |
Next door, Paul Davis, the
favourite Colets Aussie was putting the score to one-all against
Scot Harry Leitch…
 "A
lot was riding on that match, it was the match we had
to win, and we both did whatever it took to win it.
"It wasn’t the tightest of matches, but it was very
competitive…
"The first game I was trailing 6/1, I came back but he still
manage to win a VERY long game that took its toll later, and
all credit to Harry, he came back in the fourth and put up a
huge fight coming back from 8/1 to 8/4… A very competitive
match indeed…
Paul Davis |
 After
the number fives, on came the number twos, Alex Gough for
Colets against Peter Barker for Bishops. Alex ground down his
young opponent’s resistance, and although he made a slow start
losing the first game 9/2 (you know those old guys, they are a bit
slow to get started, but then there is no stopping them…), the Welsh
imposed his short game, retrieving “Parkie style” and frustrating
Peter more and more. If the first three games were pretty close, the
fourth was all Alex, who got a logical victory 3/1.
 "I’ve
been training quite hard for the past month, in particular
with Azlan Iskander and Peter Genever, and I got tired
tonight, just ran out of steam…
"Not to mention that the court conditions were not the best,
quite warm, and very slippery…
Peter Barker |
By then, Colets was looking pretty
good, as Danny Meddings was favourite against Iain Higgins,
but while leading 2/1 and up 3/0 in the fourth, the Colets player
injured his ankle badly, forcing him to retire.
That was a big blow to the Club from Surrey. All was now on Nick
Matthew's adorable and large shoulders, but was he going to be
able to match Anthony Ricketts' lethal puissance and power?
 Not
today, unfortunately for Colets supporters. Nick tried his best, but
his shots were not coming in at all, and he made far too many
errors. Anthony was just too present at the front, dominating the T
beautifully and finding an excellent balance between attacking and
defending, showing a much more varied game compared to say 18 months
ago…
But still, Nick fought hard, and run and attacked a hell of a lot,
the best illustration being the last rally of the second game, where
he played so many nicks that kept on coming back, that I wrote as a
note “how many nicks does it take to win a point against
Anthony!!!”…
So it was with great sadness and incredulity that Dave Peck saw his
hopes of yet again another title disintegrating as Anthony took the
deciding match 9/1 in the fourth…
That man loves his club a bit like Brian Hargrave loves his
Duffield… passionately! But the Bishops Stortford camp was quite
rightly over the moon, and will be gladly playing the semis in
Nottingham at the end of May…
Framboise |
Men's Draw 2005/06
CHEERS
This weekend during the BSPA, I was lucky to come to meet
Graham and Vicky, two Colets members with whom I spent
some really fun times.
But it all got awfully spoiled when Graham kindly asked me if
I wanted a drink while watching Alex/Peter. “A diet coke,” I
replied.
“Diet? Isn’t a bit late for that????” he asked.
And out of the window goes a beautiful friendship…
 |
WET WALLS…
Like this weekend, the walls of court number one became quite
damp, and it got worse as the night went on, to the point the
match Anthony/Nick was moved to the court number two in the
middle of the first game.
You should have seen the panic in the spectators, as we all
had to move quickly from one court to another.
But there was some justice, as the people that were that well
seated to start with got themselves the best seats as the
match moved…
|
Even Nick's cunning disguise can't fool Anthony
 "We
are very pleased, very surprised…
"We didn’t expect to beat Colets, although this was our goal
at the start of the season…
"But we didn’t expect our number five to win 10/9 in the
fifth, and we certainly didn’t expect our number three to win
on injury when down 2/1 and 3/0 in the 4th…
"Lady luck was shining on us today, and Anthony did the
business…
Jason Foster |
|
