|
|
|
National League Round 5 - Tue 11th Jan
MAIN PAGE |
Duffield 3 - 2 Edgbaston (17-11)
Nick Matthew beat Adrian Grant
7/9, 9/5, 10/8, 6/9, 9/3
Jon Kemp lost to Peter Barker
3/9, 9/4, 4/9, 9/7, 7/9
Paul Hargrave lost to Hadrian Stiff
9/4, 7/9, 6/9, 7/9
Phil Barker beat Adam Stevenson
7/9, 9/7, 9/6, 9/0
Laura Hill beat Laura Lengthorn
9/6, 10/8, 1/9, 6/9, 9/3
|
Nottingham 1-4 Wolverhampton
John White beat Alex Gough
9-6, 11-9, 4-9, 9-1 (42m)
Simon Parke lost to Scott Handley
7-9, 3-9, 2-9 (27m)
David Evans lost to Mark Cairns
9-5, 6-9, 9-11, 4-9 (59m)
Duncan Walsh lost to Joey Barrington
3-9, 4-9, 5-9 (30m)
Pamela Nimmo lost to Dom. L-Walter
5-9, 4-9, 4-9 (35m) |
Retired but never forgotten –
thanks Cassie for your loyalty and enourous contribution
Brian Hargrave from Duffield
 The evening
proceedings began with a special presentation of Crown Derby to
Cassie Jackman who was forced to retired with her back problem.
The supporters showed their appreciation with loud applause for 7
years loyalty and Mum, Pat was not forgotten with an appropriate
couple of bottles of Jackman’s Landing.
Cassie’s presence inspired the team to the narrowest of victories in
a very competitive tie played in the best possible spirit. The tie
finished well after 11pm and Nick Matthew and Adrian Grant left the
court to a standing ovation from spectators who had been treated to
a feast of squash.
A “stiff” Encounter
First on court was No 3 string Paul Hargrave, England 19, facing
former player Hadrian Stiff ranked one place higher in the England
rankings. The score was nip and tuck in the first game until 4 all
but Hargrave then hit some great winners to run away with the first
game. The second was fiercely contested but Stiff took full
advantage of a dead nick at 7-all to go on to level the scores. Hargrave
raced into a 4 nil lead in the fourth but Stiff stepped up a gear
and took the game 9-6. The fourth game followed an almost identical
pattern to the second and Hargrave dug deep to come back fro 7-4
down to level the scores before a little unluckily conceding a
stroke when match ball down.
Barker the elder’s winning debut
On the adjoining court Phil Barker was making his Duffield debut
against Adam Stevenson ranked one place lower in the England
rankings. Barker got off to a flyer building a 5-0 lead before taking
his foot off the pedal and allowing his opponent to snatch the game
9-7. The second game saw Barker claw back a 6-3 deficit to level the
scores and points won. The crucial third was nip and tuck all the way
with Barker finishing the stronger with another 9-7 scoreline.
Barker had broken Stevenson’s resistance and coasted home without
dropping a point in the fourth. An impressive performance from
Barker whose superior fitness told in the end.
Barker the younger edges it
Next on the show court was Jon Kemp, England 15, facing the younger
Barker brother, Peter. England 16 but who is ranked 12 places higher
in the world rankings. Both players took it in turn to dominate
proceedings with Peter Barker taking the first 9-3 taking full
advantage of his opponent’s errors. Kemp tightened his game and won
the second equally convincingly. The fourth game swung back in the
favour of Barker reflected by the 9-4 scoreline. The squash got
better as the players matched each other stroke for stroke with Kemp
edging home 9-7. An exciting final game could have gone either way
but Barker held his nerve to take the game 9-7.
Laura was always going to win as Duffield’s Club regular Hill climbs
a mountain and the squash “fire fighter” ladder to level the scores.
Next on the outside court was full time fire-fighter and local Club
regular Laura Hill ranked 17 in England facing Laura Jane Lengthorn
ranked 7 places higher and just back from the USA. In a topsy turvy
first game Hill led 4 nil but quickly found herself 6-4 down before
storming back to take the game 9-6. The second swung first one way
and then the other with both players taking it in turn to turn on
the style. Lengthorn seemed to have the game won at 8-6 but Hill
fought like a tiger to snatch the game 10-8.
Hill began to tire and quickly lost the next game 9-1 and the third
9-6 after letting a 5-2 lead slip as the highly rated Lengthorn
produced her best squash. Hill responded to the home support as the
point by point scores were relayed to the spectators on the
adjoining court. A great effort saw the local Club player win the
decider 9-3 to claim the scalp of an England top 10 player and to
level the overall scores.
Stage Managed - yet again
Duffield management had stage managed yet another final rubber
decider with training partners and England young stars of the future
in opposition. Matthew is ranked 3 in England and 7 in the world.
Grant is ranked 5 in England and 12 in the world. The squash was a
delight to watch from start to finish with both players retrieving
impressively. Playing tight squash and stepping up the pace or
lobbing to push each other to the limit in a rubber lasting 79
minutes.
Matthew Nick’s it to Grant the Manager’s wish
as Cassie said her farewell
There was little to choose between the players with the Grant taking
the first to game 9-7 and Matthew the second 9-5. The crucial third
went 10-8 in favour of the Duffield man but Grant played a superb
fourth game to win 9-6 and level the scores at a time when both
players would have settled for a draw. The home supporters raised
their level of support and Matthew responded to take the game 9-3
after Grant had twice earlier been forced to change his racket due
to broken strings.
The win keeps Duffield’s play of hopes alive but the enforced
retirement of Jackman and long term injuries and illness to two
other main squad players will give the Duffield Club a mountain to
climb in the second half of the season.
Tsunami appeal
All raffle proceeds in excess of £160 were donated to the Tsunami
appeal.
PS –I agree that you cannot expect a referee to spot the ball was
down (or over the line in Manchester) if a player was in his line
of vision and the referees are still trying to find out which
supporter called the ball down on the second bounce - the glasses
handed in remain unclaimed.
|
 What
A Win
Stephen Russell
reports from Nottingham
Squash is always an enjoyable game but can produce some really
unexpected results. Our team sort of specialises in 3-2 results,
whether a win or a loss, so to go to Nottingham as the underdogs and
come away with a 4-1, 18-4 victory was quite something.
With the team playing one place
higher due to the absence of Anthony Ricketts and Dominique coming
in for her first match in place of Shelley I was not at all sure how
many points we might get. Before the tie I suggested that we needed
around 8 points to stay in contention and would everyone go out to
get them.As they say the players done me proud.
First up were Dominique against Pam
Nimmo and Mark against David Evans. Pam is ranked 9 places higher
than Dom and both had been in America a few days before so could be
a bit jet lagged. Not so Dominique who played a brilliant game,
running down every ball and hassling her opponent into numerous
errors. This was by far the best performance that I have seen from
Dominique in the 3 years that she has been part of the team and
shows how she is continuing to improve. A great start to the night
and the first 3 points.
Mark in the meantime started a bit
slowly and was 7 points down before getting on the board. Gradually
he fought his way back into the match keeping David on court for
much longer in the first game than he would probably have liked
before going down 9-5. The second saw Mark much sharper though both
players were a bit loose with a fair number of balls out in the
middle of the court. However, game two to Mark to tie the match. The
third was enthralling with both players having the chance to win it.
First game point to Mark almost produced the mis hit winner of the
season but just clipped the tin with both players at the back of the
court. A couple of clinical shots later and Mark was 2-1 up. David
seemed to lose some of his earlier enthusiasm at this point and,
although trying to the end, really didn't seem to have his heart in
it and the longest match of the evening finished 9-4 to Mark.
Joey Barrington, making his debut
this season for us had a change of opponent with Duncan Walsh coming
in for the ill Gavin Jones. Prior to the evening I had felt that of
all the matches Joey's was the one most likely to produce a result
for us. He didn't let us down and his speed around the court plus
both choice and weight of shot had Duncan running all over the
place. Duncan is exceptionally fit but at the end of the three games
was noticably tired.
I now found myself in unfamiliar
territory as we had won the first 3 games which is not what I have
come to expect from our team. It's actually very good and hopefully
can be repeated on many more occasions, notably at Edgbaston next
week.
The normal playing order was changed
at this point with Alex and John going on next. John may have moved
down the rankings a bit but is still the most formidable of hitters.
For a while I though that Alex was trying to emulate him, not his
usual style, but gradually the touch started to appear producing a
superb second game though with a few controversial decisions.
Although 11/9 to John, giving him a 2-0 lead it could so easily been
1-1. Continuing to slow the game down and playing some delightful
drops put Alex in command in the third and a 9-4 result. If the
third was mostly touch shots the fourth was raw power. Hitting hard,
producing tremendous ball speed put John back in charge and he took
the final game 9/1. So 3-1 to us but still lots of points to play
for.
During the second half of 2004 Simon
Parke played some of his best squash for quite some time getting a
string of excellent results in major tournaments. Equally, Scott had
recorded some notable wins and was playing near to the top of his
form. In the event the match was one-sided with Scott producing a
display that was truly awesome. Early in the first he was denied a
let as the referee felt he would not have reached the ball. Scott's
comment (politely) was "just watch me". Well he probably would have
reached the ball as he definitely got to everything else and by the
end Simon couldn't find anywhere on the court to put the ball which
Scott couldn't get to with apparent ease.
So what must be admitted was an
unexpected result but fully earned by all 5 members of the team.
This puts us in second place but,with the possible exception of
Manchester,no team is really in a secure semi final place. Next
Tuesday 18th January we go to Edgbaston with much the same line up
other than Chris Ryder coming in for Joey Barrington who is off to
the US. Should be a good match. |
|
National League Round 5 - Tue 11th Jan
MAIN PAGE |
|
