16/02/2005
GUILDFORD END STRINGS' RUN
Ian Robinson reports as Guuildford keep their playoff hopes alive ...
Stacey Ross 1 lost to Ong Beng Hee 3
9 - 6, 1 - 9, 6 - 9, 11 - 13
Stephen Meads 3 beat Daryl Selby 0
9 - 7, 9 - 7, 9 - 4
Neil Frankland 3 beat Chris Clare 2
2 - 9, 2 - 9, 9 - 7, 9 - 7, 15 - 13
Jesse Engelbrecht 3 beat Adam Oakley 0
9 - 4, 9 - 3, 9 - 1
Fiona Geaves 1 lost to Jenny Tranfield 3
2 - 9, 9 - 2, 2 - 9, 2 - 9
UniSport End Strings'
Unbeaten Run
UniSport Guildford ended the
unbeaten run of league leaders Oberthur
Strings Tewkesbury winning 3 matches to 2 in a solid middle
order performance against weakened opposition. Tewkesbury were
without the rugged South African, Rodney Durbach and the improving
English youngster Alister Walker, thus making a significant dent in
their middle order. Durbach was replaced by no slow coach in Ong
Beng Hee of Malaysia who is number 16 in the world and in fact
probably strengthened Tewkesbury at number 1 string, however the loss
of Walker was a big blow and promoted players from lower down the order
and necessitated the inclusion of youngster Adam Oakley. UniSport
Guildford on the other hand were without National Championship finalist
Alison Waters who had departed immediately that event was over for
America to compete on the world tour over there - Fiona Geaves stepped
up.
Tranfield Takes Tewkesbury Ahead
First on the Championship Court was Fiona Geaves taking on Jenny
Tranfield. Tranfield is number 8 in the world and has recently
risen above Geaves on the World list so there was much at stake.
Tranfield was quick into her stride and with Geaves looking edgy and
nervous she quickly bagged the first game capitalising on the many
loose shots on offer. Geaves hit back almost as convincingly as
she had lost the first. Her length improved and her finishing in
the front court was clinical. So with the match barely started
the score was 1 - 1. However that was to be the last good news of
the evening for Geaves as the University player never again found the
length and penetration in her shots that kept pressure on her younger
opponent and thus Tranfield was able to test her increasing number of
strokes with little or nothing in return. This was a solid start
for Tewkesbury and was more than a little disappointing for UniSport,
at the same time the world order was justified.
Oakley No Match For Jesse
Meanwhile on the outside court Engelbrecht for UniSport was equalising
the match score with a convincing win over the inexperienced Adam
Oakley. Quite simply this was men against boys as Engelbrecht was
quick to establish control and never let go. There will no doubt
be more opportunities for Oakley to showcase his undoubted skills in
the future, but this was a needs must scenario and perhaps a shock to
the system as well.
Frankland Edges Guildford
Ahead
Neil Frankland was next on the outside court and there was no doubt
that this was match of the night - disappointing that it was on the
outside court but nonetheless had its own unique atmosphere.
Chris Clare is 30 years old and brings a strong package of skills to
his play. By his own admission there are more injury worries than
fit days but as an accountant by day he has no problem counting to
9. Clare was to 9 very quickly in the first two games walking on
to court with a blunderbuss for a racket and blazing away at the nick
with a unique succession of winners. It is fair to say that
Frankland was slightly off the pace but Clare was unconcerned and stole
the lead in fine style. There was little in the way of reducing
pace in Clare's game, but imperceptibly Frankland increased his
output. This resulted in the 2 players trading shot for shot,
winner for winner with no more than 1 or 2 points between the two
of them throughout the third game. As the score neared closure
Frankland had a 1 point advantage and at the death converted it into
the 2 point winning margin, which gave some hope to a rescue
plan. The match continued in the same vein. Both players
blazing away for winners and mainly with success. Once again the
score never saw an advantage either way until Frankland managed to
sneak home at 9 - 7. The fifth game to decide this duel was on a
knife edge. Neither player establishing a real platform to press
home the advantage but then again neither player stopped going for
shots. In the end both players had initial match balls.
Then Frankland needed a further 4 match balls finally to clinch the
match which owed more to the slight fatigue that affected Clare
probably made worse by a niggling leg injury that restricted his
movement when it was the time to press for home. This was
compelling drama for the unbiased spectators but a complete nightmare
for team mates and especially for Frankland's father making a rare
visit in support of his son - he may never want to watch again....This
gave UniSport Guildford a 2 - 1 lead.
Meads Seals The Points
Steve Meads was as professional as ever against the highly promoted
Daryl Selby. The young Tewkesbury player was given his chance and
settled maturely to the task. There is one problem, however in
having a similar style of playing to Meads and that is Meads is
particularly good at it. There always seemed like there was very
little chance of Selby making too many inroads even though he put up a
creditable effort. It was never lively, but the job was done as
solidly as might be expected from the UniSport player who is always
dependable in these circumstances. This is not to belittle
Selby's efforts as this was a good performance by him, but Meads always
had the aces with his experience and savvy. The first 2 games
were close until Meads just inched away at the crucial point and by the
third Meads had the rallies under control and was content to finish to
the front when the need arose. This 3 - 0 win was enough to give
UniSport Guildford the winning points 3 - 1 with Stacey Ross still to
play.
Ong Pulls One Back
The clash between the Malaysian number 1 and world number 16, Ong Beng
Hee, and Stacey Ross was eagerly awaited to test the Surrey player's
progress. Crucially for the University, points per match are a
vital commodity as the league nears conclusion and entry into the semi
finals looks as though it could be a possibility. Ross was the
first to show his hand and forged a lead that he never relinquished,
hitting good length making the approach to release his drop shots into
the front corners. Beng Hee also assisted with a couple of gifted
mistakes. First blood to Ross, but the second was completely
different. Beng Hee stole up the court as his shots to the back
corners improved and Ross found himself behind and scrambling hard to
pick up the Malaysian's front court shots. Disappointingly the
second game disappeared too fast (much in keeping with the Malaysian's
footwork) without Ross really engaging the contest. The third
followed a similar pattern with Ross behind most of the way although
belatedly finding better range with his length and taking his turn in
the mid court area and working a little of his magic with his winners
into the front. However it was too little too late as the game
was beyond recover and Beng Hee went 2 - 1 in front. The fourth
threatened to go the same way however Ross got into his stride earlier
this time and fought all the way even having game balls before some
scrappy play prompted the over exuberant involvement of the referee
with 3 decidedly interesting decisions to hand the match on a plate to
Ong Beng Hee and that after the match had looked likely to go into the
much longed for fifth set. One of the locals in the crowd was
prompted to say that at least Dick Turpin had the courtesy to wear a
mask when he was perpetrating his daylight robberies which brought much
laughter to the assembled multitudes with the exception of Stacey Ross
who was left with his frustration to contemplate what might have been
on a better day - it started badly for him earlier spending most of the
day at the local hospital A & E with his wife who had broken her
arm. This was a solid performance by a World top 20 player in Ong
Beng Hee and there was creditable opposition from Ross who gave of his
best, but it was not enough in the end.
Next Up ... Chichester Hair-Raiser
This was a great night of celebrations for UniSport Guildford
especially pleasing to end Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury's unbeaten run
but a note of caution, the season is not yet over. With one match
to play, that match sees us welcome Chichester for the end of
season derby match. Except it will be a hair raising derby match
as we are playing for a place in the semi final. There is no
doubt that Chichester start as huge favourites as we need a large
winning margin to gain enough points to go through. However we
have home court advantage and in one off matches anything can happen
and hopefully it will. Book early if you don't want to be
disappointed. Remember the date is Tuesday 22nd March start time
7.00pm. See you there. Call 01483
689242
Ian Robinson
Contributor: Ian Robinson
Club: Guildford
Link: http://
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