20/04/2005 Anthony Ricketts beat Ong Beng Hee 3-0; 9/6, 10/8, 10/8. First up on the outside court were the two ladies. With nothing to go on this was impossible to predict. Jenny had got to the semi finals of the British University Championships so obviously knew which end of the racket to hold on to. Liz, at around twice her age had bags of experience but wasn't playing as often as she has in the past. In the lead up to the match Liz had stepped up her match play but as of Friday was, by her own comments, not playing too well. A run out on Saturday was better so she felt that she had a chance. Jenny did look a bit nervous and this showed in the first game which was pretty one sided. At 6-3 to Jenny in the second I felt a little less confident but experience told and Liz rattled off 6 straight points. Although close for a while the third was a comfortable win for Liz who, after 3 previous matches in this League during the past 4 years recorded a convincing win. Not a bad start. On the show court Scott and Alistair were first up. Fresh from winning a PSA tournament in Holland over the weekend Alistair oozed confidence. Scott by comparison didn't. All three games went much the same way. An excellent start by Alistair, pegged back by some long and determined rallies by Scott but the final points going the Tewkesbury man's way. So one each. The next two matches were by far the longest of the night, both taking roughtly an hour.Mark Cairns against Daryl Selby once again pitched experience against youth. Mark however had the added advantage of having his wife there to support him. By the end that was a bit too accurate to be true. Initially it all went to plan. Mark was patient, played good lengths and waited for the opportunity or forced an error. One up. Then he changed his game plan and decided to hit everything mid court so that Daryl could have some practice at putting the ball away, something he got quite good at. The third went to Mark as he reverted to plan A so things were looking pretty good. At this stage Scott said to me that we could easily go 3-1 up in the next few minutes with Mark and Alex ahead. I do wish he hadn't said that. Daryl basically chased every shot for the next two games and a tiring Mark conceded defeat 9/4 in the fifth. Now not looking so hot. Alex's game on the main court started more or less at the same time as Mark's and finished only 5 minutes later but those 5 minutes were to be some of the most nervewracking of the season. We do specialise in some unlikely comebacks, always trying to please the crowd no doubt. The game started well though the rallies were long with both men using all of the court. For a while Rodney looked a bit disinterested or maybe distracted and gave away a few cheap points which contributed to Alex taking a 2-0 lead. Someone must have put a magnet in the ball during the interval between the second and third games, as for the next two games Alex managed to hit the top of the tin about 8 times. When he wasn't doing this he was chosing the wrong option at a crucial moment giving Rodney a winning oportunity. At 6-2 down in the fifth I was seriously worried and the heart rate had reached about 195 which is somewhat higher than recommended for a man of my age. Then a strange thing happened. Whether from tiredness, or just a desire to finish the game quickly Rodney started to tin the ball while Alex stopped doing so. Soon it was 6 all. Two great rallies gave Alex match point only for Rodney to come back with a winning drop. A fierce drive to the backhand corner didn't come back and Alex had won a match that only minutes ago looked lost. So we go into the final match all square. Anthony dominated the first game though Beng Hee did pick up some useful points with his backhand drop. Beng Hee started the better in the second and third and in both played some delightful disguised shots that had Anthony, leave alone the crowd, applauding. A break to mop up the court in the third threatened to upset Anthony's concentration and he went 5-8 down. Two long rallies ending with great drop shots brought the score to 7-8. I really liked the next bit. Us ordinary squash players try regularly to serve winners on the serve whereas at a professional level getting the ball safely in play seems to be the norm. Anthony deliberately served one into the forehand corner that just wouldn't come out. Couldn't have done better myself. So 8 all. Whether it was physical or mental tiredness I don't know but Beng Hee put the next two shots into the tin giving Anthony the game and Wolverhampton the first leg. So we go into the second leg at Wolverhampton on the 3rd May 16-8 up but with everything very much to play for. Either side could win but we do have home advantage. Baring a mishap we will field the same side other than Shelley coming in for Liz at 5. Tewkesbury expect to play the same men as well so both teams have players wanting some form of revenge. Regardless of the outcome it will be a great night of fantastic squash. They couldn't get more people in at Tewkesbury tonight, that's the attraction of world class performers at your club.
THAT WAS CLOSE
Heroics from Alex Gough gets Wolverhampton a win at Tewkesbury.
Before the night I felt that the match had all the hallmarks of yet another of our famed 3-2 results, but I was unsure to whom. Some of the games were too close to call and some completely impossible. With all the lady players unavailable for different reasons the 5th string tie could go either way with no form or results to go by. As it was the evening did produce the aforementioned result but not quite how I imagined nor without high drama in the second string game. The individual results were:
Alex Gough beat Rodney Durbach 3-2; 9/7,9/7, 5/9, 3/9, 9/7.
Scott Handley lost to Alistair Walker 0-3; 6/9, 7/9, 6/9.
Mark Cairns lost to Daryl Selby 2-3; 9/6, 0/9, 9/3, 5/9, 4/9.
Liz Brown beat Jenny Wright 3-0; 9/2, 9/6, 9/5.
Contributor: Stephen Russell
Club: Wolverhampton
Link: http://www.wltsc.com
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