Broadberry Sports

Two James Singhs, There’s Only Two James Singhs – Two Ja………..

Well it’s great to be back in another West League season and despite the fact it was chucking it down outside, it’s always a good day for squash!

With the club now back to its Post-Covid maximum complement of 6 teams this season, the only downside is that with three teams at home, it does mean we only had one court to face Newlands 2.

First on was Ollie (Millen) at No.5 v Euan (Allison). Ollie has been doing a bit of pre-season training this year so he’s playing quite well, but Euan has obviously been doing the same and was very quick to everything.

It was difficult for Ollie to kill the ball on the warm court and Euan ran out a 3-0 winner (with his new ‘ultra-cut’ drop-shot on show!).

Next up, making his West Squash League debut for Whitecraigs was James (Singh) v Dave (Fallis). I though this will be a good (non-controversial) one to ref, so I took to the chair. After the first 5 rallies I had to make about 4 decisions and I’m not sure they were all right! After the initial skirmishes James wone 11-2, but I though I’d be much stricter in the 2nd game, and I put on my glasses and stood up to prove that there would be no mucking about this time! But there was no need as the game fell into a rhythm – James volleyed really well and although Dave moved very fast about the court, young James was just too quick and kept the pace too high for Dave. James went onto win the match 3-0 and the volleying just got better as the game went on. #greatdebut

Next on was another debutant for Whitecraigs, as Harry (Anderson) took on the James Singh from Newlands (and to make things more confusing our James Singh was marking!). This was a bit of a classic, with a clash of youth against experience, not to mention the difference in styles! The 1st game went by in a blur of boasts and tins, with James romping home, and he took the 2nd game as well, although this time it was much closer! Harry got his consistency and length going in the next two games and levelled things up 2-2…. And so to the 5th! There was a bit of a hiatus between games and this, I think, worked in James’s favour as he recovered his breath, consistency and concentration, and Harry was less prepared, going back onto court. And so it proved as James romped home to win 3-2.

Next, on at No.4 was Cammy (Colquhoun) v Mick (Cockburn). This was a tough one for Mick, as Cammy was doing his usual mental retrieving and Mick just couldn’t put him away. There were a few rallies where Mick did enough to win the rally about 5 times, but Cammy just kept digging and digging until he won. I felt a bit sorry for Mick as I knew how he feels! A good 3-0 win to ‘Run Forrest’ Cammey! (That’s  not a typo! 3-0 he didn’t let him get back to 2-2!)

So with the match at 2-2 I took to the court (and turned the heaters off) against David Morrison. I was a bit worried when Dave was hitting some cracking shots in the knock up, but when the game got underway he was also making a few errors. The initial parts of the match were very competitive, but I got a good run and won the 1st. The 2nd was much closer and could have gone either way…. and it did….to me again! My old friend Graeme Marshall reminded me of the old adage “Win in 3, don’t lose in 5!” and I certainly didn’t want to let this one slip. So helped by a few more errors by Dave, I was relieved to win the 3rd game and collect the 3 bonus points for the team score.

So a good 14-6 win for the new look Whitecraigs 1st team and we retired to the Back Bar for the new look catering, with Vicky serving up homemade lasagna & garlic bread (with some magic coleslaw). I was in no doubt how well it went down as everyone went up for seconds. It’s great to be back to Wednesday night squash – the highlight of the week!