Broadberry Sports

Newlands came calling last night and on paper it looked like this could be a close match up, it was certainly the longest match we’d had this season.

I was on first at No.4 against Damien Whelan, all the way from Carlisle and I have to admit I didn’t fancy my chances against Damien’s pace – and when James ‘helpfully’ turned on the two extra heaters, I was even less sure! However, I was able to slow the pace down and get some height and action on the ball, and this helped me to accumulate points one-by-one. Having said that I was down at the end of the 1st game and was lucky to sneak home 12-10 and conversely I was up in the 4th and was lucky to hold on 12-10. Damien was obviously frustrated at losing to an old yin like me and the racket got the full treatment (send it back to Technifibre and say it’s a ‘manufacturing fault’?!?!?!).

Next on was Harry (Anderson) at No.3 v Vicky Bell (also up form Carlisle). Harry had some success against Vicky the last time they met so we were hopeful of some points from Flash, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be tonight. Vicky was ruthless on the volley and used all her match experience to keep Harry at arm’s length for the first two games. It looked like The Flashman was back in the 3rd game as Harry started to get into his stride and zip about the court, entertaining the crowd with multiple reverse boasts, that no one had the brass-neck to applaud (they were funny though)! However, Vicky shut the door in the 4th game, to bring the tie home 3-1.

Next up was ‘2 James Sings’ v Matt Bedwell at No.1 – now James and Matt play/train regularly and they generally have a tough hit, but on the other hand, have you seen Matt’s results this season! He’s flying!! (beating Andrew Glen and John Meehan). No one was anywhere to be seen when a ref was needed, so muggins here had to take the board! I needn’t have worried though, as although there were a couple of testy moments, I was able to negotiate them with the goodwill of both players. Matt was dominant tonight and although it was an exhaustive match with lots of excellent shots and great recovery from both men, ultimately Matt added James to his list of scalps 3-0.

The No.2s stepped up on court next, as Chris (Murphy) took on Fraser McCann all the way from Edinburgh (this team don’t half put the miles in!). This was the match of the night with Fraser going two nil up and Chris evening things up in the 3rd & 4th…….. and so to the 5th! Well, both players were looking a bit white-around-the-gills from all the hard work they’d already done – Chris had to retrieve the relentless pressure and Fraser had to retrieve all the holds and volleys (although he didn’t get the backhand Mizuki boast!). The last game was 12-10 to Fraser with an uncharacteristic tin from Murph at the end, but both men were burst and both thoroughly deserve MOTM tonight.

Last up was our new man Angus Forester (so new, he’s not even on the SSq system yet!) against Carrie Hallam, who is now doctoring in Glasgow (why didn’t you join Whitecraigs Carrie? Probably just as well as I’d have been in the 2nd team!). Carrie was dominant tonight and Angus wasn’t really able to get into the match as Carrie is lethal at the front and difficult to shift off the ‘T’. So an impressive 3-0 to Carrie and the latest finish to an evening’s squash so far this season, with lots of really competitive matches.

A quick shower and then straight into the back-bar for (veggie) chili and a pint or 2 of Erdinger! It was a good atmosphere last night as most of the players stayed for food, exactly as a Wednesday West League Match should be (unless you have to travel home a hundred miles!).

How often does a 1st division standard player turn up at your club and just join! Well, this is the first time I can remember that happening to us since…………… well, since I just turned up at Whitecraigs in 1988! Welcome to the club and the 1st team Angus; I reckon he’ll soon be climbing the ranks. Well Angus (Forster) was first on this week as we travelled to Giffnock to get out bi-annual chat about how all our team are Giffnock players! (Angus is from Newcastle!)

As I said Angus was on first against Naill Morris at No.5 and this was a great game with both players ‘at it’. Angus is a hard-hitting, fast-running player who gets far more back than he should, and my hamstrings were twitching just watching him lunge into some of the shots tonight. The result was 3-1, but all the games were tight, and it was an entertaining match to watch; Naill was hitting the better length and making Angus do a lot of retrieving, but Angus was able to wear Niall down and when he turned & held him, he was even more effective. The game flowed one way and then the other, but eventually Angus came out on top (first 3 points on the board to us!). Niall’s pint glass & racket bore the brunt of his wrath after the match (hope the racket survived as the Pint glass didn’t – fortunately, there wasn’t any beer in it!).

I went on next against Owen Hadden and this one was much more straight forward, as Owen won 3-0. He was dominant tonight, although I don’t think I was terrible, just not quite at the same level. I had my moments, but if it wasn’t Owen’s good volleys, it was his tight drops or decent length. Anyway, I lost 3-0!

On next was ‘The Flashman’ as Flash Harry (Anderson) took on Neil Bennett at No.3. This was another very entertaining game, because Flash can’t help but be entertaining! Neil was moving well and kept the ball tight on the backhand especially – and in return we saw Harry speed around the court, showing just how agile he is. To be honest I thought this was Harry’s game to lose, but he did try and lose it a couple of times!! Anyway, the whole team were on hand to give him advice in-between games and help him make the most of the esoteric player he is! The up shot to all this was that Harry flashed more into the nic than he did into the tin and so brought the win home 3-1.

Chris (Murphy) was on next against the new Giffnock Club Champ Stu Pitt and this was going to be an important one. It was soon clear that Stuart was in top form and Chris was struggling with the pace; Chris tried to impose his style on the match, but Stu was having none of it and was quick to chase every attack down. One game became two and although Chris started well in the third game it was just a matter of time until Stuart closed this one out – so 3 points to Giffnock and the match was tied at 2-2.

Last on was ‘2 James Sings’ against a formidable opponent in Martin Ross, originally from Inverness (PSA World Ranking of No.394 & No.2 in the Scotland ‘Order Of Players’ ranking). So a tough day at the office for James as he tore about the court after Martin’s shots! Martin has got that ‘great length’ and speed you get if you train and compete at that level, and the pressure he kept putting on the ball was very impressive. James was down 2-0 before he could really get a foothold in the game, but then he started to make inroads. There was a point at 9-5 where James just missed a lose volley, to get to game ball and this was ultimately as close as he got, but Martin was just too good tonight.

A pint of Erdinger and a very nice chili for dinner tonight at Giffnock and Niall had to drink from a plastic beaker in case he broke another glass!!    

So away to SSRC tonight and the main question was would they have their No.1 player Ali Prott (World PSA Ranking 108) from Edinburgh? I hope not or this would be another long night! (sorry for the lack of a report from last week, but I was snowed under and, as ever, it was absolutely nothing to do with the fact that we got horsed! (they’re a good team Strathgryffe with John Meehan – PSA 318 – and Harry Barron at No.1 & 2 – could finish in the top 2 if they can get those players out every week).

Anyway, back to tonight and James, Chris and I, along with our team manager (!) Bruce battled the traffic, and storm Ciaran, across town to Maryhill to SSRC, the oldest private members’ club in the country. First up was Chris (Murphy) v Jesse Mills. Well, there is still a lack of reporting, as I didn’t see this one, as I was on court at the same time. However, it was over pretty quickly as Chris was playing really well and Jesse had a back issue, but a good 3-0 to kick the evening off for us.

As I said I was on at the same time, against Chris Holt a No.4. I’d seen that Chris had won a Masters Tournament at Inverness last weekend, so I knew I’d have to play well to get anything tonight. And I did play well (I know! I was surprised as well!) – actually, I was pleasantly surprised to feel really good tonight and when I took a 2-0 lead, I was delighted that my plans were working and many of my shots were coming off (must be a leap-year!). In-between games Chris got some great advice from his teammates and started to drag me back by winning the 3rd game. The 4th game was also really close, but fortunately for me, Chris made a couple of errors just at the right time, and I sneaked home 3-1.

Next on was Ollie (Millen) against Andrew Roberts and I missed the early skirmishes, but I did see from 1-1 and both players were making a few errors, but unfortunately for us, Ollie was making a few more (this was high risk/high reward squash!). Andrew won the 3rd game, but at 8-9 in the 4th game, could Ollie take it to the 5th? Well the answer was ultimately ‘no’ but he did well to get so close and so it was 1 more point to the team total.

The No.1 clash was up next as James (2 James Singh’s) took on Dan Wearing. Well, this was the tie of the night and both players probably deserve MOTM for the exhaustive 3-2 performance. Dan had a great start, by winning the first 2 games and James was equally magnificent at coming back to get the 3rd and 4th! And so to the 5th!! All of our team were down in-between games to support James and hopefully give the odd golden nugget of “in-between game advice”. At the start of the 5th game, Dan took a great 3-0 start which ultimately gave him a platform to go to 8-6 up and now it was anyone’s! Dan is a great competitor, but then so is James and at 11-11 it could have gone either way. And it did, as Dan kept the tempo high and brought the tie home 13-11 (3-2).  

So with the match tied at 2-2, it was all down to Flash Harry (Anderson) v Brian Robertson at No.4. Well, this was a bit one-sided with Harry playing really well to win the tie 3-0 and there was really nothing Brian could have done tonight. Brian did play well, especially in the last game getting to 8-9 before Harry nicked the last couple of points. The Flashman was in exuberant form with all the right shots…………………….. but not necessarily in the right order! (the oldies will enjoy that gag!)

So some really nice food at SSRC (courtesy of my old team mate Rob McMillan from DLWE) and then it was back across ‘rain town’ to celebrate the win in the Whitecraigs Back Bar – we even got a second dinner and some onion rings!