Broadberry Sports

The rumor mill was rife this week with expected line ups of Whitecraigs Rugby Club and potential new players for both teams! So who would be playing against us tonight? Well, we had a completely different looking team, as we were missing ‘2-James Singhs’, but we gained Kiwi-Kammy Colquhoun who is back from his travels for an ‘unspecificied’ amount of time!

I’d spent, what seemed like, hours sweeping the courts, clearing all the dust with a broom and wet towel (ably assisted by Amanda, on glass cleaning duties), but it was ultimately worth it, as the newly repaired and painted courts played really well. It seemed like a good warm up at the time, but it was also at the expence of my right shoulder which started to ache! And with ice everywhere outside, it remains ‘always a good day for squash’ – even/especially on your birthday!

Anyway back to the match and first up was the aforementioned Cammy (Colquhoun) against Colin Hutton at No.5. This was a good fun game and although Cammy won it 3-0 there were some really hard and long rallies, where Cammy tried to play the ball as early as possible and Colin was doing his best ‘Monica Seles’ impression when he strained every sinue to get the shots back he was being bombarded with. Cammy was dominant and at one point Monica tried so hard, that he flung himself at the wall (so-much-so that I was actually concerned for his health, rather than just laughing at someone falling over!), anyway Paul Coll would have been proud of that dive and it would have been even more impressive at game ball, but Colin had to limp back on court to finish the game when he realised that the despairing dive only made it 10-9! All the games were hard encounters (11-8 12-10 11-9) but Cammy was too consistent tonight and brought the first 3 team points home.

Next up were the No.1s as Chris Murphy matched up against Andrew Glen. I think everyone in the crowd thought this was going to be a potential 3-0 to Andrew……… everyone apart from Chris that is! Having said that at 10-6 down in the 1st it was looking ominous for Chris, but hang on …… a great winner, followed by a stroke, and another winner…..and then another, changed everything. So a tie breaker in the 1st and the home crowd were really hoping that Chris could hold on, although no one dared believe it! However at 11-10 they did believe and when the winning shot arrived from Chris’s racket, the home crown were extatic!

Andrew dominated the 2nd game with sheer power and pace and in the end Andrew won the match 3-1, but I would be doing a disservice to both players to say that the rest of the game wasn’t exciting! Chris was well in the last two games (11-7 & 11-9) and when he volleyed well, he played well. But Andrew was just too strong tonight and his movement, power and counter-shots were excellent. 3-1 to the Rugby club.

I was on next against Nairn McMaster at No.3, and to say Nairn was struggling in the first two games would be an understatement, but equally when he got warmed up he looked like his old self with shots that were very hard to read, volleys into the nic and drives to a dying length at the back, despite being hit at about 180mph! This must have taken its toll on him as I managed to get a good lead in the 5th and then just held on! (spurred on by a junior I coach – Glyn – and family, cheering me on! No pressure!).  So I scraped home with a 3-2 win only to be told by everyone, that I had to mention that, “I almost lost to someone on one leg,” or, “You nearly got beat by an invalid,” etc etc, none of them mentioning Nairn’s great play. Well played Nairn and much better than our last encounter all those years ago! (by the way has anyone heard the rumour that Nairn took a game off Peter Nicol once at a junior tournament?!?!).

Next on was Flash (Aaah-ahhh) against Allan MacKay at No.2. Allan dominated the game tonight and he read everything Flash-Harry threw at him. In truth I though that Harry was going short too early and letting Allan dictate the rallies, but even when he straightened in the 3rd game Allan was able to react and cling on to clinch the game 13-11 (but if Flash had taken his game ball in the 3rd who knows what may have happened!). 3-0 to Allan.

So, with the match tied at 2-2, Angus (Forster) was on last against Louisa Kaven at No.4. Angus was watching and waiting for his opponent to turn up all night, until he realised that Louisa had been sitting about 2 yards away from him most of the evening! Angus had just the right game to play Louisa as he is very nippy, and he needed to be rapid to chase down some of the great shots Louisa was throwing at him. The pace from both players was lightning quick, but Angus was just too consistent tonight (I know…..consistent …. Angus!?!?) and he brought the match home 3-0 and the bonus points for the team.

MOTM to Nairn or Allan for the Rugby Club and Chris for us I’d say (and certainly shot of the night to Chris’s Mizuki trickle boast, that even Andrew couldn’t help smiling at!).

Both teams retired to the back bar to celebrate another great Wednesday night oot with Davey’s gourmet (veggie) burgers and Erdinger. Chris managed to lose his phone twice last night, but when Flash turned up with it looking sheepish, Chris was a relieved man……. right up until he lost it again! Good chat with the Rugby Club team and I even joined in with the darts – but promised the lads I wouldn’t mention who won between Chris, Angus and myself (I even returned Chris’s phone to him at the end of the night!). You can’t beat a birthday at the squash!