Broadberry Sports

So, a call up for the 1st Team this week and a trip to see the students at Glasgow Uni. All week ‘2-James Singhs’ kept reminding me i) that I was playing and ii) it was at the Uni. I thought maybe the fact that I’ve been doing this for 35 years means he thinks I’m going senile! Anyway, the team bus was back in action and after a quick U-turn as I forgot my shorts (!) I picked the lads up at Whitecraigs just after 6pm and I only had to tell them about three times “Don’t slam the bloody boot!” – which I think is a record. 

We struggled through the Wednesday night traffic and I eventually dropped the team at the Uni’s Stevenson Building and then looked for a place to park (Warning everyone! It costs over £15 to park for a squash evening anywhere withing a mile of the Uni!). After extensive parking research, I eventually wondered into the Uni building to watch the second match of the evening in full flow. ‘2-James Singhs’ had already won at No.1 v James Cargill (from Crieff) and had even handed out a bagel, despite it being Uni James’s birthday! Harsh!! (and Singh-Shady had the cheek to tuck into the birthday cupcakes after!)

Angus ‘YI’ Forster was on against Rowan Niven at No.3 and this looked like a good match as both players traded some hard rallies, with Rowan hitting some excellent length and looking physically tough to beat. However Gus was his normal nippy self and was winning most of the tough rallies, so he ended up winning 3-0 (but he looked relieved to have done so!).

Chris (Murphs) was on next at No.2 v Fraser Spalding, who is up from Englandshire – just a couple of junctions around the M25 from my old stomping ground). Fraser was in no doubt who was in charge of this match, after Chris sent him the wrong way with a massive ‘TAXI’ in the first rally. Having said that, when Chris got out the ‘Mizuki trickle- boast’ a couple of rallies later, Fraser went straight to the ball and hammered it down the wall! I thought ‘Wow! He must see that shot all the time!!’ (mind you his coach, as a junior, was non other than Neil Franklin, so maybe he picked up a few tricks from him! However, in truth that was as close as things got, with Murphs strolling about the court looking like he could have broken into another gear at any time (poser!).

Alex Hardiman also got the call up to the 1st team this week and was on against William Jack (from Nairn). There were a few nerves from both players as a few unforced ‘tins’ (and a couple of floors!) were exchanged. Alex sneaked the 1st game and William then raced to a 10-3 lead in the 2nd, before closing it out 11-9 (Rowan said she fully expected William to bottle it and lose that one! Good to have the full confidence of your teammates!). Alex seemed to settle into the next two games and with less mistakes and better width and he took both to secure not only his first Division 1 win, but also his first ever Division 1 point – congrats big man! MOTM to Alex the Hardman for us and also William (who said it was one of his best performances) for the Uni, for making this a highly competitive match.

I was on last against Maciej Meszka (38 points at Scrabble! 114 if you’re on a Tripple!!). Maciej is at Uni from Orkney……..must be a local island name! Maybe he’s from the clan MacIej!). Anyway, my opponent looked lithe and quick with a booming forehand (don’t put it there!), so I thought, I wonder if he can read the trickle boast… as I flung one in the tin! Fortunately for me tonight, I managed to get the ball to die in the back corners regularly, so my opponent boasted me lots of opportunities to mess about at the front…. and I don’t need a second opportunity to play a shot or two! Luckily, I managed to keep it off Maciej’s booming forehand and was able to lob and drop my way to 3 points….. to give us a great 18-point total for the team.

So off to ‘Bank Street’ bar for pizza and beer with the students – and tonight seemed to be fancy dress night in Glasgow with ‘pyjamas’ being one of the themes. As we made the quick trip back to the Whitecraigs back bar, we saw a queue of fancy dressed students, and Gus, in particular, was both un-impressed and very-impressed with all the outfits on show (although he seemed to think a couple were dressed like gimps!).

Darts defiantly wasn’t the winner last night, but Alex and I took on Murphs and Kenny in the last match and there was a mic-drop moment as I slotted an unlikely double-top to win the match! (and don’t let Chris tell you any differently!).