Broadberry Sports

Off to Hamilton last night and this was going to be a real tough one for the Whitecraigs young guns (and me – bringing the average age up to about 40!). So we all met at the club  – Ollie (the Captain), Chris, James and I – for the journey over, although really it was just for the banter in the car!

First on and still looking a bit green around the gills was Chris (Murphy) against Calum Philips. Calum was looking his usual sharp attacking self and immediately took a 1 game lead as Chris looked a bit heavy legged. I went on court at this point, so didn’t see too much more of this one although in-between games I did plot the match progress. At 1-1 I though Chris would pull through, then at 2-1 down I thought he’d run out of steam. But don’t underestimate Chris, he’s a fighter and at 2-2 he was hanging in. I saw a bit of the 5th game, but Calum was serving at 10-9, so I reluctantly went back on court, as it looked inevitable that Calum would win this one. This was tough to take, as I thought if we were going to win tonight it was going to be at No.1, 2 & 3.

In the meantime, I’d thrown away the 1st game (after being 10-7 up!) and scraped the 2nd, against Chris McCutcheon (Tigger to his mates). I’ve played Tigger a number of times, at both squash and racketball, over the years and he’s definitely ahead in the series, so this was always going to be a tough one. He dominated the 3rd game and volleyed really well to pin me back. Tigger played like ‘his top was made out of rubber, and his bottom was made out of springs!’ (or something like that!). The 4th game was closer, but Tigger was in charge now and won the tie 3-1.

Tough to take as I thought that was the team chance lost, however when I was chatting to Chris after, it turns out he’d won his match in the 5th, so we were back in it! (‘bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy. Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun!’).

James (there’s only two James Singhs) was on next against Joe Broadley all the way up from Cumbria. This was another potential banana skin, so I got Chris to mark it….. just in case(!) but I needn’t have worried as James was in control of this one. He managed to work Joe in the early stages of each game and then reap the benefits in the latter parts of each game – but he also worked out exactly how to go about doing this and how to neutralise Joe’s play. Joe came back in the early stages of the 3rd, but James soon reacted and snuffed out the danger to win this match and add 3 points to the cause.

Flash Harry (Anderson) was up next against an ever-improving Chris McGeady. This was a great match to watch and exactly what West 1st Division squash should be about – two young players training hard, taking their squash seriously and then going toe to toe on a Wednesday night to slug it out. My money was on Harry, as he was hungry to impress his girlfriend who had come to watch him, and he was spanking the ball so hard he broke his racket in such a whirl of arms and legs, it was difficult to see how he’d done it. At 2-0 up Harry was ‘on-board the showboat’ and this is where Chris took his chance (winning 13-11) as he wrestled the match back to 2-1. Then at 8-8 in the 4th game, this could have been where the whole night was lost for us – but with a final push Flash Harry brought home the tie and took the 3 bonus match points as well.

Last up was Ollie (Captain Millen) against my old squash pal Colin Towers (with his vintage 1980s racket). I went upstairs for a bird’s eye view of this one and I knew that if Colin was as fit as he always is, this could be a tiring night for Ollie. And so it proved, as Colin won the 1st, before Ollie gave everything to clinch the 2^nd, with some great ‘holds’ all over the court. However, the fuel gauge was on empty after this and Colin was now in the ascendancy and took the match 3-1.

So a great 3-2 win for the team and 14 more points to our league total. M.O.T.M. for us tonight could have gone to any of the top 3, James for his brains, Chris for for his heart or Harry for being the Tin Man his courage! The leg-end that is Barry Sutherland (who now coaches and works at Hamilton) had organised Erdinger for my dinner, to go along with the great food for the team.

Another banterful trip back to Whitecraigs to watch the end of the 2nd team match and hoover up any extra food that was being offered! Burgers & veggie burgers went down a treat….. well they’re a growing team!

Whitecraigs Rugby Club came calling last night and, in the days before, negotiations were in full flow so players could play early so they could watch the old firm matches. It felt like the whole match was played in shifts, with people dropping in and out.

First on (early) at No.1 was James (Singh) v Andrew McBean and Flash Harry took on the marking duties. The match was 3-0 to James and I didn’t see much of it, although during the 3rd game I did hear Harry announce, whilst he was marking, “You don’t make this easy, do you?” so there were obviously a few contentious calls to deal with.

Next on were the No. 5s – as Ollie (Millen) took on Dan Hackley. Ollie was looking solid at No. 5 and I’m not talking about his squash! Having said that, his squash also looked solid last night and the difference between the players was that Ollie had more experience that Dan, so he was able to (largely) dictate the play to his advantage. His points tally was always in a positive position, which allowed him to relax into the game and dictate the play, so a good performance from Ollie and 3 more points to the total.

Chris (Murphy) went on next against Allan McKay at No.2 and was also looking in charge of the match. I’m not sure how to describe a particular shot he played in the 1st game, which was a boast…. whilst facing the back wall……played behind his back….. with the wrong side of the racket! But Chris seemed completely unperturbed with having played it, like it was any other shot that everyone plays! Allan was getting more and more into the match, but at 0-2 down & 4-10 down in the 3rd, I was thinking he may have left this come-back a little too late!! But not a bit of it, as he won the next 6 points to force a tie break! However, Chris eventually realised the danger and ended up stumbling over the finishing line 13-11 (and in-so-doing he’d secured the 3 bonus match points to boot).

Flash Harry (Anderson) took to the court next against Douggie Emery and, although the two of them had been at Whitecraigs Rugby together for years (when Harry’s dad, Matt, was a team stalwart and Harry was just a mini-flash), they had never played a competitive match. Douggie played well, but Harry was moving like a blur at times, and it was very difficult to see how Douggie was going to make too many inroads. The early parts of all the games were all tight, but Harry was just a little too good tonight and won the tie 3-0 (with Mizukis whenever he could manage them…….. obviously!).

I went on last against Colin Hutton who had just marked the last match and was busy ferrying the kids around earlier, so I think I caught him a bit distracted in the 1st game and managed to win that one. Colin was hitting his lefty-forehands like a rocket, so I decided not to put the ball there as much as possible, then when I realised that he was struggling to read my boast, the 2nd game was secured as well. However, the 3rd was a much tighter affair and at 8-7 I needed to significantly tighten up, which I fortunately managed to do to sneak that game and win our match.

So a good 18 points to the team total and into the back-bar for the footie and pasta bolognaise, garlic bread & Erdie for dinner. The lads were in the mood to celebrate the win (and my birthday, the day before!) so myself, John Howie (who had returned triumphant from the 2nd team match) and the lads put the world to rights and James slinked out of the bar as he was off to show off his abbs to a mysterious lucky person!

Happy New Year everyone!

As Newlands was so far away tonight, Ollie offered to drive me to the match and so I was looking forward to the traditional Newlands pizzas and Erdinger all day!

First on tonight was Chris (Murphy) at No.2 v Dave Morrison. I’d managed to beat Dave in the first half, so I didn’t hold up too much hope for his chances and so when Chris started playing Mizuki’s off the deck, at 2-0 up in the 1st game, I was sure this would be our first win of the night! And so it proved, Chris was dominant and he even got better as the match went on when he started playing a better length. So 3-0 to Chris

Ollie (Millen) took on Euan Allison next at No.5 and this was a repeat of the 1st half match up – Ollie has been training, if you include running to the pub every night! And when I say running, I mean walking!! Having said that Ollie looked to be moving well tonight, and he had to be as Euan loves a run – and he moved Ollie well to go 2-0 up. However, in the 3rd game Ollie got a second wind as he came back from 10-7 down to win 12-10. But the fuel must have been running on empty after that, as Euan won 3-1. A good team point though.

While all that was going on Flash Harry (Anderson) and James (Newlands) Singh – there’s only two James Singhs!  – took the spare court and this was another re-match of the first half. James won last time, but Harry was fired up for this one – alternatively James was still getting over the celebration of a significant birthday! (he only looks about 20, so I was surprised to hear that life is just about to begin for him!!). Anyway the upshot was that Harry was on fire tonight and whenever he saw me watching he swiped at another Mizuki and then grinned at me as if to say, “Put that in your match report, big yin!”. So an easy-ish win for Harry.

I went on against Mick Cockburn next and although I’ve not been playing much over the Christmas period, I have been on court coaching a lot so I felt like I was in shape (round’s a shape!). I think I caught Mick cold last night as I got a great start. Mick was trying to get into a rhythm and I was trying to react to his bullet shots buzzing around the court. But it was my night tonight and I scrambled well to react to the pace and then was able to keep it reasonably tight. So a 3-0 win for me.

Just then Dave Fallis arrived to play James (Whitecraigs Singh) – there’s only two James Singhs! – and I nipped off to have a quick shower, but it obviously wasn’t quick enough as when I came back I only saw the last 2 points. James (as ever) has been training hard and he must have caught Dave unprepared as he won this encounter in double quick time!

So a 4-1 win for the team and 16 points to the total and up to the bar for the aforementioned beer & pizza. The youngsters at one end of the table talking about clubbing and the adults at the other end of the table talking about how to live off 4% on a million quid!

Shortly after most of the lads took the short hop home to Whitecraigs to watch Mike (Martin) win his match at No.1 in the 2nds (v SSRC) with an epic 3-2 victory! And then he also had an epic darts match against Chris!

Let’s hope 2023 brings less viruses and war and more squash…. and darts!

Missed the Wednesday match reports?!?!?! 😊 Sorry, but I was away the last two weeks and missed the matches (one 3-2 win v Scotstoun & one 3-2 loss v Strathclyde Uni.). Tonight, we faced yet another tough one against Western, but it was a Whitecraigs home match, in da club. The court looked very festive with glittering remnants of tinsel and children’s party on it!

First on was our new man at No.5 Mike Martin v Sam Peacock. Mike (from Inverness! Now that’s commitment to your new club!) was playing his third match for the us, but it was the first time I’d seen him play. Mike looked ‘pained’ after every shot he hit; either ‘quizzical anguish’ when he won a point or ‘pained disaster’ if he lost one – and with the match at one game each, we saw the full range of expressions! But he needn’t have worried, as when he got the ball to a length, his win percentage was very high and as the game went on he did this more and more and took the tie 3-1 (and he looked ‘apologetically distraught’ at winning!)

Next on was the No.2s as Chris (Murphy) had a very tricky one against Steven Halliday. For me, this was the tie of the night, as Steven is an excellent player and so Chris had to be right on it……. and he was! Chris imposed his style on the match from the get-go and was able to neutralise Stephen’s fantastic backhand length with some great movement. Chris was 2-0 up, but Steven was far from finished, as he came storming back 11-8 and was 6-3 up in the 4th game as well. So, would this go the distance? Fortunately for us Chris went on a great run of points at this moment and at 10-7 up he could surely win! Hold on – a few seconds later it was 10-9….. but eventually Chris worked the opening and found the winner to take the match 3-1. Great performance!

I went on next against Martin Woods at No.4. I feared the worst as Matin has traditionally played several levels above me, but if you let me get to 10 points first, I always have a volley in me! So, an unexpected 1st game win gave me (false) hope. Normal service was resumed after that and I lost 3-1, but on reflection it was probably 1 team point gained (and I did play well, especially on the volley).

So as I headed off to the shower (bar) ‘Flash Harry’ (Anderson) took to the court against Scott Hay. When I returned Harry was 2-1 up, but there were two 12-10s in there (both to Harry) so this was obviously a really close one. In the 4th game Harry was dominant, despite trying to lose it every now and again with the odd Mizuki and reverse angle, that put him under more pressure that he’ll probably admit to! However, there was a lot of really great shots as well and he moves like the proverbial whippet! 3-1 to Harry – a key win for the team to bag the extra 3 match winning points (Scott was obviously so distraught he later left all his work clothes at the club!).

So last on was ‘Two James Singhs’ v Peter Halliday. James got a knock last night with a racket hitting the toothpicks he calls legs, so was a late confirmation for tonight – great commitment to the club however! When he took to the court, he certainly looked like he was moving well enough. James had a slow start and at one point, when he played an inexplicable volley into the tin our team manager (Bruce) said “Are you sure it wasn’t his head that was hit, not his knee!”. No one particularly wanted to mark this one, but Chris insisted that Martin do it and when Peter came ‘out of the court’ to complain about something or other, citing P.S.A. rules, I can’t believe that that Martin didn’t evoke P.S.A. Rule 15.3 for leaving the court 😊. The final result was 3-0, but all the games were close and the last game was 12-10. I’ve seen Peter play better, but James certainly moved him well and prevented him from dominating the ‘T’.

An excellent 16-6 team win and we headed to the Back Bar for bangers and mash for dinner (veggie bangers for me). The chat was as great as ever and we’re currently planning out Christmas Night out, which James is trying to duck out of and everyone else is trying to book him for a car-ride home, after James has his usual half shandy followed by ten Irn Brus! So we all headed home and 100 What’s App messages later I went to bed!

Well, another tough one tonight against Newlands 1st team and although we’d had some good wins up to now this would be the toughest test so far. Looking at the Newlands team order, we thought we’d have a chance in some of the match-ups, as a fitter Chris had a chance against their No.2 and James would be the favourite at No.1 – someone in out squad ‘WhatsApp chat’ suggested we change our team order to get an advantage, but the team didn’t want to play it that way.

At 7.05pm, I was the only one there and was wondered if I’d got the wrong venue, until the Newlands entourage that arrived on-mass, with traveling support. James was still in his bed apparently and the other 3 arrived soon after whilst I’d gone of first against Vicky Bell from Carlisle, at No.4. Although I’d never played Vicky before, I did know what to expect as she has beaten many players better than me with her master class of tight volleying from her time on tour, and so it was tonight. She dispatched me in the first two and a half games, and I couldn’t get the ball tight enough to stop her. I had a slight resurgence in the 3rd game, but I think that was more to do with a few uncharacteristic mistakes from Vicky rather than anything I did. So, a disappointing 3-0 loss (although all of the lads in our other teams were delighted that I’d lost and said they looked forward to reading the match report!).

Next up was what we thought would be the crucial No.2 match up, but Chris (Murphy) was surprised to find himself up against Matt Bedwell in his first run out at No.2. Matt won the 1st game easily enough, but at the start of the second game Chris played a backhand-crosscourt-volley into the nic however, it was called down! I didn’t hear the subsequent discussion (I think a ‘let’ was played), but after this disagreement the match got a bit spicy, with both players thinking they’d got something to prove for the subsequent ‘justice points’! Chris was really inspired to step up his game and at 7-5 up was looking dangerous, unfortunately Matt’s movement was just too good tonight as he wrestled the game back with longer rallies and ultimately won this game and the next with that tactic. 3-0 to Matt.

Next on at No.3 was Harry (Anderson) against Mark Ford. To say this was a clash of styles would be an understatement! Harry was a blur of Mizukies & mistakes and Mark played his usual ‘right shot at the right time’ experienced game. Harry had flashes of brilliance, but Mark was good enough to cover many of those attacks and kill off the chances. In truth Mark was ahead at the crucial times in every game and won the tie 3-0

Next up was our best hope of some team points as James (Singh) took on Fraser McCann at No.1 and so it proved. James is as quick round the court as I am slow and he really piled the pressure onto Fraser, with some good lobbing quickly followed by shots short to the front, that gave Fraser a 50:50 chance of attacking or not quite getting to the ball (and either way it took a lot out of Fraser’s legs every time he did another court sprint). James said, “I love playing ‘old-man’s squash’ and I though I haven’t seen many old men playing like that! But maybe he meant old as in over 35! Eventually all this movement took its toll on Fraser and despite a good start in the 3rd game James was just too fit (I’m only one vowel away from being fit! 😊). A 3-0 win for ‘Two James Singhs’.

Last on at No.5 was Kiwi-Cammy playing his last match for the club as he’s moving to New Zealand tomorrow! (……now that’s commitment! He obviously isn’t married!). He was up against another Cumbrian in Damien Whelan and was hoping to sign off with a 100% win record this season. Unfortunately, Damien had other ideas! I said to the team I’d go for a quick shower and would be back for the 5th game, knowing Cammy! But when I returned, we were 0-2 down. Apparently, the 2nd game had been a tough one, so I thought maybe this would be the start of a Cammy-comeback. However, it wasn’t to be tonight, and Cammy was playing like he didn’t believe he could win this one, throwing in a couple of ‘crowd pleasing’ shots through his legs. So, a final 0-3 loss and the match was lost 3-15

C’est la vie! Sweet & sour for dinner (with chicken for some and Quorn for others) and it must have gone down well as I was only allowed a small ration of seconds, due to high demand. And ironically a match that left a sweet & sour taste in the mouth!

Au revoir Cammy and bonne chance……………. oh wait a minute he’s going to New Zealand! Well don’t forget to pack your jandals & togs and I hope you find a good squash club out there and also learn the rules of cricket! Bon Voyage!