Broadberry Sports

Hamilton came to call last night and it was one of those Wednesdays when everything goes well. We had 2 courts all night; the team T-shirts arrived; the food was good and we won – amazing!

Jason L –  Jason B – Craig V-W – Finlay McG – Dougie Mac

First on court was all 5 of us as we posed for the team photo in the brand new Optical Express sponsored team tops!

But other than that Finlay (McGhee) v Scott Hay were first on court at No.4 – Fin was catching Scott with his cross-court drops, mixed in with good length. I didn’t see much of the game, but I did hear Scott’s coach (John Kirby) tell him to watch out for ‘this shot’ and ‘that shot’ and I thought I know exactly what you mean as he does it to me all the time as well (and it’s bloody annoying!). 3-0 to Fin

Next on was Craig (V-W) against Calum Phillip at No.1  – a good 1st game for Craig, but Calum started hitting his straps in the 2nd and with the really high swing, power and deception was having a lot of success – so much in fact that he won the 2nd game! But Craig was ready for him after that and was reading all of Calum’s tricks and keeping him tied to the back. So Craig brought home the match 3-1 to a more and more resigned Calum.

I was on next against Chris McGeady at No.3. Now we had a real hum-dinger of a match last time on the Hamilton ‘Sauna’ courts. I’d just managed to pip Chris in the 5th and I’d definitely used up my ‘Get out of Jail Free’ card during that encounter. Fortunately for me I dominated proceedings this time, on the colder courts and I volleyed particularly well (for me). Chris changed tactics in the 2nd game and I was happy to trade a few shots with him. The upshot was a 3-0 win for me – I was very satisfied with my performance (although Chris had a glint in his eye as he said “I look forward to the rematch in the Sauna!”) .

Doug (Macmillan) was 1-0 down and faffing about in the 2nd when I took over marking this match (against Stephen Healy at No.5). Fortunately he faffed his way to a 12-10 win in that game and so at 1-1 it was still anyone’s. Also at 8-8 in the 3rd, it was still anyone’s, but it was about here that Doug put the pedal to the metal and took the initiative with some much more positive squash and good length. So the eagle was landed and 1-1 soon became a 3-1 win to Dougie.

Jason (Lang) was last on against Colin Towers at No.2. and this was a mismatch in many ways, such as in height and also in age of racket! Not only was there was about 4 foot separating the two of them, but Jason’s brand new Harrow Vapor was gleaming next to Colin’s 20 year old antique of a racket! Unfortunately for Colin the game was a bit of a mismatch as well because Jason was playing well and was just too sharp for Colin.

So a 3-0 win for Jason meant the team got an excellent 18-point haul. MOTM to either Fin or me I’d (modestly) say and to Stephen Healey for Hamilton.

And the jacket spuds were baked to perfection. Everyone enjoyed them – even me (who doesn’t like potatoes!) and even Colin Towers, who I’ve never seen eat anything at a team match for 25 years, had half a potato!

Read more…