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!).

Sorry for the late match report this week, but even I have to work sometimes!

Last Wednesday saw us visiting top of the table Newlands, for the big match of the half against the champs. We lost 4-1 in the 1st half, but the lads are firing at the moment, so could we do better?

I was on first this week, against Victoria Bell, up from Carlisle. I’ve never beaten Vicky, so I was surprised that in-between the games the lads were quite optimistic that I could turn things around (maybe they were just trying to get me going!). The truth, however, was that she was just too good for me (and 10 other players in Division 1 as well – often playing at No.2 or 3! Right Flash!!). Her trademark volleying was as tight as ever and she hits a straight length like a pro, anyway, as I said too good for a hacker like me – 3-0 to Vicky.

Next on was Flash-Harry (Anderson) v Mark Ford. This was looking like another tough one for Flash against an extremely tough competitor. However, Flash had a great start and he had Mark twisting and turning from the start with his eclectic array of shots (including a reverse boast that almost went out!). Anyway, it was a tight 1st game, but The Flashman pinched it and was looking back to his best. After the first point in the 2nd game, Mark started limping and it was soon clear that this would be the end of his night as he retired a couple of points later. Harry said he’d rather lose in 5 than have a retirement, but I’d take the win anytime! (especially against Mark). Having said that, I’m not sure I’d be fast enough to cause Mark to injure himself! So, 3 points to the cause.

Next up was Angus (Forster) v Carrie Hallam at No.5. Now Carrie had beaten Angus 3-0 in the first half so it would be some turnaround for Angus to win this one. It was a very tight 1st game and Carrie narrowly won, but it was obvious that this was going to be a much closer affair that the last half. Angus won the 2nd with some great retrieval and Carrie had to dig deep to win the 3rd! This was a really tough physical battle with both players flying about the court. Angus won the 4th, and it looked like Carrie didn’t have much gas left in the tank – but after the break, she came right back at Angus and was winning when, for the second time tonight, a player pulled up lame. Unfortunately for us, Angus slipped and strained his calf, so was unable to carry on. A well-deserved 3-2 win for Carrie and a great match to watch.

Next on were the No.1s, as ‘2-James Singhs’ took on Matt Bedwell. Now Matt is probably playing the best he ever has this season and has had some great wins along the way, so another really tough one for James. This was also a tough physical battle, and the rallies were hard with Matt putting a lot of pace and pressure on the ball and James defending well; having said that neither of the two looked particularly out of breath, which is amazing given the length and pace of the rallies! Matt, however, kept himself in the box-seat most of the time, as James was always playing catch up. Matt won the 1st game and kept control in the 2nd game as well. Matt never looks particularly annoyed about anything at the best of times, but when Mark gave a controversial call at the end of the 2nd game, Matt just paused and then showed his displeasure by hitting two cross-court volleys into the nic to win the next two points! Mark said, ‘I thought that would get him going!’ 🤣🤣

The pressure was ramped up even more in the last game and James knew he’d been up against it by the end of the match – good performances by both Matt and 2-James.

Last up tonight and playing the best I’ve seen him in a string of his most recent matches, was Chris (Murphy) against Fraser McCann. Fraser had won a tough 3-2 against Chris in the first half, so when he took the 1st game 12-10 it was looking like this could be another 5 setter! Chris then took control of the game and made Fraser do a lot of moving, but Fraser countered by moving really well and he made life tough for Chris! However, Chris grew into the match and was soon 2-1 up and looking in charge and always seemed to have an answer for whatever was thrown at him. So a tough run out for both men, but equally a good match to watch and a 3-1 win for us.

Players of the match were definitely Carry and Angus for that great match – and with a bit more luck Angus could have sneaked that one and won the match, but it wasn’t to be and Newlands won 3-2 (8 points to us though!).

So pizza/chips/poppadoms/pakora and spiced onions for dinner to top off another great Wednesday night oot. Needles to say we arrived at the Whitecraigs Back Bar later for second suppers for the lads and then Chris was off for a couple of hours sleep and then off to Berlin – top commitment!

Giffnock were No.2 in the league and we were No.3 before last night, so could we upset the rankings?

We had numbers 1, 2, 3 & 4 ready and raring to go and the Giffnock No.5 was there! Anyway, eventually the No.2s were the first match up so Chris (Murphy) was first on against Owen Hadden. It looked on paper that Chris was going to win this easily, but after the 1st game Owen was motoring around and at 8-5 up I was thinking’ ‘it’s a bit dangerous to let Owen within 3 points of the finish line!’. The 2nd couldn’t have been closer at 10-10, but Chris dug deep to clinch this one. The 3rd was almost as close 11-9, but in the end Chris got through unscathed to win 3-0.

I was on next against Ben Mazzucco and I haven’t done too well against him in team matches recently, but I’m playing OK at the moment so there’s always a chance! The chance came when I won the 1st, however after this Ben got into 2nd gear (!) and although I got close, he was always just a little too fast and his reactions were a little too quick. So in the end I should be happy with a point ………but I’m not!

The No.1s went on next as ‘2 James Singhs’ faced up against another full-time pro-player in Martin Ross (James must be sick of the sight of them!). Martin was on good form and raced to a 2-0 lead, although the rallies were exhaustive and the retrieving was fantastic. James’ best spell of the match was in the 3rd game when he was 6-4 up and was really going forward on the volley well. However just at that moment disaster ensued as James slipped and was flat out on the canvas. It looked like a bad one, but a few minutes later the gladiator had regained his composure and was tentatively ready to go again. I got the towel out to wipe the floor, only to hear the Mrs say, “What’s going on here, he never does that at home!” (bloody cheek! I put some dishes near the dishwasher just the other day!). Anyway back to James and Martin – unfortunately for us Martin took no pity on James’ fall and managed to wrap up the tie 3-0.

We would need to win both of the last two ties to take the match! Queue the No.5 match as Angus (Forster) was ready to play Niall Morris (which was a repeat of the first half match and Angus’ first ever team match for The Craigs – great Bosman!). Well, if the 1st game was anything to go by (14-12 to Angus) this was going to be a cracker! I took to writing D.S. – which is Angus’ catchphrase and means DogSh*** – on the score sheet anytime Angus hit a horrendous ‘tin’ and I was delighted to tell him I’d written it 5 times in the 1st game! Made no difference as Niall was soon 5-0 up in the 2nd and another D.S. went on the score sheet as Niall took the 2nd game 11-4. So I told our ‘in-between the games mastermind’ to have a word and whatever Chris said worked a treat as Angus played much better after that and went on to win the tie 3-1.

So 2-2 in the match and last up was Harry (Flash Anderson) v Neil Bennet at No.3. Well what an atmosphere this created and what a match-up. Both players traded games (with Neil winning the 1st and Flash the 2nd etc) as the crowd’s cheering got louder and louder. So to the 5th! Well at 0-8 down Harry looked dead and buried, but in a Flash it was suddenly 6-8 and the crowd were hoping for a miracle! Unfortunately it wasn’t to be tonight, although it wasn’t through lack of effort as Flash was ex-flashed by the end of the match. A great match to watch and Neil was too good in the end with a 3-2 win.

MOTM for Angus and Neil I’d say and burgers in the Back Bar for dinner and a great atmosphere for the rest of the evening! It’s what Wednesdays are all about!

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!