posted 3 Feb 2012 02:11 by Geoff Woodcock
The 1st team has only lost a single match all season and it was to Aldermaston 2, the team we were playing tonight. We had a point to prove and defeat by them would be hard to stomach.Geoff and Ed started proceedings. Geoff at 2nd string tonight, as Dan Jones is skiing and Jose was away for work, was up against an experienced, ex-county player and veteran, Jo Richardson. Things were looking pretty close at 1-game-all but Geoff wasn't coping well with Joe's consistency and despite being half his age Geoff lost 3-1.Ed at 5th string was advised by me before he started that the whole match could be on him, so no pressure. Ed immediately went 6-0 down but fought back to 7-all before just being edged out in the first. The next game saw a rejuvinated and attacking Ed take the game 9-1. His opponent was better in the 3rd and took a 2-1 lead. In the forth Ed's opponent, Mark, took the score to 8-0 without Ed even serving! They think it's all over, it is n..... hang on!!! Ed's making a comeback. Point by point he made the score back to 7-8 without losing serve but losing out at the last hurdle offered Mark another shot at match ball. Again, Ed saved it and leveled the score. Set 2 was called and again Ed found himself match ball down at 9-8. Some superb squash (and a bit of luck) pulled the score to 9-all and Ed had his first match point. A long rally ensued with neither playing wanting to make a mistake. The better squash was played by Mark by Ed was hanging in digging everything back. Mark forced a loose shot and sent a lob destined for the back nick. What happended next usually causes me a great deal of pain and bitterness but... this time it didn't happen against me. Ed let the ball pass over his left side and whilst appearing to have no idea where the hell the ball was he hit a volley-backhand-drop... straight into the nick!!! Some might say he was lucky but actually Ed has a bloody annoying habit of playing that shot on a regular basis (mostly against me!). But this time I could have snogged him!With the games level Vivek played Chris Bulley at 4th string. The first game was a battle with Vivek just edging it. The future looked bright especially as Vivek promised the team a victory. Alas, he lost the next 3 games quite quickly leaving the next 2 players the responsibility of victory from the jaws of defeat.Omar who was drafted in at last minute played at 3rd string. I always felt Omar might be our secret weapon and I wasn't wrong. The only time he looked troubled was when he became complacent and got punished. Having said that, his opponent had a very unique set of shots but it wasn't enough. Omar took the match 3-0 whilst only dropping 11 points.The pressure was on for moi. Unfortunately I had tweaked my back earlier in the afternoon and had already predicted that a win probably wasn't possible from me despite my usually optimistic attitude. I lost the first 9-1 and then the second 9-0 to an opponent whom I'd usually fancy beating fairly comfortably. Resigned to defeat in the 3rd I decided to have a stab in the dark and stepped infront of the T for the remaining points to see if there was any chance of swaying this onslaught. Something happened, I'm not sure what. Maybe my change in tactics, maybe my opponent easing up. Anyway, I saved a match-ball at 8-6 and then took the game. After edging the next game 9-6 my opponent seemed to be sweating like a paedophile in a creche. He never really recovered and his mistakes were costly. The final game was wrapped up 9-1 and Reading Uni had, somehow, avoided defeat. But a win is a win and our first team are firmly at the top of the league. Good work team.
Dan |
posted 6 Jan 2012 03:59 by Geoff Woodcock
Rather than divuldge the results in the playing order I'm going to start with the least eventful and finish with the main event.
So, first on court was Moi. Not much to see here, slightly hampered by a back injury I wasn't able to offer much competition to my opponent who duffed me up proper and even through in a bagel for good measure.
Next, Dan Jones. He wavered a bit in the first couple of games and there was concern from all that Dan might be back to his old ways. But, he turned it on when it mattered and came through victorious 3-1.
Now it gets a bit more exciting! Jose playing at 3 is always a banker in my opinion. Unbeaten in team matches for something like 2 years this guy is soon to become legend. With his ultimate weapon..... Fitness! he infuriated his opponent by retrieving all this best shots and then killing the rally dead with some awesome finishing. For the most part it seemed to be; Jose serving; opponent retrieving; Jose tennis-smash-volley; point to Jose. His opponent never really got a look in and couldn't even be bothered to compete in the Jose Martinez show towards the end.
Vivek at 5th sting was appearing for (I think) the very first time in the 1st team. In true Vivek style he tried to blatter the hell out of the ball during the warm-up with his trademark "throw shoulder, throw hips, throw torso at the ball" to the point where quite often he was levatating during his shots. With all the energy excerted I'd usually be a bit worried but alas his opponent was doing exactly the same. After 10 minutes of the ball being cannoned from one side of the court to the other and both players relentlessly denying the other the chance to be seen hitting the ball harder... the ref commenced play. Vivek stormed to a 7-0 lead with some undeniably good squash.... almost like a real squash player. However true form prevailed and Vivek began to blast every ball crosscourt at 100mph. His opponent now enjoying this feeding practice closed the game 10-8. The second game was tight but Vivek was just a whisker better. Vivek destroyed his opponent in the 3rd and then his opponent destroyed him in the 4th. In the nail-biting 5th game the score went to 7-all. There was absolutely nothing between the two and it was impossible to call. Suddenly the opponent put Vivek out of position. Vivek scrambled for the ball and narrowly got it back. His opponent sent him scurrying in the other direction and Vivek just got a racket to it. Leaving the ball sitting up beautifully his opponent buried the ball into the backhand corner. I started writing the score down and then to my amazement, and the crowds, somehow, seemingly impossibly, and against all previous reputation, Vivek managed to claw the ball back to the front wall......... with interest. Now the opponent was on the back foot but only for a single shot as Vivek killed the ball handsomely to the delight of his team mates. (I was having a nervous breakdown on the balcony). Vivek's opponent seemed absolutely beaten by this and made consecutive unforced errors. A galiant effort by Vivek and the match sealed for the team.
oh Geoffrey Woodcock. Where do I start!? ....er... ok... prematch banter. I emailed Geoff on Tuesday to arrange lifts to the match and mentioned that we needed 3 wins from 4 because I was pretty sure that my back wouldn't be better. Geoff replied, "Well I haven't played since Xmas so don't expect a win from me." My response, "Don't worry. I never do." Geoff pointed out that this probably wasn't the best tactic for team morale and I accept the criticism. However, what happened tonight might add fuel to the fire. Here goes:
Geoff was playing at 4th string. I decided not to watch his game as I had arrived in a splendid mood and didn't want to spoil it. Added to that, Geoff never plays well when I'm watching him.... or when I'm not watching him for that matter... but he definitely plays bad when I'm there. After the first I enquired about the score, Geoff lost 9-7 but apparently was playing quite well. I left again. I returned to catch a glimpse of the second and was pleasantly surprised to see Geoff leading AND playing well. He was volleying well, dropping well and hitting a good length. He even won the game! At 1-1 Geoff continued his good squash and I dared to watch. Some more consistent length and width earned Geoff a 2-1 lead and to be honest I couldn't see much hope for his opponent. Ah, yes, but... this is Geoff Woodcock we are talking about. The 4th game took all of 10 minutes and the score was levelled at 2-all. I should point out that during all of the match Geoff was giving some quick witted, clever, competitive banter to both the marker and his opponent and this new dog-eat-dog attitude was a positive change from the past. The 5th game commenced and us team mates were biting our nails on the balcony whispering, "he ain't gonna do it, is he!". BUT, Geoff stormed to an 8-0 lead. He absolutley blitzed his opponent off the court and the marker announced, "8-love, match ball." Geoff paused, looked up to the balcony, and with a cheeky grin he goaded his opponent by asking the marker, "sorry, what was the score... 8- ?. "Love," the marker replied. Geoff just smiled and gave his opponent a deviling eye as if to say, "you've got a bagel coming your way, Loserrrrrrr."
They say whoever laughs last laughs loudest. Well, I think Geoff's opponent will be sleeping with a big fat grin on his face tonight! Geoff never scored another point. |
posted 3 Dec 2011 04:47 by Geoff Woodcock
Meadway 1 vs Uni 1
In a desolate leisure centre in Rivermead, Uni's 1st team were playing bottom of the table Meadway so hopes of 20 points were realistic. Frazer was on first at 3rd string and started atrociously. Rarely finding length or width in any of his shots he managed to take the first game, somehow, quite comfortably. Despite a chat from the two Dans inbetween games Frazer's squash deteriorated further in the 2nd but, somehow, he managed to win it again! The squash was so bad at times that I found it hard to mark through fighting the urge not to fall asleep. Frazer continued the same in the 3rd but found himself 8-5 down. At this point, much to the amazement of the crowd, Frazer put together some good squash to bring the score to 8-8. Short lived though it was and Frazer was back to hitting drives that were so loose you couldn't tell which side of the court he was aiming for. At 9-all a crowd gathered as the serve swapped between players 15 times! 8 match balls wasn't enough for Frazer and his opponent finally took the game though seemingly draining himself of any energy for the next. Frazer won the last game with loose drives, crap drops, air shots and headless-chicken movement around court. But it wasn't over there. Having just played like a tart we learned that he also drinks like a tart. Not only did he order two gin and tonics... he also sent the barmaid to the kitchen to authenticate his drink with 3 slices of cucumber!
Jose at 4th string was again too fast and fit for his opponent and rarely troubled. Geoff played some steady squash to win his match 3-0. I'm not sure if I was more surprised that he won in 3 or that his match played out without incident (or more to the point without me pulling my hair out). He didn't serve out nor did he 'Geoff-it'. My match was fairly straight forward against a good opponent who's not quite as agile as he used to be.
Jonesy, newly ranked club champion, was confident to make his mark on the match but ended up in a real battle and at 1-all in games he needed to up his game. In his defence the court floors were like an ice rink and possibly a contributing factor to the groin strain he suffered in the 3rd which forced him to retire.
Final score: Uni 18 - 4 Meadway
2nd team result against Esporta 1
Mark Elliott and Ed Hawkins had tough matches at the top of the order and both lost 3-0. Wayne managed to nick a consellation game at 3rd string. Charles was unlucky not to grab a game having marginally lost the 1st 10-9 and the 3rd 10-8. Well done to Ed Howkins at 4th string after scraping through 3-2. Any points mustered in this division could be crucial to avoid relegation.
Final score: Esporta 19 - 4 Uni
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posted 18 Nov 2011 09:22 by Geoff Woodcock
1st team - Away to Temple Wycombe
Geoff was on first at 4th string and having recently invested some money with Andy Longman he was keen to show off his new skills (if you can count not hitting it in the tin as a skill). Well, he lost the first (not a worry though because that just demonstrates consistency!). In the next few games Geoff played good attacking squash. Yes, that's not a misprint. He did actually play well. I have no video evidence so for those sceptics out there you'll just have to take my word for it. He volleyed well against a lobby opponent, and attacked at the right times. And most amazing of all he didn't "Geoff-it" once!!! despite Dan predicting from the balcony that he would on every drop shot. Geoff convincingly won the match 3-1.
Mark Elliott was on the adjacent court and despite (in his words), "trying well" he couldn't get his aching body around the court quick enough to take a game.
Frazer at 3rd string did what Frazer does best... recovery shot after recovery shot after recovery shot. His opponent soon got frustrated/bored and was beaten in 3.
Dan 'No.2' Jones was on at 2nd string. Some good squash gave him an early lead but a slight lapse in concentration saw him receiving serve for game ball. He hung in though and took the game. 6-4 up in the second and within seconds he was 8-6 down. A real battle ensued at 8-8 after his opponent called "1". Once again Dan did just enough and by the 3rd game his opponent seemed to be too tired to maintain the pace. Dan won 3-0.
Dan Ford at 1st string had a bit of a battle in the 1st game as his opponent seemed to want to smash every shot as hard as physically possible. It was just like watching a young Vivek. Unfortunately for him his shots were also very loose which meant he had to work twice as hard. Dan just edged the first but then bageled his tired opponent in the 2nd and won the 3rd fairly comfortably.
Final score: Temple Wycombe 4 - 17 Reading Uni
2nd team - Home to Bracknell 2
It was a good start when Sophie avoided another triple bagel and even managed to get a game. Wayne won 3-1 but only after disabilitating his opponent to retirement. Mark, Charles and Nick all lost by the same scoreline, 3-1.
Final score: Reading Uni 7 - 18 Bracknell 2
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posted 5 Nov 2011 02:40 by Geoff Woodcock
Thursday, 17th November 2011 at 7:30pm - 10:30pmPlease show your availability for the next team match:
1st team : Away to Temple Wycombe
2nd team: Home to Bracknell 2
Match report for last night
The 1st team were home to Herongate from Hungerford. Herongate were 10 points clear of Uni at the top of the table no thanks to our appalling result a fortnight ago. Anyway, a good win here would put us top of the league. Frazer "The Banker" Richards was first on at 3rd string. Having played both players numerous times I knew this match would be a formality for Frazer. His superior fitness and focussed aggression would be too much for his opponent, Mark Bond, and I fancied that Mark would struggle to make an impact in this game. Then... about 5 minutes after the match had begun Frazer walks off court after being handed a bagel by his opponent. It would be fair for me to say that his opponent was just too good but I'd be lying. Frazer played like a t*#t (and that's not twit!). Loose cross-courts were the bread and butter of his bagel but slow movement and all round inability to hit a good shot contributed massively. After a bit of a talking to he went straight back on court and won the next 9-1. Nobody really knows how it happened. His game wasn't really improved. I suspect his opponent was expecting to dish out another slaughtering and probably took his foot off the gas. Anyway, safe to say that he didn't gift Frazer any further and comfortably finished the match 3-1. Geoff went on at 5th string. Having lost at every other string in the team Geoff was experimenting a new low. It didn't bode well when Geoff saw that he was playing the pig farmer, hung his head, and wept,"oh no.... not him... I hate playing HIM." Somehow, yet again, I managed to position myself right next to the marking pad just as Geoff and Gordon were ready. Having to Mark another of Geoff's matches isn't a highlight of my week and definitely the only reason that I've started to develop a tinee amount of grey in my hair recently. (you won't have noticed unless the light catches my locks at a particular angle.) Anyway, some might say that a win is a win and I should give Geoff a break seeing as he only conceded 9 points in total but you didn't have to sit through what I had to sit through!! Serving out twice (fine of £1.50) and five 'Geoff'd its' was just the tip of the iceberg. Geoff kept the rallies alive with some horrendously unorthodox squash seemingly just to make his opponent feel at home. Thank God it was over in 3. Jose 'our secret weapon' Martinez went on at 4th string against Chris Latham. His fitness and fantastic tennis ability was too much for his opponent who just couldn't get settled. Jose dished out a bagel in the 1st and only dropped 6 points in taking the match 3-0. Dan Jones was playing 2nd string against the very familiar Gary Preston. Gary has played at the Uni many times and is well know for his tenaciousness and fitness. The first game was over in a flash. Dan Jones wades off court, walks up to me beaming from ear to ear and as smug as smug can be he proclaims,"9-0!" Then off he strutted fluffing his feathers like a cock who's just given his best to the hens. About 10 minutes later he made the same journey towards me but this time with a little less swagger. 1-all he mumbled as he passed by. Fortunately he was back on top for the remaining games and his slightly better speed and accuracy was the difference which won the match. Playing the dead rubber was me at 1st string against an opponent whom I've only ever beaten once and lost to about 5 times. Knowing this I decided to try something revolutionary and so 'warmed-up.' Waste of bloody time that was!!! 10 minutes later I was handed a bagel and left to consider some new tactics. Fortunately I found my legs in the second and had game ball at 9-all but some better squash from Nigel gave him a 2-0 lead. Helpful advice from Geoff might have made a difference (if I'd used it) but some loose squash against a punishing opponent put me 8-1 down and receiving serve for the match. I remember thinking "f*#k it, I might as well just go for it and volley everything (along the lines of what Geoff had suggested!" and what-d'yer-know I managed to squeeze the game 10-9. Some people might tell you that my opponent eased up and started making mistakes but in my mind I was awesome. Who do you believe! The 4th game was closely fought but Nigel was just a bit too strong and consistent and took the final game 9-7. Final score Reading Uni 16 - 7 Herongate Second team The second team were playing Beechdown's 1st team and it was always going to be tough. Unfortunately the whole team lost with only Mark, Ed and Charles picking up the odd game each. Mention of the match goes to Sophie though for receiving a triple bagel. Be sure to congratulate her when you see her next. In Sophie's defence she tells me that she wasn't well and only played to bolster the squad. That said, in my memory she is the only person in the history of Uni team squash to receive the 3 big Os and it's sure to be an achievement that won't be forgotten for a long time to come. Final score Beechdown 20 - 3 Reading Uni
Dan. |
posted 5 Nov 2011 02:24 by Geoff Woodcock
The new league is now available and runs till Saturday 31st December which is 8 weeks to allow for Christmas and the knockout competition ( the following league ending Sunday 19th February ) .
Welcome to 13 players joining and rejoining the league and with 6 dropping out, the total is now 86 players in the leagues with a further 14 out injured or away. This means we are approaching our “ maximum” number for the leagues . I have added one more division now and next league will probably introduce one more division as , temporarily, there are three divisions with 8 players which means that again the usual rules for promotion/relegation will not apply.
Over 94% of games were played in the last league , with 61 players playing all their games and just 13 who did not. This is a new record for games played- congratulations !
Knockout competition
This is progressing well and we have now progressed to the quarter finals in all six competitions. Make sure you have put finals evening in your diary – Sunday 27th November starting at 5.30 pm.
Squash Marking Course
This will now be taking place from 10.30 am to 2.30 pm , including lunch, on Sunday 20th November and further details have been sent out. Please ensure you do reply soonest so we can have a clear idea of numbers.
Team Matches
Both teams maintained their league positions in the Summer League. The new season of the Winter League has started and both teams got off to a great start winning their opening matches and currently are in 2nd and 5th position in their respective leagues.
The Ladies team drew their opening fixture on matches 2-2 and games 6-6 but narrowly lost out on points count-back but then comprehensively won their second match.
Mention also of the four University teams where at least 5 league players are playing and who are performing well in their respective divisions
If anyone is interested in playing team squash then please make sure Geoff has your name.
You are welcome to come along and support- fixtures are shown on the website.
Future events
Just so that you can be aware of plans over the next few months, the Annual Graded competition will be taking place , probably in May.
We are thinking of two further competitions- one would be an open handicap competition available to the first 64 players entering ( I guarantee that Dan will not be the winner!! ) played in a similar format to our existing Club Knockout Competition but handicapping based on ranking points differential.
The other tournament will be a team handicap event consisting of 16 teams of 3 split into 4 groups of 4 ( Champions league style ) playing three matches each and resulting in 4 semi finalists .
Timings and full details will be provided nearer the time but anticipated that one event will take place about March / April – if you have any preferences as to which event should take place first let me know.
Administration
If you change your contact e-mail address on the website, please will you also let me know as the “ Group spaces” and ladder details need to be updated as otherwise you will not recive any notifications or confirmation of your results
Rules
I still get regular complaints about players not responding to e-mails - rule ( vi ) explains that walkovers can be claimed if players do not respond to e-mails . Just refer to me if you are having problems.
It has been suggested that we should revisit the rules about players not playing all their games – the number is reducing but there are about 10 players who regularly do not play all their games. One suggestion is that we should increase the threshold to 5 games so that if any player does not play at least 5 games in a league then their points score would be halved ( currently 4 games ).
Also, should we implement a penalty for players turning up late fora match? For example, 10 minutes late - first game is forfeited , 15 minutes late – 2 games forfeited and over 20 minutes late – walkover.
Let me have any thoughts
Good luck in your games.
Richard Porter 31st October 2011 |
posted 21 Oct 2011 03:57 by Geoff Woodcock
1st team - Away to Aldermaston 2
On paper this was a 5-0 victory to us but things didn't quite go to plan to say the least. Dan Jones stepped on to court first at 2nd string and continued his (newly discovered) winning run. The two Dans had realised that this could be one of their easiest matches this season so to ensure absolute focus and determination they agreed to wager a tenner to go to whoever conceeded the least points in our respective matches. Jonesy won the first 9-1 and was looking unstoppable until a lapse of concentrating cost him three points on the trot. But he only conceeded 6 points in all and his opponent never really got a look in.
Meanwhile Geoff took a storming 2-0 lead at 3rd string and looked in good form to take the match. Previously Fordy had predicted to Mark that Geoff would take a 2-0 lead and then bottle it but eventually take the match 3-1. Well he did take a 2-0 lead, and unfortunately, yes, he did bottle it!, but unfortunately the come-back was painstaking to witness, cringeworthy at times and most disatisfing of all, it ended badly. Geoff insisted on feeding his opponent with half-court-precision lobs which were converted into winners everytime. Even Geoff's continual drops into the tin couldn't muster up some sympathy from his opponent who just kept dishing out the punishment. Fordy's advice between games was to hit straight and concentrate on length and width but just like the last match Geoff completely ignored it all and continued to provide feeding practice for his older, slower and weaker opponent. Despite the loss, Geoff's team mates were just relieved to see the match finally over as will to live was being sucked from their bodies.
Sophie went on at 5 and a close fought game soon brought the score to 1 game-all. Sophie's lack of movement around court provided ample opportunity for her opponent to hit winners. In fact we were lucky that she even moved at all at times. That was a glimmer of hope as the lazy-arse hit about 100 boasts in a row to nick the 4th but her stubborn refusal to chase anything down eventually cost her the match.
An out-of-form Mark Chatfield at 4th string but was always going to up against it. Usually very reliable in a must-win match situation, this time the body was doing what the brain was asking. Despite a good effort Mark joined the 3-2 club.
As a dead-rubber Fordy went on 1st string. Seemingly there was nothing to play for but Fordy was completely focused on his £10 bet against Jonesy. He could only conceed 5 points to take the money and knew unforced errors would be his downfall. After taking the first 9-0, he dropped 2 points in the second and Jonesy was looking worried. The serve was swapping back and forth between players but Fordy's opponent wasn't getting a look in. Despite his team cheering on HIS OPPONENT!! and attempts to unsettle Fordy with 'ooooohs' and 'awwwwwwws' Dan hardly faultered. Then suddenly a few tight shots and the score was 7-3. Jonesy was hoping.... praying.... begging.... for at least one mistake.... a tin.... an overhit.... a serve fault.... anything! but a smug Fordy closed out the match teasingly winning 27-5.
Final score: Aldermaston 14 - 12 Reading Uni 1 (The worst way to win and the best way to lose)
Food: Curry and rice. (Nice but no gold star.)
2nd team - Home to Aldermaston 1
This was always going to be an impossible task. Our first team have lost to this bunch of players so presumably the second team were going to have an uphill battle on their hands, even with Aldermaston's No.1 missing from the order.
I'm still waiting for the 2nd team match report to arrive on my desk but...... it probably went something like this:
Ed at No.1 was up against Simon Aldridge. Ed usually does well against the more orthodox players and there were some moments of 'maybe.... could he....' but alas Simon was just too consistent and won 3-0. Wayne started more optimistically then usual by mentioning that he hadn't been playing much recently but had managed to have a hit about 3 weeks ago albeit with the kids in the garden. Despite running around court like a lunatic and winning the first through completely bamboozling his opponent who was shocked still by the mayhem around him, describing it after the match as, "like being on court with The Tazmanian Devil." But once he realised that it was much ado about nothing he calmly closed Wayne out of the match 3-1.
Mark Osbourne looked dead and buried when he went 2-0 down in about 7 minutes. His opponent let him off the hook in the 3rd but was firmly in control again in the next. Osbourne put in a fantastic effort despite being 8-0 down in the forth and used all his hacking prowess to inflict a few points of damage. Too little, too late losing 3-1.
Nick Carne had the unfortunate task of playing Ian Hugo. Remembering that Hugo is one of Fordy's (many) bogy players because he refused to rally, Nick wasn't looking forward to the task ahead. In true fashion Ian hit nick after nick after nick, and floaty lob after lob after lob. Nick was running around court like a blue arsed fly but there was nothing he could do.... or was there!?! Some intuitive quick thinking by Nick was to question the legality of the squash ball based on the bounce not being quite the same as those used in his maticulous training program. He forced the issue by looking perplexed at the ball, then the balcony, then the ball again, after every shot. At some points the drama was worst than the audition stages of X-Factor. Worthy of an Oscar, but not a win. 3-1.
My sympathy went out to Charles the moment I knew he was faced against the notorious (dum dum dum) Nick "straight-arm" Hunter. This man can reduce professional squash players to tears with his trademark ,'I'm showing you the straight drive, here's the straight drive, can you see it coming.. here it is...Nope I've boasted it without even bending my elbow.' A gigantic effort from Charles clinched the 2nd game to bring the score to 1-all but the completely unorthodox, unique, weird, bizarre and bloody annoying method of hitting the squash ball (I'm being very careful not to use the work 'technique' because it would be a slur on the word itself) was too much for Charles's sanity and he was slightly relieved to be put out of his misery in 4.
Final score: Reading Uni 2nds 4 - 20 Aldermaston 1sts
Food: Chinese. (Legendary) |
posted 7 Oct 2011 02:52 by Geoff Woodcock
1st team - Away to Greenacre
Fordy went on first at 1st string and (despite humbly not admitting to being the 8th best player in the county even though he had some rather brilliant and epic wins in the recent Berks Closed) seemed to be reminded constantly (and somewhat sarcastically) that he was the 8th best player in the county. This didn't work in Dan's favour when he got bageled in the first game. After blaming the court and at 5-love down in the second he seemed to do something right to nick the game 9-7. His opponent, now sucking in air like it's about to run out, lost all hope and caved in.
Meanwhile Mark C at 5th string got off to a blinding 2-0 lead and had the finish post in sight. Then, assaulted by his opponent (noone saw this happen by the way), Mark lost all feeling in his hand and, despite a very generous marker who was fooled oh too easily by Mark's "fishing" attempts, he couldn't prevent his opponent from taking the match 3-2.
Dan Jones at No.2 put in a rare display of skill! He dominated his opponent for most of the match and it's just a pity nobody filmed it because it could be a long time before it happens again.
Now despite me almost pulling out all my grey hair last time I marked one of Geoff's matches I tentatively stepped up to mark him again. But this match was anything but dull! Geoff played good tight squash (in the main) but the odd loose cross-court gave his table-tennis champion opponent the chance to put the ball away. After losing the first game I gave him specific instructions to keep the ball straight and to the back of the court. Geoff went straight on and hit a cross-court. 2-0 down in games and with a gentle reminder to hit straight Geoff went 5-1 down in the 3rd. Thankfully he then found his form and edged the 3rd with some good percentage squash. The 4th was a formality for Geoff bring the match to a 5th and final game. Geoff then proceeded to throw every rule of orthodox squash out of the window. He hit cross-court after cross-court after cross-court and the occasional boast in the tin. Fortunately the previous 2 games had taken its toll on his opponent and when Geoff finally got his shots back on target he won the final game 9-6. Good work against a tricky opponent.
I warned Jose's opponent before hand that he was in for a marathon. "He won't hit a winner" I said, "but the ball will ALWAYS come back!". Jose didn't let me down. His opponent didn't know where to put the ball and everything he threw at Jose came back with a back-hand slice or a top-spin drive. 3-love to Jose.
Final score 19-6. Top of the league boys!
2nd team - Home to LA Fitness 1
I haven't received the match report for this yet.... but it probably went something like this:
Vince started proceedings at 5. To prove his class he had one arm tied behind his back and was ready for a fight. His opponent took full advantage and dominated every rally to take the first 9-0. Vinnie now realising that taking on an opponent with one arm is a truely stupid idea unbound his chains and fought back with appropriate agression to clinch the match 3-1.
Nick Carne at 5 was involved in a brutal battle. Impossible to call from the word go, the match had blood sweat and tears. Nick had a major strop-on half way through when his opponent kept hitting him with his racket and the drama that pursued was so over-the-top that Nick could seriously be offered a role in Neighbours. At 9-all in the 5th Nick took a contentious and questionable stroke to win the match.
With only one win now required to win the 5 bonus points Mark Osbourne took the reigns. But he was quickly outplayed and despite a surge of power play in the 3rd, Mark lost 3-zip.
Sophie at No.1 looked defeated before the match had started. After a lacklustre warm-up Sophie didn't really ever convince her opponent that she wanted to win. Having driven a long way for the match her opponent teed up a few shots to keep Soph in the rally but the girl was having none of it.
Now all up to Wayne to secure victory for the team it wasn't very inspirational when, just before the start, he said, "I haven't played for ages...." Unusually his opponent wasn't put off by the headless chicken routine and although Wayne had no idea where his own shots were going, somehow his opponent did. Despite taking a game Wayne lost 3-1.
Final score 7-17. Blame Sophie. ;0)
Dan. |
posted 23 Sep 2011 06:34 by Geoff Woodcock
Match report - 1st team
Geoff started proceedings at 3rd string against Mark Prisor. The 40 minutes that followed was not pretty. Half court drives, lobs that didn't make the service line, drives into the tin, drops that hovered in the air for more than a couple of seconds!!! This match had everything that you don't expect to see on a squash court. But amongst the chaos Geoff prevailed 3-0. (Thank God it was over in 3!). Meanwhile Dan Jones @ 2 played Phil Tuck much his senior. Phil nipped the 1st but Dan soon got going and ended up winning convincingly thereon 3-1. Mark Chatfield at 4th string played some good squash to defeat Justing Piggot 3-0. Sophie at 5th string was outplayed and despite a fight at 9-all in the 3rd she eventually lost 3-0. Dan Ford at 1st string lost the warm-up by a country mile but fortunately his opponent couldn't handle any sort of rally in excess of 5 shots and Dan won comfortably 3-0. Final score 17-4. A good start to the season.
Match report - 2nd team
The scores for the second team are in but unfortunately a report wasn't submitted though I reckon it would have sounded something like this:
First on at 5th string was Vinnie. Despite cruising to a comfortable lead Vince still had to bump into his opponent on a number of occasions with his chest out and arms pumped just to remind the guy who was the boss on court. His opponent couldn't deal with the testostorone and caved in to a 3-0 defeat. At 4th string was Nick Carne. He went 2-0 up quite convincingly but spent the 3rd game looking up at the balcony to receive admiration from the applauding crown. Before he knew it he had lost the 3rd and a battle for supremacy pursued in the 4th. After arguing with the marker and telling him (in no uncertain terms) that he was an idiot, Nick managed to close out the match 3-1. At 3rd string was Wayne. After reminding eveyone that he hasn't played for about 5 years he tried relentlessly to chase everything down but alas went home empty handed. Charles was a legend at 2nd string. His opponent made the mistake of thinking that Charles couldn't cope with rallyingy and was then submitted to a barrage of boasts then he just couldn't deal with. Charles took the win 3-0. The match now won, Vivek went on to notch up some more points. During the warm-up his opponent was ready to quit before the match had even begun due to Vivek unleashing his 'throw everything into it' drives. Unfortunately by the time they span for service Vivek was absolutely knackered. He managed to edge out the first through a determined effort but couldn't mantain the pace and eventually lost 3-1. All said and done - a good start to the season. Well done boys. Final score 16-7.
Dan. |
posted 15 Sep 2011 09:19 by Geoff Woodcock
The new Ladies season began on Tuesday with Reading University
travelling to Basingstoke to play Bounty, who are a welcome new addition to the
Berkshire league.
Proceedings kicked off with Mandy and Lorraine playing at 3 and 4
respectively. Mandy had a hard match
against the accurate Karen, giving it her usual full energy, before losing 3-0.
Likewise, Lorraine fought hard but lost out
3-0 to Jordan,
watched by a packed spectator gallery.
Next it was the turn of numbers 1 and 2, Sophie and Jo with
all to play for. Jo survived the first game after giving away too many lets and
strokes before struggling through the second to go 2-0 up. The third was a
different story as Jo changed gear and ran out a comfortable 3-0 winner. Sophie fought hard against a fit opponent, to
also win 3-0.
So, the match was tied at 2 matches all and 6 games all.
Inevitably, the calculations were made and Bounty were deemed to be winners
79-74 on countback of points – a good start to their first season for a squad
who will be up there near the top at the end.
A valiant effort from the University against a strong team.
Bounty have strength in depth so Cathy played a friendly
against an experienced Jill and lost 3-0 after a competitive match.
Food, of a sort, followed – Lorraine thought it was tuna, Sophie thought
it was chicken, who knows!
Cathy. |
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