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.