Melbourn won 12-2

On a warm summer evening, Melbourn 2 travelled to Letchworth to face their 2nd team in Division 4 of the Herts Summer League. The Letchworth courts were in great condition, but the heat made the ball lively and finishing rallies a real challenge.

1st String – Colm vs. Chris Saynor
Colm set the tone early, taking control from the first rallies. However, Chris’s pace and the hot court meant Colm had to work hard to close out points. Each game was fiercely contested, with the last two going all the way to tie-breaks. Despite the pressure, Colm stayed composed to seal a 3–0 win (10–15, 14–16, 16–18). He was relieved not to let it drag into a fourth, as the longer it went, the more it could have swung Chris’s way.

2nd String – Sean vs. Tan Parsons
Sean, sporting a pair of brand-new shoes fresh from the Letchworth Club shop, started brightly, dominating the first two games (8–15, 6–15). It looked like a straightforward night, but some errors in the third gave Tan a foothold and he snatched it 15–10. The fourth was a nail-biter, but Sean dug deep to edge it 14–16, securing a 3–1 victory and avoiding the dreaded fifth game.

3rd String – Moises vs. Andy Lloyd
Already in his third match of the week, Moises was brimming with confidence. The hot conditions suited him perfectly and he flew out of the blocks, winning the first two games 12–15 and 6–15. Perhaps a little too comfortable, he “fell asleep” in the third as Andy battled back to take it 15–13. Refocused, Moises powered through the fourth 8–15 to finish with a 3–1 win.

Result: Melbourn 2 win 3–0 (9–2 in games)

It was a strong performance across the board, with all three Melbourn players holding their nerve in key moments. The result keeps the team firmly in 2nd place in the table. With promotion still within reach, all eyes will be on the final fixtures of the summer.

Melbourn won 9-5

The final match of the Cambs Summer League sent Melbourn to the St. Ivo club’s newish location of One Leisure Huntingdon.

We travelled with just two players as illness meant this was yet another match played one down – the third time this has happened this summer as playing resources have proved very stretched. Despite this, we had a chance of moving up to either first or second in Cambs Summer League Division 2 (closing half), if we could win.

But that meant taking both strings, and this looked uncertain when Jan Brynjolffssen (1) lost his opening game against talented kid Kieran Weston-Favell (aged just 15, but already >2000 on Squashlevels). However, a change of approach paid dividends for Jan in the second and third as he attempted to slow the pace of the ball down, not playing a hitting game against a clean hitter, and also targeted Kieran’s backhand side. This proved effective, with the youngster’s head dropping as he let both games go once he had got a distance behind.
Jan’s aim for the fourth was “same again”. Unfortunately it was the same as the first, as he lost the patterns and Kieran’s belief came back. It could easily have been a very lopsided scoreline, but from 14-6 down Jan kept playing and dragged it back to 14-12. Then he got tight, played a more diffident rally and Kieran took advantage to power away a backhand kill to make things 2-2. However, the extra work put into Kieran’s lungs (and head) of not finishing the fourth off easily paid dividends in the fifth as Jan moved ahead early and then kept adding to it. One dead nick at 8-4 drew audible exasperation from Kieran, and when this was repeated on a length at 6-9 Jan had the momentum again, taking the next five points to wrap up a 13-15, 15-6, 15-3, 12-15, 15-6 success.

That set up Moises Estrelles Navarro (2) to play Sean Gant, with victory for either team hovering tantalisingly. The game started in messy fashion from Moises as he kept hitting it back to Sean, who sprinted into a 7-2 lead. Worrying… but better focus saw it clawed back to 8-8 and then 13-10 up to Moises. Two more errors followed by Moises, but were swiftly followed by two from Sean to end the opening game and also the realistic worries. The rest of the match was in Moises control, as he always had his nose in front. Sean remained a pest and Moises won’t be referencing this match as a massively good performance, but he always had the needed edge to wrap up a 15-12, 15-10, 15-11 win that ensured we had won 9-5 overall.

Melbourn hosted Gosling in division 2 of the Hertfordshire Summer league. 

Kicking off the tie, at string 2, Colm O'Gorman took on Mike Byrne. O'Gorman started confidently and with a lot of pace and power, dominating the game and taking points at ease and putting some distance between them on the scoreboard. However Byrne's experience began to tell as he asserted some control and forced O'Gorman into a lot more retrieving. O'Gorman hung on to take the game 15:13. O'Gorman was determined not to let his opponent repeat this  in the third, again starting with pace and going for winners when the chances presented, particularly his drops to the front corners. O'Gorman took the second with the minimum of fuss 15:7. The third was a much closer affair, O'Gorman now noticeably doing a lot more running, Byrne having found a way to gain a foothold, dictating and using boasts and drops to great effect. Byrne deservedly took it 13:15. Byrne carried on in the same vein in the fourth game, forging ahead early on and never looking like losing it, taking it 9:15 and seemingly with all the momentum, while O'Gorman was showing signs of fatigue. O'Gorman however gathered himself and changed tactics, hitting the corners and lengthening the rallies successfully and avoiding unforced errors. This gave him an early lead he would not relinquish and took the game 15:9 and the match 3:1.

On court 2, at string 3, Moises Estrelles Navarro was up against Adam Faber. The players were well matched, both with high energy and speed, and an exciting match ensued. Navarro was clinical in the first game, good shot selection and making very few errors, deservedly taking it 15:8. Role reversal in the second game, where it was Faber who made the fewer errors and introducing more drops and boasts to edge the first half, then striding ahead to take it 8:15. The third game was fiercely contested, Navarro retrieving relentlessly while Faber was drilling the ball to all corners. It was anybody's game until a mixture of brave winners and some luck shifted it in Faber's favour, him taking it 11:15 and a 1:2 lead in games. The fourth game was almost a carbon copy of the third, Faber grinding it out to take it 12:15 and the match 1:3.

The last of the three matches saw Miles Jeanneret, returning from injury against a highly fancied Dan Sadler. It was high quality squash from the off, the players matching each other stride for stride. Such was the intensity that most points were being won from errors. Neither player allowed the other to get more than 2 points ahead at any stage. Jeanneret had the opportunity to reach game point but a drop just caught the tin, handing Sadler the chance to win it, which he duly did, taking it 13:15. The second was similarly intense, long rallies and excellent retrieving by both players, the pressure being applied forcing the errors. Again, Jeanneret had the opportunities to get ahead at the right time, but again Sadler nicked it to take a 0:2 lead in games. Jeanneret knew he was playing well however and stepped it up in the third, and hitting more winners from drops and drives, trying to grind his opponent down, and crusing to a 15:4 win. This may have taken more out of Jeanneret than intended, and in the context of him coming back from injury, it may explain a fall off in the fourth game, which Sadler took with ease 5:15 and the match 1:3.