Melbourn won 17-4

Once again the 1sts came up against an opposition suffering from a player shortage, and once again they ruthlessly took advantage to secure a big win that moves the side further into the safe mid-table section of Division 1.

Melbourn started a string up after Swavesey had to forfeit the fifth string, which meant that Mike Herd (3) vs Arran Smith and Miles Jeanerret (4) against Tony Gardner were the first matches on court.
Miles shaded his opening game but then stepped things up in the second to win it 11-6 and build a 2-0 lead. A bit of a time-out followed in game three (3-11) but this was merely a pause as the fourth went Miles way to complete an 11-9, 11-6, 3-11, 11-7 win.
Meanwhile Mike was struggling against the smooth play of 20-something Arran, who glides around the court at high pace. A match of nice rallies ensued, with just one problem from Mike’s perspective – Arran won 3/5ths of them! It all added up to an 8-11, 6-11, 7-11 defeat as Swavesey got on the board.

That meant the 1s needed one of the top two strings to claim victory on the night. As it transpired they would take both as Matt Sampson (1) and Vinod Duraikan (2) both proved too strong for Tom Wight and Michael Faulkner respectively.
Both Melbourn players were in hot form on the night as their opponents were no mugs. However Matt barely let Tom win a point as he rattled through 11-5, 11-2, 11-3, whilst Vinod started just as ruthlessly (11-2) before Michael got a little more into things. But not enough as Vinod won 11-2, 11-7, 11-9.

It all added up to a 17-4 win, which was just enough for the 1sts to leapfrog Swavesey in the Division 1 table – the boys sit sixth at Christmas with a 3-5 record to total 84 points from their 8 games. Swavesey have 82 and Cambridge 76, with somewhat out-of-their-depth Spalding bottom with just 32 points to their name.

Melbourn won 15-7

After four straight defeats the 2nds really needed a win to go into the Christmas break on a positive note – the early season optimism that saw us top after three, four, five weeks had long since gone up in smoke after a string of losses.

First up to try and reverse the trend were the Family Bradshaw – teenager Will on Court 2 against Will Stuart Jones, whilst Mum Kate took on George Montgomery on Court 1.

Going with Will vs Will first, the game quickly became something of a hitting contest as each Will tried to show the great will to win by attempting to out-muscle each other. To be fair to Stamford’s Will this was playing to his strengths… and our own Will is now hitting the ball much heavier – he has always had a really clean ball strike and now adult muscle is building up its leading to some seriously powerful strokes. That said, it wasn’t necessarily the right game plan in this one as the low, fast and furious suited WSJ better than WB, who has subtlety, variation and disguise in his locker that we just didn’t have much chance to see in the frenetic rallies. This lead to two intense and fund games going Stamford’s way, which looked like being three as WSJ built a 14-12 lead. However here we got something new from our Will – Iron Will. Pure determination saw him chase down every single ball to save both match balls, winning the first with a ridiculous full extension cross court drop shot flick and the second with a similarly sinew stretching effort. A bit of a lucky mishit drop nicely to earn WB a game ball, which prompted another rally of flying around the court chasing everything… and another superb no-look cross drop flick to claim an unlikely game.
Will’s reaction afterwards was “I’ve got this – I know how to beat him”. Unfortunately WSJ was also regrouping and in game four he didn’t let WB off-the-hook. However, despite the overall 12-15, 11-15, 16-14, 10-15 loss it was a really good performance from Will up against, as he discovered post-match, an 1800 player on SquashLevels. His own ‘level’ of ~400 is clearly massively out-of-date: he is more like a 1500 player these days an on a rapid upwards curve… if he keeps finding himself some time on the (Squash) court in a busy old life.
And what of Mum? Well, game one saw Kate in a bit of the Men’s team match Kate mode of forcing to make things happen a bit too hard and making mistakes. Dropping from behind with your opponent set might work against some of the rest of the Melbourn 2nds players in practice drills, but on a match night, with players on their toes, it’s less effective. George won the opener. However there were flashes from Kate when she got George deep first, stepped up the court and then took the drop shots on early, taking George’s time away. Game two saw rather more of this, and very few errors. Kate with very few errors is pretty deadly. It was 1-1.
George came back though in game three, building himself a lead that he kept edging out to be 10-6 up. A significant advantage in PAR-15, but not a decisive one. What it prompted from Kate was superb – focused, determined, no errors Squash, playing with more depth and patience and grinding her way back into contention. She got it all square at 13-all and then 14-all, and then found the two winners she needed to claim the tie-break to go 2-1 up.
The effect of the third game on George was clear in the gap to game four, which he mostly spent sitting slumped against the sidewall with a 100-yard stare. How had game three got away? He appeared mentally shot, something Kate was not helping with as she went pinpoint accurate from the get-go of game four. She built an unassailable lead, which survived a bit wobble on the cusp of victory looking for the rapid exit to wrap up a superb 12-15, 15-12, 16-14, 15-10 win.

Kate’s win was the bit one as the next two matches on court, Gareth Jones (3) vs Rich Barker and Matt Walker (4) against Ian Ball, were ones that the Melbourn players looked significantly the stronger in from the very first rallies.
Gareth raced away with game one of his match, rushing Rich for time as he rattled into a 7-1 lead and then cruised through the rest. A similarly good start had Gareth well up in the second, holding 4-1, 9-5 and 13-8 advantages. It was almost too easy… which can be a downfall where Gareth is concerned. A silly error on the 13-8 point where an inexplicable shot attempt ended up at the bottom of tin (Gareth said afterwards it was an attempted trickle-boast… could have fooled me) seemed to send him for a loop. One point against rapidly became six in a row as Gareth bizarrely found himself game-ball down at 14-13. However, here it was Rich’s turn to make a completely unforced error, which absolutely let Gareth off the hook. Two solid rallies later, no extravagances any more, and it was two games to love, and one strong run of “keep it simple” form later in the third and Gareth had wrapped up a 15-6, 16-14, 15-7 victory.
Menwhile, next door, so very, very similar. It took Matt his usual few rallies to get his game going (cut-out touch is not a tap you can just turn on and off) but from 5-3 down a run of two points gained for every one dropped built a 14-10 lead. It took Matt a couple of goes to get over the line, but once there he was sitting pretty. Especially when he did much the same in the second, pushing Ian deep and cutting lofted defences off at the knees for those deadly front-corner kills. Once again a late game wobble with the line in sight made the score closer than the game itself had been (14-10 got back to 14-13 this time before the coupe de grace), but having established a two game lead Matt was not letting off. Game three finally saw him play all three segments, start, middle and end, well. And that wrapped up a 15-12, 15-13, 15-3 win.

Gareth and Matt would expect to beat the opponents they faced. Kate was far from certain of beating George (indeed their Squashlevels pre-match were nearly identical, with George fractionally higher). How important was Kate’s win? Very, given Jan Brynjolffssen (2) found himself completely discombobulated by Dave Spooner. Jan was just not able to get Dave under enough pressure at the start of rallies, which allowed the Stamford player to do his wait-and-play-it-the-other-way trick. Kryptonite for Jan’s movement, which relies on anticipation to mask being slightly stiff and slow over the deck. But here, instead of being on the ball he was repeatedly charging like a fire engine racing to the wrong fire [old skool Football quote, bonus points for anyone who knows what the originally referred too]. Twisting and turning to adjust, Jan could often get his racket head to it but did so with no weight behind the shot. Cue weak and skewed efforts that Dave could put away. Sheer intensity saw Jan battle his way to 14-all in the second, but when two mistakes in a row threw that situation away the way back was too much to contemplate and Jan lost 9-15, 14-16, 11-15.

However, those earlier wins for Kate, Gareth and Matt, plus a game bagged by Will added up to a 15-7 win overall that ended the 2nds losing run and saw us move a bit further above Division 3’s bottom four sides. We will spend Christmas fifth in the table, which is exactly where you would expect a team with 4 wins and 4 defeats to be in a 9-team league!

Melbourn lost 20-2

The long trip to Stamford proved a tricky one for the 1sts, especially as we made the trip with a team missing it’s regular #1 and #2.

The meant call-ups from the 2nds for Kate Bradshaw (4) and Jan Brynjolffssen (5), both playing their first Division 1 match for a while. It came as a shock to the system for both. Kate came into her one against Jon Hand feeling she was in good nick after claiming a Masters Series title the previous weekend, but Jon was not in the mood to let Kate settle as he kept all rhythm out of the match – the sign of a good match player. Kate began to force in response, and produced a number of tins. She lost 7-11, 3-11, 3-11.

Jan’s match against Simon Morris was almost as quick. The first game saw the visiting player looking and feeling nervous, and so sitting too deep. This gave Simon too much space to pop the ball into in the front court. The second was better as Jan dragged his position forwards and began to play some rallies from the ‘T’, and also get back more of Simon’s flicky shots. But even so, a lift in performance from the Stamford player from mid-game took him home. The third was a similar story, with a rubbish start from Jan thrown in to gift away the first three points – not clever in PAR-11. He fought back to be level at 6-6, but once again Simon stepped up a gear as Jan lost 4-11, 7-11, 7-11.

Things were closer for Miles Jeanneret (3) against Michael Catling… because the rallies were rather longer. Miles was on the back foot too much though, relying on his movement and retrieving. Which is a strength, but not a strong enough strength to undermine Michael’s patient attacks. All it was doing was tiring Miles out. He looked a bit lost for ideas at the end of the second, but encouragement to step higher up the court worked to build a lead in the third. However, here the tiredness kicked in as Miles ran out of steam to lose 7-11, 4-11, 9-11.

Next to start was Mike Herd (2), who was taking on Neil Steadman. This, finally, was a very close game with some nip-and-tuck points. Neil is a powerful player, but Mike was chasing and stretching well to neutralise that, and then making the most of his own opportunities. He was having particular joy when he pinned Neil into a back corner, and then moved up to counter-punch away the response – Squash is essentially the same at every level, isn’t it?? The match ebbed backwards and forewards, Neil claiming the first on a tie-break and then the second nearly as narrowly. Mike really found his mojo in the third and looked to have the upper hand as Neil tired, but some tight boasts and counter-attacks from the home player got him over the line in the as Mike went down 10-12, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11.

The top string match was also a tight one as Vinod Duraikan (1), a Masters Tour regular, took on Eden Spooner, a teenager. Eden’s ability to fly around the court took him to the opening game, but Vinod was merely warming up at this stage. Calm and rapid movement, allied with careful watching of the ball neutralised the youngsters variations and no-look shots in game two as Vinod edged it in a tie-break. The pattern for the match was now set… but with things so close it could turn on one unlucky bounce or slightly mistimed ball. The next two were also decided by narrowest possible margin, but they both went Eden’s way as Vinod lost 5-11, 12-10, 9-11, 9-11.

Melbourn lost 8-17

The 2nds made the short trip to Comberton looking to break our losing run – three wins on the bounce to start the season had been followed by three losses in a row as early promise faded.

First on court were the 2nd and 4th strings – this was so skipper Colm could play and then take son Girvan home. Playing with a 7 year-old on the balcony can be distracting but Colm is used to it now and he maintained his focus against Stuart Elms impressively, his retrieving keeping the home player under pressure without simple plays to end the rallies. Colm’s constant pressure resulted in a 15-12, 15-8, 15-9 win.

As this was underway Matt Walker (3) was playing Jez Cotton next door. Jez is an extremely clever player (some might say “highly annoying”) who keeps rallies short with an array of angles and holds. He has won loads of games over the years against players he arguably had not right to beat. A great match player. He outplayed Matt for a game, but Matt found his rhythm in the second as he cramped Jez’s space, pulling out more defensive efforts as a result and allowing control of the front corners for kills. 1-1.
However, clever players adapt. This is what Jez did. One tactic can’t work for ever, or one style of play – it needs constant change of plans. And that is really trying. Matt attempted it, but he also got frustrated as plays that had worked in game three were no longer doing so. The extra pressure put on himself didn’t help as Matt fell increasingly further behind to lose 11-15, 15-9, 8-15, 5-15.

Next up was James Storer (5) and Tom Snaith. This was James’ first match of the season for the teams and he took a while to find his feet in game one, by which time it was running away from him. That gave Tom confidence… and Tom Snaith with confidence is a very difficult beast to handle. The way to play him is to be on the ‘T’, forcing him deep and making him chase. If Tom can hold the front position and make you do that, you have to be very, very fast to counter it. James is decently quick… but only decently. This meant he slipped further and further behind in rallies until Tom was able to kill. It was a good game, but one-way traffic overall as James lost 8-15, 9-15, 7-15.

That game had gone on the normal court (no.2) with the glassback (no.3) taken instead by Moises Estrelles Navarro (4) and Richard Anthony.  This proved an inspired choice as this match was the most dramatic of the evening by a distance. That didn’t seem likely when Richard breezed through the first game as he hung deep and Moises kept pumping the ball back to him. Telling Moises to drop shot is music to his ears – especially when he is generally told to play to his strengths instead. But no, this time, the call was “go in short”. This nearly worked in a tight second until critical errors at the end proved Moises undoing, but buoyed by the effort he got Moises his nose in front in the third. Richard, clearly blowing, pushed as hard as possible but Moises pulled off an unlikely kill to lead 14-13 and then the rally of the night, which went to every corner, ended with Richard making a desperation dive to retrieve a short ball… and Moises following suit to pick the counter up and take the back. Thunderous cheers, both players on the deck, game on.
The fourth saw Moises start well, and from 9-3 it was clear Richard was taking a breather – he was clearly struggling with the amount of balls our pinball Spaniard gets back. That sent it to a decider, when Richard came out again. Once again it was nip-and-tuck until, at a critical time, Moises faltered to end up on the wrong end of a 5-15, 12-15, 15-13, 15-6, 12-15 scoreline.

The last game on started with Melbourn already 3-1 down on strings, so Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was playing just for consolation points against 17 year-old Isaac Broughton. And for a probable last win against the kid, as the two players trend in opposite directions.
Game one was nip and tuck, with Jan edging ahead at the death to claim it narrowly. He had benefitted from errors from Isaac at key times, and did so rather more in game two as the youngster went all-out attack and made a string of errors. With the Comberton players head down, the worst thing Jan could do was made his own succession of errors… but that is precisely what he did as he suddenly found himself trailing 0-7 at the start of the third. Concentrating on playing line-and-length stabilised things, but only that, not reversing them. Now it was 2-1 and game on.
The opening stages of game four saw both players playing in conservative mode. This led to it’s obvious conclusion in a rally where neither went for a kill, instead chipping down the backhand wall for 50 shots. Eventually Isaac broke, went for it… and tinned it. But he learned his lesson from that, continuing to grind with Jan tiring as again, from 8-all, he contrived to lose a string of 7 straight points.
That meant we were into a decider. The momentum was with Isaac and no matter what Jan tried he was unable to hold back the tide. He kept clinging on, but always a point or two adrift to eventually fall to a 15-12, 15-6, 8-15, 8-15, 12-15 loss. And a lot of regrets about how he started game three…

Melbourn won 20-0

A key match for the 1sts turned out to be a cakewalk as they overwhelmed an understrength Spalding team 20-0.

The home side had earned back-to-back promotions to go from Division 3 to Division 1. Which is impressive as the gap in standard between 3 and 2 is quite big. But the gap between 2 and 1 is even bigger, and they may be wondering if it was really worth it – they had won once against a somewhat disorganised Cambridge Uni team, but other than that heavy defeats have been the norm. And that was with a full side; against our boys they only had 4, and even harder it was their usual 2nd string who was unavailable.

This meant Mark Oppen’s side started the evening a string up, with the skipper himself soon adding to that with a 3-0 win over Charlie Farrow at 4th string. Games 1 and 3 were comfortable, game 2 was as close as Melbourn came to losing one all evening (11-4, 15-13, 11-4 to Mark). A good way to sign off before an inordinately long (5 week!) business trip to India.

Miles Jeanneret (3) also rattled up a 3-0 win, beating Daniel Deprez going away 11-7, 11-6, 11-4 to mean the 1sts had the win on the evening at barely 8pm. Quick wins for Matt Sampson (1) over Scott Chuter (11-2, 11-9, 11-3) and Vinod Duraikan (2) over Gary Slator (11-5, 11-4, 11-5) followed to wrap up a perfect night for the visitors. They were even home from their longest away game of the season well before midnight.

20 points shot the side a number of spots up the table, but most importantly moved them well ahead of struggling Spalding. Hopefully no relegation play-off this season…

Appetiser – Thai green curry and rice
Biscuits – ample, and varied, with a number of restocks
Butter – in those little packets
Cheese options – a strong cheddar, and a soft blue. Soft blue in particular was very nice. Was it that Welsh one? [Ed – Perl Lâs]
Port – Yes. Of course. I’d like to tell you which one from just the taste, but I ain’t a connoisseur.
Melbourn players on the port – 5 played, 4 drivers (3 went direct), 4 at teas… and 4 drinking. Hmm.

Oh, and the Squash? Well Melbourn lost 5-18.

You want more detail than that on actually sport?? Picky, picky…

OK, so Kate Bradshaw (1) was first on court as she had her daughter with her and needed to scoot after playing. Charlotte may even have looked up from her device to cheer her Mum on once or twice… This was Kate’s first match for the teams this season as she has been out for a long while with a wrist injury. She had returned to Masters Tour play, defending her crown in the West of England regional in Cheltenham the previous weekend (her 4th Masters Series title) dropping just one game along the way, and had played well – Kate felt she was in good nick.
However, form can fluctuate a lot on the comeback trail and this is what happened as Kate was not on it against Sean Broderick, making a number of mistakes trying to force her attacks in. Sean put her under considerable pressure it should be noted (he is a fine player at Div.3 level and rarely loses) so these were unforced errors of the ‘forced unforced’ variety. Still Kate came off court disappointed with herself after a 9-15, 8-15, 8-15 defeat.

On the next door court Moises Estrelles Navarro (5) was taking on Marcus Lattimer. This was anything but a contrast in styles as both are hard running… but a bit loose. This makes for a frenetic game, sometimes verging on the chaotic. The player who could best imposed order on the match was going to win and in this case it was Marcus as he put the ball away cleanly whilst Moises touch had deserted him. He also struggled with the length as it died into the back corners of the court, preventing him counter-attacking. Greater patience in trying to turn rallies around and get in front was the answer and this nearly worked in game 2, but once that had escaped the road back looked too long and Moises lost 7-15, 13-15, 7-15.

Moises was followed on court by Gareth Jones (3), who was always going to have his work cut out against Paul Goodwin, as the Hunts player is annoyingly clever. Paul’s counter-punch style was precisely what Gareth could least cope with as his attacks from deep were reached and a countered with hold drops and boasts. That exposed Gareth’s movement. Unable to dictate Gareth instead tried to play the sort of patient defensive game that is his best Squash… but only when he is on hot form. One of those things that when it works, its brilliant, but when it doesn’t it looks really rubbish. Here today he was under too much pressure, and this led to shots popping out and chances snatched at (or rather stabbed at). This all contributed to a 12-15, 9-15, 10-15 defeat.

Matt Walker (4) had actually started his match against Kevin Hewitt before Gareth, but this one finished somewhat later so the evening was already tipped in Hunts favour before it’s conclusion. This was the case as it went the distance. This hadn’t looked likely as Matt cruised through the opening game, controlling matters, forcing Kevin back and closing off rallies with apparent ease. However Matt was thrown early in the second game by an incident when he dragged a forehand from the back corner and smacked the ball into Kevin’s head. Unfortunate, with both players making misjudgements to allow it to happen (the line of Matt’s shot wasn’t as he intended… and Kevin was arguably too close to planned line for safety), but a nasty moment that led to a pause in proceedings as Kevin waited for the ringing in his ears to subside. Once play got back underway Matt’s rhythm was off as he was clearly worried about a repeat and this in turn harmed his timing, mistakes seeing game two escape.
A chance to regroup between games saw Matt re-find his game one form to control the ‘T’ and force Kevin into chases he wasn’t going to make. This saw Matt move two games to one up. He seemed comfortable again, but this once again presaged a loss of focus to make things two games all. Matt looked like losing when more errors saw him fall 9-4 behind in the decider, only for determination to take over as he clawed and scrambled his way back. All the way to 14-all… followed by losing the next to rallies to lose anyway! D’Oh… or words to that effect. Games scores (Matt first) were 15-9, 12-15, 15-12, 12-15, 14-16.

That was two points in the bag ahead of the last match of the night which pitted Jan Brynjolffssen (2) against Emily Fuller. Jan started this by being too careful, looking to play nice Squash rather than effectively. Emily was moving well and dictacting matters, suckering Jan into front corners and then moving up behind her shots to counter-punch away Jan’s attempted cross court responses. This led to Emily building a 10-2 lead at which point Jan told himself to play lower, harder and just with greater intensity. Four quick points brought the game back to competitiveness at 10-6 and Emily started to get nervous, making errors trying to force the game instead of her previous game plan. This allowed Jan to complete a comeback and lead 1-0. Great. Now don’t do it again, OK? Not listening, 7-2 down in game two before a near reprise. The end of the game was pretty nervy before Jan claimed it on a breaker to go 2-0 up.
If Jan hoped Emily’s head would drop he was to be disabused as once again she came out flying in the third. This time, from 7-2 down, Jan was able to tag along but never quite get on Emily’s heels. She won the game and the match was back live again. The fourth finally saw Jan start a game decently, with points traded. He saved his time out spell for the mid-game instead as 6-all dwindled to 12-8 down. However, from here, Jan played some of his best Squash of the match, keeping the ball tight and wide as he ground his way back to 13-12 up. Emily made things interesting by winning the next point and then flew around the court to defend her position as Jan attacked and attacked and attacked at 13-all. He eventually won the point thanks to an all-out backhand overhead kill – the time on the Badminton court has value after all! Match ball, then. And another drawn out rally with Jan probing for the kill until he finally found a length that Emily could only pop short to allow a drop shot that clung to the wall and wasn’t retrieved which completed a 15-12, 16-14, 11-15, 15-13 win.

5-18 on the night was somehow enough to keep us second in the table, albeit now a long way behind leaders Hunts. And likely to slip some places when the other teams catch up with the 6 games we have played to date. We need to win one again soon, really…

Melbourn lost 8-16

The 1sts picked up useful points despite falling to a 16-8 defeat against Cambridgeshire League Division 1 leaders Towers 1sts in this match.

Melbourn won two of the five strings, claiming those at the top of the order as Matt Sampson (1) edged his match against Steven Davies 3-2, and Chris Shaw playing at a very high level to win 3-0 against Steve Evans.

Towers wins came in strings three to five as Vinod Duraikan (3) was beaten 3-0 by Ben Mann, who proved to be a strong and very fit opponent, whilst skipper Mark Oppen (5) fell two games down to Jake Joyce and was then forced to retire hurt. Mike Herd (4) came the closest of Melbourn’s lower order to securing a win as he was beaten by 3-2 by Matthew Towers in a nailbiter.

The side has now picked up 33 points from their three games played this season, which has them 7th in the table.

Melbourn lost 9-15

The 1sts were edged out by three strings to two in their Division 1 clash with Cambridge University 1sts, which had been re-arranged to half-term week to fall within term time.

The match was a see-saw encounter, with Mark Oppen’s match at fifth string being it in microcosm. Mark opened up a two-games-to-love lead, but then saw this gradually whittled away by Callum Harvey as he lost 3-2. Miles Jeanneret (4) won his opening game after a very extended tie-break with Ellie White, but this proved a false dawn as the next three escaped him to go down 3-1.

We fought back with wins at second and third string as Chris Shaw (2) continued his excellent form this year to beat Raphie Reeves 3-1, critically claiming the 4th on a tie-breaker – Chris remains on a 100% winning record this campaign as a consequence – whilst Vinod Duraikan (3) won clutch points in his second and third games (12-10, 11-9) to close out a 3-0 victory over Kan Weng Yean.

That sent the match to the top strings, but here (for the second week in a row!) Matt Sampson (1) was matched against a young aspiring pro, Sampson losing 3-0 to Prithvi Singh as the students claimed an overall 15-9 win.

Melbourn lost 6-20

On the back of our first defeat of the season the week before the 2nds welcomed the Uni 2nds to the club, hoping to bounce straight back to winning ways (reader: we didn’t manage!).
First on was teenager Will Bradshaw (5), making a welcome seasonal debut for us as he took on Shashank Bhandari. Will was the only Melbourn player to have youth on his side, but this initially manifested itself as impatience with everything an attempted kill. This didn’t work and lead to the rapid loss of the opening game. Between game chat provided a confidence boost for Will (“Yes, you can beat this guy… you just need to work the rallies for it!”) and this lead to three much better games to follow – that many as Will won the middle one of them… but only three as Shashank took the other two. Game three showed all the signs that Will’s breakthrough win in adult Squash is really only just around the corner as he chased hard, created openings and kept rallies alive until his opponent made mistakes. If he can start like that next time he may improve on the 5-15, 12-15, 15-12, 11-15 outcome.

Next door Jamie Ware (4) was taking on Ollie Norton. This started extremely well for Jamie as his hard chasing was getting under Ollie’s skin, leading to errors from the Cambridge players racket. That gave Jamie a comfortable win in the opening game… but when he came off the intensity for the next two Ollie was ready to take advantage to win the next two. What Jamie needed was to build and work the rally, keeping the ball deep to draw errors. An effective but exhausting way to play. He managed this for the rest of the match, but come the fifth (which he forced by winning the fourth) Ollie knew he no longer needed to hold anything back and that was enough to send Jamie to a narrow 15-7, 9-15, 8-15, 15-12, 11-15 loss.

The third match to get underway pitted Matt Walker (3) against Peter Brealey. This was something of a contrast of styles as Matt attempted to deploy his usual pattern of deep drives and then stepping in for volley drop kills, whilst Peter was more about defending and trying to force an error from an opponent who was over-extending to end things. Which approach would come out on top? Well, for most of game 1 the answer appeared to be “neither” as this ran and ran. Peter had the first two games balls at 14-12 but Matt saved them with clutch rallies, then forced one of his own… which Peter neatly saved. Back and forth it went until Matt eventually claimed it on his sixth game ball as he forced a forehand error on the stretch from his opponent. Buoyed by this Matt opened up an initial lead in the second, but from 6-3 up he rather lost his way as Peter’s approach began to pay dividends – errors lead to 11 points out of 14 against and despite some late resistance it was 1-1. But Matt wasn’t done as game three saw him back in nip-and-tuck exchanges. Peter was mostly a nose ahead through most of it, but some key points won at the death saw Matt get to game ball first at 14-13… which he didn’t convert. Peter then had two chances which he, in turn, failed to make the most of with Matt instead claiming his second tie-breaker game.
Great, but Matt now looked exhausted – well he was giving 30 years to his opponent! With feet no longer moving as swiftly he fell well behind in game four. Grit came out to make Peter sweat towards the end, but we had gone the distance. This one looked to be flying away from Matt in similar fashion as Peter powered to 11-5 up, but grit is an important quality on a Squash court and this came to Matt’s aid as he won 6 of the next 7 points to level things up at 12-all. Well over an hour and we were in a best of five-point match! Sadly for Matt this all went against him sending him to an exhausting and deflating 21-19, 11-15, 18-16, 11-15, 12-15 loss.

The second string encounter pitted Gareth Jones against Oliver Johnson. Or rather Oliver was on the same court at the same time as Gareth played his usual greatest foe – himself. Bad Gareth was on show in the opening phases as he produced a string of early errors to fall 10-2 down. This was followed, as is customary, by the polar opposite string of thunderous winners as Gareth came roaring back to 11-12. Having worked his way back, actually by playing some more patient Squash to set the winners up, Gareth once again went for broke… and promptly lost the next three points! This obviously hurt as game two escaped in the blink of an eye, but game three was where it was at instead as Good Gareth came out firing at the start of it. A 10-3 lead ought to end up in a game win, and it did despite quite a few game points flitting away before the final winner was smacked on the forehand. Now the momentum was with Gareth, and he rode it to start the fourth with a 6-3 lead… and then, sadly, got comfortable and started trying to enjoy himself. Big mistake. Just three more points were claimed thereafter as he lost 11-15, 5-15, 15-12, 9-15.

A long evening of Squash meant that Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and Adam Brass only got on court well after 9pm. This seemed to throw Jan off as his crispness of shot was missing and his movement also seemed under its usual pace, with Adam taking advantage of both elements with a string of boast winners. The first two games rattled past rather quickly, but Jan finally settled in game three and began to bring out some of his better play to make it a much more competitive encounter. The lead swapped hands repeatedly until we got to 13-all, where Jan had a clear chance to put a backhand drop away to get to game ball… and tinned it! He saved the first match ball, promptly handed Adam another with a second snatched attempt at a clear chance, saved that one as well but ran out of time as Adam then put together two clean rallies from 15-all to close things out. Jan lost 8-15, 7-15, 15-17.

Melbourn lost 3-18

The 1sts fell to a heavy 18-3 defeat away at St. Ivo 1sts in their latest Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1 match.

Injury and player unavailability meant a call up from the 2nds for Gareth Jones (5), for his first ever top Division match. He started well, taking the opening game to a tie-break, but after this went against him the flow was all in the wrong direction, Jones losing 3-0 to Johnny Nelmes. Miles Jeanneret (4) also fell 3-0, losing to Marco Pita in his case, but Mike Herd (3) gave the side some hope with an accomplished 3-1 win over Harry Aldridge, powering away after the opening two games were shared.

That was as close as the 1sts would get though as both Matt Sampson (1) and Vinod Duraikan (2) found themselves out-matched, Matt against teenager Diego Pita and Vinod versus John Dewis, both being beaten in straight games.

Melbourn 2 (9) vs Newmarket 1 (15)

After a strong start to their Cambs Division 3 winter season, with three consecutive wins, Melbourn 2 hosted Newmarket 1 for their most demanding fixture yet. With all of their core players available, Melbourn made a good start in the early stages of matches at strings 4 and 5. Moises Estrelles' trademark energy and retrieving saw him go two games up, before narrowly conceding the 3rd by 15-13. On the other court, Matt Walker took the first game before being pegged back to one game all. He recovered composure to win the 3rd game, however, and took the match 3-1 with a comfortable 4th. Meanwhile, Moises was finding the courtcraft of his opponent increasingly difficult to counter and ultimately the greater matchplay experience told in a tight 3-2 loss.

At strings 2 and 3, a couple of differing storylines were playing out. Colm O'Gorman at 3 played with poise, control and some beautifully deft touches to nullify the power of his opposite number, who cut an increasingly frustrated figure. The pattern was set in game 1 and was put on repeat for the remaining games for a convincing 3-0 victory. Meanwhile, Gareth Jones at 2 was engaged in a close-fought battle with honours even after the first two games. The third game followed in similar vein, decided in favour of the visitors but only after the two players swapped game points on multiple occasions. In the 4th game, consistency and error count went against the Melbourn player and, inspite of some eye-catching winners, the string went to Newmarket by 3-1.

All of which left the decisive rubber in the hands of Jan Brynjolffssen at the top of the order. Playing against a nemesis of old with soft hands, fleet feet and a determination to find early winners wherever possible, he was soon one and then two games down. In the third, however, he found his form and the lead changed hands almost by the point. It was nip and tuck all the way, and it was only by the minimum of 2 points that the final game slipped agonisingly out of reach. So, a first defeat of the season for the hitherto table-topping team, but with heads high and a valuable clutch of points.

Melbourn won 15-10

The 1sts picked up an excellent 15-10 win at Cambridge 1sts in their Cambridgeshire Division 1 clash in a match that turned on its head midway through.

The home side picked up the bottom two strings as Mark Oppen (5) was beaten 3-1 Jamish Mackenzie, Mark’s sole game coming via a tie-breaker in the third (9-11, 9-11, 13-11, 5-11), and Mike Herd (4) was overwhelmed by both the foot speed and shot pace of former Cambridge Uni player Patrick Stewart to lose 6-11 4-11, 7-11.

Vinod Duraikan (3) played what proved the critical string against Cameron Gibb, in an encounter that see-sawed throughout. The opening four games were all close, with never more than three points in it, and were shared equally. Duraikan then seemed on the point of defeat though when facing three successive match balls at 7-10 in the decider, only for him to play beautifully controlled Squash to save them all, and then carried it forward to turn things completely on their head and claim the game 12-10 and victory 3-2 (11-9, 9-11, 9-11, 11-8, 12-10).

That set up Melbourn for their comeback, Chris Shaw (2) recovering from losing his opening game to Grant Bryant storm back and win 3-1 (7-11, 12-10, 11-6, 11-8) and Matt Sampson (1) gritting out a 3-1 win over Ali Dawson in a fast-paced match. Matt deep keep his teammates on tenterhooks by allowing six match balls to go past from 10-4 in the fourth, only to dig in and win the next two points to still complete the 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 12-10 win in four anyway!

Melbourn won 17-7

The seconds were looking to continue their highly encouraging and very positive start to the season (38 points out of 40) when they hosted Newmarket 2nds in week 3.

The first match to get underway featured a debut for Melbourn as we welcomed Hayley Green (5) to the fold. Hayley has joined us after moving to the area, but also after a spell out injured. She has played some matches internally and been to training and looked handy. Unfortunately it turned out that back-to-back days (our Team practice sessions are on Sundays) was too much for her achilles to handle – it turned out afterwards that she had seriously considered texting skipper Colm to drop out. It was immediately apparent why; Hayley, when fit, moves really well but on this evening she simply didn’t trust her body not to betray her, so couldn’t take off after the ball.
This left the front court wide open for opponent, Daniel Overett, to attack – he just needed to hang in long enough to chop one short and the point was his. Hayley showed flashes of what she is capable of with some nice kills (one hammered into the front backhand nick was particular wistful in a what-might-have-been sense), but without being able to chase forward she went down 6-15, 3-15, 9-15. Hopefully a physio can sort the problem out as, with her movement back in place, Hayley would be a very useful player to add to our squad.

Maybe Hayley should have a chat with Matt Walker (4)? Why, well Matt was away from the sport for pushing three years due to persistent injuries at one stage fairly recently, but now appears to be over it all and right back in the swing. His preferred pattern for push his opponent deep, and then pounce on the lifted response to volley-drop it away was too much for Gary Last to handle, resulting in a swift win with just one brief wobble. That came in game 1 when Matt’s fast start (first six rallies claimed to lead 6-0) slowly dwindle to the point where he trailed 11-12. However a refocused effort took the next four rallies, and that proved to be the last really stressful point of the match – Matt established 11-2 leads in each of the next two games, closing them out comfortably (not quite equally so, but still each comfortably) to win 15-12, 15-9, 15-3.

The third string brought a contest that has happened a number of times in recent seasons: Colm O’Gorman vs Oliver Pynn. Oliver led the head-to-head 2-1 going in, but this one was going comfortably Colm’s way from the very outset as he cruised into a 5-1 lead in the opening game and kept the hammer down until it’s conclusion. Oliver was looking to extend the rallies and use his fitness, but Colm was picking him off by taking the ball early and wrong-footing – his prime tactic. This also worked for the first half of game two, until Olly found an extra gear and came back to make things tense at 13-all. However, a couple of ill-timed errors from the Newmarket player let Colm off the hook, and that was really that as a run of 7 straight rallies from 6-4 in game 3 established a 13-4 advantage. That was never going to be squandered, Colm coming through 15-7, 15-13, 15-7.

That put us two strings to one up. Could Gareth Jones (2) seal the deal? To quote Douglas Adams, “Stress and nervous tension are now serious social problems in all parts of the Galaxy, and it is in order that this situation should not be in any way exacerbated that the following facts will now be revealed in advance…” then some stuff about planet Magrathea and a sperm whale and a bowl of petunias in an unsuitable situation. Well, Gareth games have tension and stress in abundance, so, Reader, for your good health, we will state now that he won this 3-2. So yes, he DID seal the deal.
How did this happen? In typical Gareth fashion, really. Stunning winners. Bizarre mistakes. Kills suddenly exploding from deep positions. Drops and volleys that dribble off the racket face and bounce at his feet. To quote the man himself “A bunch of errors”. There was also a fair amount of “debate” from both Gareth and opponent Wayne Bamforth with marker Hayley, who sadly did not have an enjoyable re-introduction to Cambs County League Squash. One can only say “Fellas, really?? Is it that important?” Anyway…
Anyway, the scores. Good Gareth edged out Bad Gareth in games one, three and five as the Gareth gestalt won 15-13, 13-15, 15-10, 11-15, 15-11.

That meant Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was only playing for gravy points against Graham Clark, though neither player knew this in game one. That went decisively Jan’s way, as he kept Graham back and was able to drop away nearly at will. Feeling confident (cocky?) Jan attempted to repeat in game two and lost his way completely. He found himself 6-4 down, then 10-6, then 14-7. At this point, though, Jan rediscovered his tighter widths from game one, at the same time as Graham eased off. One game point was saved, then two, then three… and then it was 14-all, with seven straight staved off. Jan to power through and win it, right? Well, no, because what should have been a backhand kill at 14-all was dragged back at his own ankles to give away a stroke, Graham snapping up the let off to finally get over the line on chance no. 8.
For quite a while this looked like being the critical moment of the match as Graham powered away with the later stages of game three to lead 2-1, and then overturned a decent start from Jan to hold three match balls at 14-11 in the fourth. However, once again, the Newmarket player got a bit conservative at the death, whilst Jan was stretching every sinew. One heart-in-mouth drop went just up at 11-14, but after that it was two solid rallies to save the conversion chances, followed by two very determined don’t-make-the-game-two-mistake-again rallies to complete the turn around.
That appeared to have broken Graham’s spirit as Jan rattled out to a 7-1 lead in the decided… only to once again get too confident as Graham put in one last push to race back to 7-all. Once again Jan had to steel himself, but a key rally won to go 8-7 up, converted with a forehand drop shot, set him on his way again and this time he maintained it to the death, winning 15-6, 14-16, 8-15, 16-14, 15-9.

Melbourn won 20-2

One match stood head and shoulders above all the others in this match, offering drama, passion, shot making, errors, tie-breakers galore, and above all, value for money (= match fee). Can you guess who it involved. Yep, right in one, it was Moises! He was at #4 on this particular evening, up against an experienced campaigner in Martyn Goodger. Martyn moves well and enjoys the front court exchanges, which doesn’t fit particularly brilliantly with the style of game Moises is trying to develop… but does work with the one he can already deliver. That is running around in deeply tenacious fashion, retrieving unlikely balls into the back court and asking the question of his opponent “can you match my physicality?” It became a case of rallies where Moises was reacting – won, rallies where he was dictating – lost. And these were evenly balanced overall.
Tenacity won game one on a breaker, trying to step it up and control things lost game two. Tenacity came back and won game three, with the help of two outrageous nicks in the breaker (what home advantage?). Game four, pushing for the finish, lost. Game five was the match in microcosm as Moises got himself in front, reached match ball at 14-11… and tried to finish things off. To another tie-break. But once again this went Moises way for a dramatic, wild 17-15, 11-15, 18-16, 11-15, 18-16 win.

As for the others, well, they all went 3-0 to the Melbourn players. Jamie Ware (5) had too much game for Kristof Kucharczyk, Jamie dictating each game and pulling clear whenever things got tight by going back to basics. He won 15-7, 15-10, 15-12. Likewise really Matt Walker (3) against Dave Mankellow, though Matt was challenged a bit harder in this one. But when the going got tough it was Matt winning the key points as he came through 15-11, 15-12, 15-11. Colm O’Gorman (2) always had an extra gear against Chris Hornby, Colm feeling well in control as he was able to run down most of Chris’ attacking shots. He won 15-8, 15-7, 15-10. And finally Jan Brynjolffssen did his best to make a meal of things against the hard hitting, hard running Daniel Osborn, letting a 12-6 lead slip away in game one (won on a breaker) and nearly doing the same with a 14-6 one in game two, but he eventually sorted himself out enough to play the solid Squash that added a 17-15, 15-11, 15-12 win to the collection.

20-2 to Melbourn overall as the seconds made it two wins from two this season.

Melbourn lost 10-17

The 1sts suffered a frustrating 17-10 defeat at Hunts County 1sts in their opening Cambridgeshire League Division 1 match of the season.

The match saw plenty of familiar faces on show – three of the home side have played for Melbourn previously – and was intensely closely contested with three of the strings going the full five games.
Mike Herd (3) claimed one of these on Melbourn’s behalf as he recovered from a 2-1 deficit against Jason Burgon [last played for Melbourn – summer 2024], though to be fair to Jason injury played a part in this as he retired ahead of the fifth. Game scores were 11-9, 6-11, 10-12, 11-9, [11-0]

The outcome wasn’t the same for either Miles Jeanneret (4) or Mark Oppen (5) vs Henry Ingram and Grant Mankee respectively, as both Melbourn players saw deciding games go against them after having forced each to five.
Miles and Henry had three really tight games to start, Miles paying in the end for winning two of them. 2-1 down, Miles threw the kitchen sink at game four, winning it impressively… but it was a pyrrhic victory as the effort involved emptied his tanks and he lost the fifth. 11-9, 10-12, 12-14, 11-2, 8-11.
Mark also had a tight one with Grant, in what is always a contrast of styles between Grant’s powerful game and Mark’s tenacious and more floaty approach. These two have met a number of times before and there is usually nothing in it. There really wasn’t again as we got five games all at 11-8 or closer. Mark was a bit underwhelmed with his performance to lose 3-2 against a player he has beaten previously, but also recognised his fitness could have been better, which might have made the tiny incremental difference to turn an 11-13, 12-10, 8-11, 11-8, 9-11 score the other way.
 
Trailing two strings to one going into the top of the order Melbourn levelled up when Vinod Duraikan beat Colin Griggs [last played for Melbourn – ages ago, possibly when he was a junior!] 3-1, Vinod gradually wearing Colin down with his shot accuracy and efficient movement (an uncomplicated game delivered well is Vinod’s route to success… and it’s a good one) to win going away 11-8, 8-11, 11-6, 11-1. However Hunts took the day when Matt Sampson (1) was outfitnessed by teenager Mumin Bilen, who recently represented Turkey at the European Team Championships and who played for Melbourn for a couple of seasons pre-pandemic. Mumin has swapped clubs a few times since – he was playing #2 for St. Ives last season – but now has the County Division 1 #1 string gig that suits him for Hunts. In terms of style Matt probably has more shots, and definitely more experience, but Mumin simply kept it steady and extended the rallies and this was enough to send Matt to a 9-11, 7-11, 5-11 defeat.

Skipper Mark commented afterwards “We were disappointed on the night not to win as we had chances to do so. But looking back on it, 10 points is a good start to our season. It is more than we got away to Hunts the last time we played them.”

Melbourn won 18-7

Feeling like it was only days after the end of the Herts Summer League (27 to be precise) the 2nds were back in action for the main course of each season – the Cambs Winter Leagues. Five player teams, two courts of Squash and a maximum of 20 points on offer. The full dish.

Our first flavour of the new banquet was a familiar one as we took on a Peterborough team who we have shared this Division with for a few seasons now. Both teams were missing some faces from previous seasons due to departures from the respective clubs, but there was still a sense of old (definitely old!) frenemies in confrontation.

The first match on would prove to be the critical one of the evening as Moises Estrelles Navarro (5) took on a new opponent, Danial Slad. Gareth’s assessment was: Effects of the first team match of the season, holiday and nerves were all on show in the first game. The energy was there but the accuracy was not, and after a frustrating start Moises was always chasing a significant deficit. No joy in the first.  Quick pep talk during the first break and things started to turn around. Still scrappy in the second but Moises came out on top and seemed to be looking more controlled. Another pep talk and a slightly more relaxed Moises was back on court and growing in confidence and accuracy. 2-1. No more pep talk needed. Moises is back! 3-1. Never in doubt (apart from when it was...).
The editor adds: Moises started ice cold, going for drop shots that weren’t tight enough, allowing Danial to run them down. He fell 10-1 behind in the opener on the back of this. Going more conservative worked, because it was playing to Moises strengths (movement, tenacity), too late to save the first 9-15, but enough to convince Moises that Dan wasn’t actually “too good” as he had claimed after the opener and Moises could work his way back to victory… but it was going to take work and running, without any shortcuts available to him to keep rallies short and easy. Once he knuckled down: 9-15, 15-10, 15-12, 15-9.

Next to start was Colm O’Gorman (3) against Carlos Corriea. Carlos was complete with his trademark golf glove, but from the outset it was Colm’s Irish tenacity that was the critical factor. His speed in chasing down Carlos’ attempts to break the game up was pressuring the Peterborough player, who was consequently trying too much and just plain getting it wrong – reader, I’ve never seen as many errors from his racquet. He is usually far more consistent than that. Colm was all for taking gift horses in the first game, keeping a constant pressure up from the outset to build an 8-2 lead and cruise through the rest.
Game two was a peach as far as Colm was concerned, and rotten to the core for Carlos as, from 0-2 down, Colm put together 13 consecutive winning rallies to set himself up for an easy convert. When Colm raced out to a 4-1 lead in game three it seemed he would just blow Carlos away. Maybe he believed his own hype because suddenly Colm went AWOL and lost 6 rallies in a row. Given how our skip was feeling the match, incredibly, was somehow in the balance again (if it had gone 2-1 it was anybody’s). However Colm seemed to completely appreciate this as he refocused determinedly and re-established the game two pattern to rattle off 10 straight points. That gave him eight match balls – he only needed two, rounding off a 15-7, 15-5, 15-8 win.

Following Moises match Matt Walker (4) against Pierre Caruso. And, well, these players have played before and it has generally gone Matt’s way. In terms of a style match-up this was excellent from Melbourn’s perspective as Pierre was looking to attack front corners from deep, which just played the ball in for Matt’s counter-punch kills. Which is his game.
The first game involved some errors on Matt’s part as he sought his range, but even so he always held the lead by at least a couple of points and usually more, getting over the line comfortably enough in the end. Pierre cut off to quick starts in both game two and three, leading the second 4-0 and the third 5-2, but these were very false dawns. Matt was now basically into his stride, forcing Pierre deep and then cutting the ball out on the drop volley – aka Walkertactics. This led to substantial runs of points as Pierre found rallies ended before he had had a chance to establish the patterns he wanted: Matt won 15-10, 15-6, 15-9.

The second match on Court 1 pitted Gareth Jones (2) against Renzo Rozza Gonzalez. This was not the ideal match up from Gareth’s point of view as Renzo’s game is to be rapid, get things back and try to be just consistent. This meant it was on the Melbourn players racquet… which doesn’t always work out well! Game one saw multiple lead changes (7 by my count) as Gareth found a rhythm and method… and then got over-ambitious and tried to play with more creativity rather than just the hard grind. However two players can make mistakes and it was a pair of critical ones from Renzo at the death that saw the game fall Melbourn’s way 15-13.
A good start. One to get the confidence up. Gareth was flying, and in full belief attempted to dominate things with an array of extravagant early kills. That meant that 3 minutes into the game he found himself 1-12 down after an array of tins. Facepalm. Renzo maintained solid consistency through this and just let Gareth get on with it. Which was sensible. Faced with the inevitable Gareth reined things back in the latter stages, getting his score up to 9 before he ran out of time. But this incomplete recovery did at least instil belief and show the method, which was called for when Gareth once again found himself trailing in game three, thought this time a more manageable 5-10 down. This prompted a spell of controlled Squash, Gareth at his best, which picked up 6 straight points to lead 11-10… and once ahead the aggressive, end-the-point-NOW Gareth re-emerged. 11-13. No. Buckle down. Grind him until he makes a mistake. This works, four straight points gained as Renzo makes the errors and Gareth was 2-1 up.
However, isn’t a style Gareth enjoys playing and as he tired he revert more-and-more to death-or-glory Squash. Foot movement ceasing, kill attempts from the back corners growing. But Renzo is a fit fella, and was still too fast over the ground for this. So the style was either being picked off on the counter drop, or resulting in errors as Gareth tried to go even tighter to avoid being picked off. And that saw things slip away to a 15-13, 9-15, 15-13, 12-15, 10-15 defeat.

Last one was Jan Brynjolffssen (1), who knew what he was going to get against Tim Millington, who has an array of blood-twisting holds. But forewarned is not necessarily forearmed. The opening game saw Jan struggling, particularly in the later part as his legs struggled to give the needed explosiveness, and it escaped fairly tamely. Game two saw Jan attempt to step up the court, and get his drop shots in earlier, on the thought that “why doesn’t Tim do the chasing in this game”. This worked well. No it worked very well. Stupendously so, in fact, to the point of winning the game 15-3. However, there was a suspicion that Tim had waved it goodbye once the score got to 9-3, which was backed up by the next going the Peterborough player’s way nearly as decisively.
Jan regrouped, regathered himself and tried to remember what had worked: high ‘T’, be ready to move, take it early, believe in the drops. OK, OK… oh, this is working. Not like game two because Tim is going to fight to the death in this game with victory so lose, but well enough. Jan had his nose ahead throughout, and though he blew three game balls a bit of a gift of an error from Tim on the fourth saw him home. Two games all. The decider was nip-and-tuck: first Tim led (3-1), than Jan (5-3), then it was level pegging for a period. Jan got himself 11-9 up… and was then 13-12 down. It got to 13-all, but this time at the death it was Jan who made the errors, going for too much on penultimate point and then putting a drop shot down on match ball, a rare miss on a day when they had worked well. But a vitally important one. Jan lost 8-15, 15-3, 6-15, 15-13, 13-15.

Three strings to two overall, but the two lost were 3-2s. So 18 points in total, to Peterborough’s 7. A good start for the team, with the pre-season worries that the loss of players from the strong term of last terms was going to seriously undermine us, if not yet fully allayed at least tamped down for a while.

Melbourn lost 10-4

Melbourn 2nds side at Nuffield (l to r): Jan Brynjolffssen, Aidan Hird, Moises Estrelles Navarro

After a season of ups and downs, the Herts League Division 4 title moreorless came down to this game – we were top, Nuffield were in third, but the St. Albans side were only 7 points behind and they had an extra game to play in everyone else. Basically it was winner takes all for the title.

The problem we had was form really wasn’t in our favour. We had been top at the midway point of the season after winning 7 of our first 9 matches. At that point Nuffield sixth in the table with just 4 wins. However the second half of the season had seen a change in fortunes: for us 3 wins and 5 losses, for our hosts here 7 wins and just 1 defeat. That had moved them to within 7 points of us, and with a game in hand as well. We need to win, ideally by 6 points. There were also some other teams involved, but the focus for the evening had to be on the match in front of us.

First up was Moises Estrelles Navarro (3), who took on home skipper Clive Baker. This was a match up of two players of very similar styles – hard running, getting loads back, but maybe not exploiting the openings presented at the front of the court as perfectly as they might hope. That made for a game about patience, waiting for the other player to make mistakes. For most of the opening game this was going well for Moises, but as the end approached he began to feel comfortable and push for winners… which resulted in errors instead as the lead leaked away and he eventually was edged out on a break.
Game two saw Moises digging in and playing to the plan – pump the ball deep when he had time, as him having time also meant Clive had the same and would likely chase down his drops. Play the very occasional kill if he could take it early and use Clive scrambling movement against the St. Albans player, but only attack in those circumstances (basically a counter-punch rather than a lead punch). This worked very well and Moises was level, but Clive dug in in the third to make things much closer. However Moises kept himself calm and saw the game out narrowly, despite some consternation about an out call that he (and the Melbourn players watching on) were bemused by, which seem to motivate Moises to play cleanly and sensibly at the key times.
The fourth game was another where Moises made the initial running, getting himself a lead, but then tightened up at the death as the desire to finish things off trump the belief in grinding, grinding, grinding to victory. There were moments when it looked like we might be heading to five, particularly when Clive got to game ball first at 14-13, but errors at inopportune times from the St. Albans player helped as Moises played three rock solid rallies, ending things by driving Clive deep into the backhand corner where he could retrieve: Moises won 15-17, 15-8, 15-12, 16-14.

Next up was Aidan Hird (2) against Josh Binmore, both making their debuts for these particular teams this season. Did I mention that it was a virtual league decider? Huh.
Game 1 started with Aidan looking to shake his nerves off and get his game going, but this proved difficult against teenager Josh, who was running everything down. One point, two points, three points… swiftly it was 7-0 to the home player and Aidan was clearly feeling in a whirl. Oddly enough being way down finally seemed to relax him a bit and the back half of the game saw Aidan using his game to his advantage, pushing Josh deeper into the court to build rallies for the attack from the service line. It was too late for game one, but this better pattern was maintained into game two as Aidan did a decent job of controlling the service line against Josh’s hard running and retrieving. As Aidan cruised to the game, all seemed well…
It wasn’t. Everything went wrong for the Melbourn player from this point. A few tentative points at the start of the third swiftly lead to over-pushing, trying to kill the ball from the back corners against a rapid player who was able to pick things up and was happy to control the front wall. Everything spiralled on Aidan from here as he got nervous again, which saw his feet stop moving properly, which in turn undermined him when Josh got a ball back he wasn’t expecting. By the fourth the belief had clearly gone, the match ending in a welter of errors as Aidan was beaten 12-15, 15-9, 4-15, 6-15 and once again left a match court wondering where Practice Aidan goes when people are watching.

That meant the Division 4 title practically rest on Jan Brynjolffssen (1) vs Jonathan Smith-Squire. It showed in a nervy first game which saw Jan confined to the back of the court, with his opponents might reach making all but the tightest shots vulnerable and many rallies cut short. A game down, it was clear a rethink was needed and Jan came back on with better focus, finding the tee off some accurate lengths and following defensive boasts forward more successfully. This consistent pressure was the Nuffield player making more “unforced” errors, and the points were traded to 14-12 against Melbourn, with a somewhat lucky winner taking the game but with spectators left optimistic the momentum had shifted.
The third started promisingly in a similar vein, but an encroaching injury saw Jan losing pace and struggling to retrieve as effectively. With the pressure slackened, a more composed opponent began putting away his opportunities to kill to finish the match off 3-0. Game scores were 6-15, 12-15, 6-15.

And that was that for our title chances. Not because Nuffield had gone past on the night, as the final score of 10-4 meant they only got to within a point of our total. But a result elsewhere saw Haileybury sneak a couple of points beyond our total of 144, and Nuffield still remain favourites for the title as they have a re-arranged match against Radlett to play from which they need 4 points to be champions… and 2 points to move past us to leave us third in the table. A disappointing end to the season, but with 10 wins and 8 defeats overall it’s pretty clear that we are at the right level playing in Division 4 and as such who wants promotion anyway?!?

With two rounds, plus one re-arranged game, left in the Herts Summer League Division 4 we were in the slightly absurd position of 8 of the 10 teams still being in with a chance of winning the title! This was down to the top end of the table looking like this going into the penultimate full round of fixtures:

All eight covered by just 16 points in a league that offers up to 12 points per match! One could say there is no standout team in this league… though why we would say that when we are top, I don’t know.
One side notable by its absence from the above table of contenders is Berkhamsted, who were instead engaged in a battle of their own with Ickleford to avoid bottom place – the two were level on 76 points from 16 games a piece prior to this clash, with both having 3-13 records. Given the situation, this was therefore a match the 2nds wanted a maximum of 12 points from.

First to seek that was Jamie Ware (3), who was taking on Mike Cowan. The opening phases of the match were scrappy, exemplified by Jamie putting the first serve of the match out – it took until point five for a rally to end with a good shot rather than an error, this first well executed shot of the match coming from Jamie’s racket. Things remained chaotic for most of the first game as play went at 1000mph and about 1% control. However this worked for Jamie to take the game… but he wasn’t happy with how he was playing.
He was even more perplexed after the second had got away 15-13 to leave the match at one game all. Which was frustrating for his watching teammates as most rallies were being decided by whether Jamie played a winner or a loser – Mike didn’t have the shots to threaten him but Jamie was feeling under pressure anyway and overplaying. Jamie finally managed to make himself believe he was comfortably the stronger player midway through the third game, and began to play the sort of clean, up-and-down-the-wall but with punch Squash that had been available to him throughout. This saw game three go from 6-all to 15-8 in Jamie’s favour.
The same Squash was also the basis of a comeback from 10-4 down in the fourth, after Jamie had made a slew of errors to dig himself that hole. Being behind relaxed him, the clean Squash came back, the game recovered to 10-all… and the anxiety resurfaced leading to more scrappy rallies. Mike had the first game point at 14-13, but Jamie saved it with a clutch drop, accurate when he had to be. One match ball went past at 15-14, but the next at 16-15 was converted as Jamie came through 15-9, 13-15, 15-8, 17-15 to record a useful win for his side.

We then split on to two courts as both sides were available on this particular evening and the journey back to Berkhamsted is a long one for the away side. Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was up against James Barron on Court 1, with Matt Walker (2) taking on Grant Kleiner on Court 2. Let’s take Matt’s game first… and let’s also say he wasn’t exactly confident before it as he had run into Grant before in the opening half of the season and had lost that one 3-1. Grant is one of those players who are not particularly mobile but have exceptional racket head control, so go for kills on everything… which is just about Matt’s least favoured style to come up against. He wants rallies to develop to allow him to settle in, which one just doesn’t get against Grant. However Grant’s strength, his kills, also speaks of his weakness, his movement, with the game plan for Matt very clear if not necessarily easy to execute. Focus hard on the serve and return, hold a high ‘t’, watch the ball and chase the drops down to bunt any sort of counter in – that, if up, will probably be a winner.
Game 1 started well, Matt winning the opening 5 rallies, then went totally away as Grant won the next 8, but Matt forced himself forward at that point and reclaimed the initiative to recover the lead again and claim the game in the end. From here on out he was generally a handful of points ahead in games; never comfortable, never able to relax into a pattern as Grant doesn’t allow a pattern, but always with Matt having the upper hand. There were a few wasted opportunities as Matt couldn’t quite get himself to trust the open drop was going to be a winner at times – when he didn’t go for it and tried to wrong-foot instead he found himself not wrong-footing a player who hadn’t moved but hitting it straight to his opponent instead! However grit and determination were to the fore as Matt ground things out, getting himself to match ball at 14-13 in the third, and then converting it with a backhand drop that Grant couldn’t get forward to. Matt won 15-12, 15-11, 15-13.

Meanwhile Jan had started very well against James, who is another unconventional player: a brilliant forehand and superb hand-eye but with a weak backhand that he tries to hide – it wasn’t until game three that Jan managed to make James play a backhand return… and that was with serving to James’ backhand side on every hand-in! Backhand side, but not backhand shot as James would position himself with his back nearly on the side wall. As I said, unconventional. However in game one Jan coped with this very well, gaining points as he was able to pick up James’ low drive shots and use the pace of them against the Berkhamsted player. That resulted in a run of 10 points out of 11 in Jan’s favour and a clear 15-5 first game conversion.
Gannes two and three proved trickier as James changed his play, going for more variety in shot making rather than the power kills that Jan was having joy countering. Jan mostly struggled to put runs of points together, with game two in particular getting exceedingly close – a key mistake at 12-10 leaving Jan feeling nervous. However, he got to game ball first at 14-13 and this time it was James with the error, attempting to play a forehand volley from his backhand side to a weak shot from Jan, and tinning it to hand the game away. That put Jan into a considerable (two game lead) which he converted into a 3-0 win thanks to a very good run of points from mid-game as he repeatedly found a near perfect length – one stretching forehand that second bounced into the back nick drawing an “It’s not fair!” from James. Jan eventually got home 15-5, 15-13, 15-11 to complete the 12 point night the team was after. As stand in skipper he also offered this post match comment ““We knew we needed 12 poitns from this evening, which adds pressure, especially against somewhat unconventional opponents. But we all got there in the end. It puts us in a good position for midweek – six sides are still in contention, but whereas most of the others are relying on other results we have put ourselves in a position where only our score matters. There is still work to do to win the title, but it’s something we know we are capable of achieving.”

Melbourn lost 5-10

At string 3 Moises Estrelles Navarro took on Paul Carter. His left-handed opponent had experience, deft touches and trickery, along with clever positional play. Moises, however, was in a rich vein of form and his ability to retrieve and his continuously improving shot selection would prove the difference.
In game 1 Moises stormed out of the block to take a 1:6 lead, bringing an energy that Paul didn’t seem to be coping with. It was unsustainable however and Paul managed to claw his way back into the game, adding some variation to his shot and making Moises work harder. Moises managed to stay in it and at 9:9 it was interesting to see who would take the initiative. Moises went for it, hitting winner after winning to take the game 10:15, a reward for his determination.
Game 2 was a much more even affair, Paul having got to the pitch of the match. He was competing well, finding some vulnerabilities in Moises game, catching him out of position. In truth Paul was comfortable throughout and took the game easily 15:10, setting up the match nicely. Moises struggled a little with his drives in this one, giving Paul many half-court opportunities, which was something he was intent on resolving in the next game.
Game 3 was a close affair throughout. Moises continued to give up half court balls, but less so, and was working hard to remedy his drives in particular. Moises outworked his opponent to nudge ahead at the right time later in the game, a touch of tiredness becoming evident in Paul’s game as Moises again went brave, going for it, and was again rewarded with a series of winners to take the game 12:15.
Moises knew he wasn’t playing his usual fluid game, but also know that if he continued to work hard and keep focused, the match was there for him. The fourth game followed a very similar trajectory to the third but Moises was able to bring in a few more drops and boasts, indicating his higher level of confidence in his game. Staying a few points ahead of his opponent, Moises was able to close out the game 11:15 and the match 1:3 to keep his winning streak intact.

Next on was the hosts Rory McGurk against Matt Walker in the second string encounter.
Rory started having control of the game and making Matt run around the court. That saw Matt fall 9-14 down, but at this point he went icy cool and starting to play winning drives and a few good drops to claw it back to 14-14. A mistake from Rory took Matt to game ball, which he took with a super good boast to win a game he had seem sure to lose.
The second started with a 4-0 lead for Rory, but Matt elongated rallies to recover to 3-4. A few good pick ups from Rory then was it move to 7-3 before Matt’s favoured volley-drop game came into play to close up again to 6-8. But it wasn’t enough as Rory fairly took the second 15-7.
Matt found a more controlled game as he came into the third with nice length, width and good drops. This saw him race into an 8-2 lead. The players then exchanged a few points with Matt getting to game ball very comfortably ahead 14-4. After a couple of chances had passed a solid rally with good drives with width and depth opened up a front corner for a winning drop volley. 7-15 and 1-2 in Matt’s favour.
The fourth game started as the second had as this time it was Rory roaring ahead, building a 7-2 advantage. Some points were exchanged, but it was soon 12-4 to Rory which was too much for Matt, who had lost a bit of accuracy to recover on Rory, who had simultaneously gained it.
Matt brought his best game to the decider, opening an initial 5-2 lead. This was soon wiped out and the games was a close one: 6-6, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10 – nobody wanted to lead! Matt’s luck was out as Rory found some nicks with cross courts to get himself to match-ball, which he converted with a mistimed but also stone dead drop to win it 15-10, taking the match Chantry’s way 3-2.

Last on court were first strings Mark Douglas (Chantry) and Colm O’Gorman (Melbourn). The pattern of the first game played out similarly in the second, as Mark moved Colm around the court. Colm's trademark retrieving kept him in touch, but he struggled to impose control on rallies and was ultimately played out of both games without establishing a strong enough foothold to mount a sustained challenge.
At 2-0 down, the third game had a very different feel, with Colm moving and anticipating well, find length and touch that eluded him to this point, and forcing Mark to turn, retreat and play out of the back corners. The pressure soon started to induce errors that would have been unexpected in the first two games. With a much more evenly-balanced contest emerging, small margins would decide the outcome of this game. And so it proved, but unfortunately, those margins went the way of the host and with them the match. Game scores were 10-15, 11-15, 13-15.

Skipper Colm’s post-match comment was that he was “Delighted to see Moises rewarded for playing positive and attacking Squash, even when he knew he wasn’t playing particularly well, and credit to Matt for playing such a high quality and entertaining match which could have gone either way in the 5th.”

The target for this game was to actually win whilst top of the table. That being something the 2nds have found strangely difficult to do! We can win whilst not top, and those wins get us top, but once looking imperiously down on everyone else we tend to turn the air purple.

Our hopes of victory were thrown for a bit of a loop during the warm-up when planned top string Jan pulled up having felt something twang in his groin. Matt and James continued to get themselves ready whilst the wounded solider put out an appeal on WhatsApp for “help”. Kate answered the call but did point out she was half-a-bottle-of-wine and her full dinner into the evening. Quote “Yes, I’ll play. It will be funny!”

Kate stepping in meant we could keep the order at least, so James Storer (3) took on Everton Brown. The first six rallies of the match went superbly well as James’ crack of the ball had Everton on the back foot, digging the ball out of tight corners. 6-0. This is going great! This was definitely the high point of the encounter, from Melbourn/James’ perspective though as Everton dug in and even made it to 9 first! James responded, leading 11-10 and 12-11, but he was feeling undermined now by Everton’s pace about the court, which was chasing down his shots, and that resulted in a reduce flow on the attack and a one game deficit (15-13). 
In spite of the shift in momentum in the second half of the first game, it seemed there was still everything to play for. James had been striking the ball superbly in that early run of points, and just needed to re-establish some rhythm and control in game 2. Unfortunately, the pace and unorthodoxy of Everton's serve continued to put James under pressure, and the match turned into a slightly scratchy affair. Too many mid-court balls allowed Everton to dictate patterns, and his pace around the court on a warm evening, where dying lengths were hard to find, meant that there were few if any lost causes. Both second and third games ran away more quickly than the opening salvos of the match would have indicated. For a player with James's quality of ball-striking, it was perhaps a lack of match-practice that exposed a scoreline gap that was much greater than any difference in underlying ability. It finished 13-15, 6-15, 6-15.

Matt Walker (2) was also on against the player he was expected to play, Adam Gourpinar in his case. After some initial sparing, a pattern quickly emerged of Matt looking to make the first play and Adam attempting to react to these with counters before Matt had regained his balance – Matt in the attacking mode, Adam very much counter-punching. There was little to nothing between the players and their approaches through the first game as the lead changed hands multiple times – Matt (3-1), Adam (4-3), Matt (6-4, 7-6, 9-7), Adam (10-9). However when Matt levelled up at 10-all this was the start of a push to the finish as he upped the pressure on Adam’s shots, drawing errors to close the game out.
Game 2 saw the same patterns of play, though this time Adam held the lead from the outset up until Matt put a scintillating string of points together to zoom from 7-10 down to 14-10 up (which means this game also had it’s 10-all point). His trademark volley drops were obviously functioning very well at this stage, repeatedly dying before Adam could reach them despite the Haileybury player’s foot speed. It felt like Matt had broke the back of things at this stage, especially when he started Game 3 the quicker. But instead he began to over-push for the line just as Adam dug in and cut out his mistakes. This time Adam held the lead from 7-6 onwards, the closest Matt getting being 10-12 down. He came off court looking concerned – this wasn’t going to get away from him, was it?
A combination of calmness and steel meant it didn’t as Matt move back to a more patient point construction but also forced his ‘t’ position higher to cope with Adam’s counter-attacking short shots. We were back into serve being rapidly exchanged, though Matt generally had his nose ahead until once again the game reached, yes, 10-all. Here Matt seemed to make a decisive break, winning three straight points through a combination of good kills and unexpected errors from Adam’s racket – badly time for Haileybury, excellently so as far as we and Matt were concerned! Once again this was precipitate as Adam closed back to 12-13 with two trademark counter-punches, only for Matt to find his backhand volley drop: two match balls. The first came and went but on the second it was backhand volley-drop time again, followed by a bellow and an air-punch as Matt closed things out 15-11, 15-11, 10-15, 15-13.

And that took us to a decider at top string, where Kate Bradshaw (1) faced off with Matt Savides. Half-cut Kate was understandable unsure in how she would play in the circumstances and somewhat concerned when she shanked a number of balls in the knock-up, which is absolutely unlike her. Alcohol, even a little bit of it, impairs hand-eye co-ordination! Who knew??? [oh, hello DVLA!]
Kate started the match slowly, but as it got competitive she began to find her range on her cut-out volleys, the cornerstone of her game. Too late for game one, which had gone but good to cruise to game two as Kate’s style turned out to be kryptonite for Matt’s preferred play of hanging the ball high to give himself time to recover from the back corners. This doesn’t work when your opponent can volley-drop-kill from in amongst the court lights.
Sadly for Kate Matt had a plan B up his sleeve – greater pop on his shots and just all-round higher intensity of play. Kate continued to predate on anything from Matt that was attackable in the mid-court, but there wasn’t as many opportunities now and this all added up to a 6-15, 15-9, 8-15, 8-15 defeat.

And that meant we had lost again having gone top. Leopards find it very hard to change their spots, don’t they??

Melbourn won 12-3

The 2nds have been on a rollercoaster in recent weeks. Beat Nuffield IV on 25th June – go top. Lose to Gosling in a top-of-the-table clash on 2nd July (no report :-( )… but lose narrowly enough to stay top. But the advantage was gone, so a 12-1 defeat to Letchworth the following week (9th July) – down to fourth. However a 12-2 win over Ickleford on 16th July, combined with defeats for Gosling, Letchworth and Nuffield 5ths… and whizz back up to top spot again. Cue a 9-5 defeat to Radlett. Back down to second going into this match, against a Nuffield V side just behind us in third.

The first to try and keep their lunch down was Matt Walker, at 3 this week and up against Tareq Ismail, who was making his team Squash bow. Tareq looked rather nervous in the first game, which allowed Matt to run away with it, which was very helpful with confidence fragile after some disappointing outings recently (Matt the most disappointed of all – he sets high standards for himself). The nerves were always hovering, especially as Tareq settled into things and made games two and three much tighter. The Nuffield player has the quality to operate in the lower Divisions of the Herts Leagues and hopefully will continue to do so. He will win games at #3 if he does, but not this debut one as Matt had far too much experience of the situation, using it to seal out a 15-5, 15-12, 15-13 success. One that will hopefully improve his feeling for his game in the coming weeks.

Next up was Mark Oppen (1), playing just his second team match of the summer after spending a while out of the country. He was taking on Joe Turton, who we have come across before as a Kimbolton player.
Mark hadn’t got much Squash in during his break, and this was also a hot and stuffy night. These combined in game one to flare his asthma up very noticeably – a player still standing with hands on knees whilst his opponent is serving is pretty rare. For it to happen at 8-4 in the first game is VERY unusual. The end of the first game was all about getting off court to get the airways open again and some breath into the lungs.
The second was the critical one of the match, as a comeback from two games down was unlikely – could Mark turn things around quickly enough to level up. It was touch-and-go at times, and there were plenty of “Leisure Centre boasts” or to give them their Melbourn name “Oppen boasts” which are generally indicative of Mark struggling physically. But there was also decent slices of good play and a kernel of an idea as Mark started lifting over Joe’s volleys. The tension mounted towards the end of the game, but Mark got over the line at 15-11… and that, basically, was that.
The plan of lobbing was put into full effect from game three on, and it proved a very effective one as Mark was able to gently guide the ball with no pace but lots of accuracy into the back corners, really challenging Joe’s volley – clearly not his preferred shot. Mark won the next two with increasing ease, coming out in possession of a 4-15, 15-11, 15-9, 15-5 win… and some obvious relief that he had got it done in four!

What Jan Brynjolffssen (2) would have given to get off the court in four games. But no, the last match on, which pitted him against Julian Craxton, was going to run-and-run. In the end it totalled 162 points, which is 32.4 per game, so at least a tie-break in all. Or, indeed, 27 per game in a best-of-six, with the average game score being 15-12! Oof.
A major contributor to this accumulation of points was an opening game that, at times, seemed it might never finish. 13-all, 14-all, 15-all, 16-all. On and on it went. Game points were going either way, and going unconverted as it rolled onwards. The tension both built and dissipated, as when ever other game is a game point, they become mundane! Finally, finally, Jan got himself yet another chance at 23-22 and found a cross-court backhand drop across Julian’s bows to seal the game 24-22.
His reward for all of that was only a one-game-to-love lead, which became one-game-all after Julian really found his range in game two on his impressive array of put aways. The average rally length in the match would barely have surpassed three shots, with hardly any exchanges in the 5 range, which is the norm with Julian. His kills and racket skills are spectacular, his movement less so. Jan’s strength is also his shot making rather than movement, which made for very short, sharp exchanges. First strike Squash in excelsis.
Game three had the potential to be decisive, especially as it was close towards the end. Julian had the first game point at 14-13, but Jan saved it. He then earned himself one at 15-14 and opted to loft a serve up to test Julian’s volley. Well, in theory. In practice Jan didn’t really get hold of his serve and rather than being lofted it instead floated straight into Julian’s wheelhouse. He responded by despatched it peremptorily, and two points later it was 2-1 to the St. Albans player. Oops.
One characteristic of games 1-3 was Julian rattling out into a 6-, 7-, 8-2 lead and Jan coming back. Game four was different as it was nip-and-tuck in the early stages. 4-all, 5-all, 6-all. If Jan could come have the better of the end of the game again, as he had basically done in the first three (even the ones he lost, game 2 was 13-5 at one stage and ended 15-12!), then he was onto a good thing in the fourth. And yup, that is exactly what Jan did, accelerating away in the mid-game to ease himself level.
Do it again, right? Well, for most of game five, yep, exactly. Jan’s patterns were working. Not complex ones, to be sure, but effective against an opponent whose strength is not his movement. Julian knew the one-two punch of pushing him deep and then dropping into the backhand corner was coming, but often enough for Jan he couldn’t do anything about it. This got Jan to match ball at 14-10. Serve, loose return, volley backhand drop opportunity, and… *choke* far too high, up Julian trundles to punch it away, chance gone. OK, there will be another opportunity at 14-11, won’t there? Erm, no, clean three shot rally from Julian. 14-12. And repeat. And repeat. And we were into another tie-breaker! This match is never going to end! One more quick kill rally gets Julian to match ball. But this time it’s the Nuffield player who doesn’t get enough on his serve to the backhand side, and this time it’s Jan who is clutch at putting the backhand volley drop return away. Next rally sees a good serve generate a loose high ball down the middle – close-out and volley drop into the forehand corner. 16-15. And on match ball no. five Jan is in the rally, albeit under pressure. He gets another backhand drop opportunity, this one far more difficult to put away than the chance at 14-10. But whereas that was hung up to dry this one goes in millimetre perfect, as close to the tin as possible without touching it. And we were finally done. Game scores (deep breath) were 24-22, 12-15, 15-17, 15-10, 17-15. I hope you feel exhausted just reading about it!

12-3 to the 2nds overall. What did this mean for the league table. Well, we jump back up to top again. Obviously.  It’s a fortnightly thing. However the advantages are a bit bigger this time as nearest rivals Letchworth, Gosling and our opponents in this one (Nuffield V) were all beaten. So maybe, maybe, we can stay top for longer than seven days in a row this time around? Watch this space…

It’s not often that match reports have a soundtrack. But this one does. But how did Jerry Lee Lewis know about this:

back in 1957?!?

Whilst trying to unentangle this chronological conundrum Moises Estrelles Navarro (3) took the court against Chloe Bhola. We had seen Chloe before when she gave Matt a run for his money at second string in the match at Melbourn in the opening half of the season, so we knew she was both a good controlled player (indeed a coach in her own right, and it shows in a properly put together game) and also a determined young lady who kept her head and fought to the end of that one despite a horrid start. Would her clean play and movement do for Moises, or would El Canibal’s hard running around the court, which he has always had but which these days is allied to much improved positional and defensive game (the work with Head Coach Chris is really paying dividends) be too much for her… as it has been for most other opponents at #3 string in Herts Div.4 this summer?
The answer turned out to be the latter as Moises put in a super-impressive performance. OK, maybe not in game 1 which was a bit scratchy and could have gone either way before he won it 15-12, but definitely in game 2 as Moises cut out the bad drops, focused on the tactics that were winning (depth, patience, trust the strengths of his game) and generally played without errors. Once again Chloe refused to get down on herself and came back in the third (an impressive trait) but despite the extra pressure Moises eased it home 15-12, 15-4, 15-9.

Next on was Matt Walker (2) against Jamie Goodman. Here the roles were somewhat reversed as this time the Radlett player (Jamie) was the ‘chase everything’ runner. Matt attempted to react to this by going for everything but his usually deadly volley-drop was misfiring, and that from the very beginning. Maybe a little longer to establish his game first would have helped. Jamie was very happy to live on Matt’s errors and counter-punch where he could, with Matt dropping the opening game (which would prove significant as the evening wore on).
Matt cleaned things up in the second, playing with more patience to create the openings before going for the kill, taking the game amid multiple fist pumps to level things up. The third started well… but then at around 5-5 it became clear the issue the opener had caused as Matt’s energy started to noticeably fade. A string of attempts to force kills were punished, Matt losing 7 rallies in a row. That was too much to recover, and now Matt was 2-1 down. And also gassed.
Game four was a matter of will for Matt – could he drag his tired body around the court enough to play the sort of extended rallies needed to break Jamie down. It was taking three kill shots for Matt to win most points… something he really didn’t have the energy to do. Trying to get out in one shot was resulting in tins though, and as the game got closer and closer to the end Matt did this more and more often. He could never break clear, fell match point down and after one last lung-busting rally was beaten 11-15, 15-12, 11-15, 13-15. He then collapsed on his back on the court for a number of minutes, leaving a large sweat patch with the Melbourn Club logo clearly picked out in it! It was that sort of match for him.

That meant things were all-square as Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and James Howell got underway. It was quickly apparent these two were very evenly matched… and also rather similar players. Yes, both were happy to exchange down the backhand wall for a while and both were also willing to lift in defence to buy themselves time to get back to the ‘t’, but they were both also looked for the opportunity to vary and get out of these exchanges. Neither was really confident they could simply outlast their opponent. For most of game one James held a narrow advantage, but as game ball approached he tightened up, allowing Jan to save one, then two, then three chances, the third with an ace. James had another opportunity to close it out at 15-14 which he should have taken, but a tight drop went high, Jan stepped up to kill and two points later he was slightly surprised to find himself 1-0 up instead.
This was good, but unfortunately Jan didn’t keep it up in game two, losing a tiny but key amount of accuracy on his lengths and depths. This was particularly evident mid-game as points leaked away. A comeback towards the conclusion, Jan closing from 14-7 down to 14-11 before James closed it out spoke again about finishing issues with his opponent… but the ideal was not to be 7 game balls down in the first place! Unfortunately game three proved to be more of the same for Jan despite the occasional framed winner, most of which were going up. This one kind of blends into game two in the memory, with the result being a 2-1 lead for James.
The fourth was better from Jan as he stepped higher up the court and played with more pop despite the sweltering conditions. Maybe this was indicative of James also losing a bit of oomph in his legs? Whatever the cause it was even at 12-all… until James got a framed winner to make up for Jan’s ~4 earlier. Better timed though. One point later it was match ball, and though Jan saved the first he lost the next after a desperation rally ended with James firing the ball as hard as he could at his opponent, Jan framing it on a win-or-bust shot… and tin. Damn. Game scores were 17-15, 11-15, 10-15, 13-15.

So defeat. Which meant we slip from top spot once again. But only as far as second, just two points back of new leaders Letchworth with five rounds of games to go. Who the top two in Division 4 will be is anyone’s guess… but the 2nds are very much in with a shout of being involved.

Melbourn won 12-2

Two defeats in a row had seen the 2nds, who had been top at the midpoint of the season, drop down to fourth in the Division 4 table. But this game was against the bottom side, Ickleford 2nds. So a chance to reverse the momentum…?

That is exactly how it would turn out, but the bit in between, when we had to actually win the match, would prove to be anything but easy. The challenge of the evening was evident from the opening rallies between Moises Estrelles Navarro (3) and Ickleford’s Keryann Pestiaux. Keryann is a young player, somewhere around his (sic) late teens or 20th birthday. He is apparently pretty new to Squash, having played for only 18 months, and almost entirely self-taught. So the classical correctness of his game, and especially his movement, was especially noteworthy. How good could he become? Time will tell, but there is a lot of promise here. Moises is also on an notably upward track, and this match demonstrated how far he has come from his work with head coach Chris – a year ago he simply wouldn’t have had the control or patience to engage in the extended length exchanges up-and-down the backhand wall.
Both players were excellent at that, and on the movement front – Keryann using accuracy and efficiency, Moises slightly less technically correct but as always hugely tenacious. Maybe drop shots and kills were lacking… but it was a warm night. Mostly, apart from a few really tight drops in the opening exchanges of game 1, it was the player who went for a drop who lost the rally as they gave position away. Moises also benefitted from having a leveller head overall as Keryann got frustrated on a couple of occasions and the points allowed to flee easily then were critical to outcomes. That gave Moises the chance to pull away late in the first two games. He also won the third after a dramatic tie-break where both players got visibly tight, going for drops that weren’t on at times. Moises had a number of match balls and then saved a game ball before, at 18-17, he found a good backhand depth length to close things out 15-11, 15-10, 19-17.

Next on was Matt Walker (2) against Kyle Piggins… and it was immediately apparent this would be a very different type of match. Neither player was going to die wondering when they had a chance to attempt a kill shot. Or even half a chance. Maybe a quarter of a chance. However, both were striking the ball crisply so it was still staying warm and bouncy, which was mitigating against the kills. Matt dropped a little deep on the court in response to the springiness of the ball, which proved somewhat to his detriment in game 1 as Kyle caught him stretching a number of times. Matt’s best rallies came near the end of the game when he relaxed and played constructive Squash rather than striving for the kill… only to tighten again when he got to a breaker to lose the game on this.
From game two things changed though as Matt moved his position forwards, which meant he was able to chase down enough of Kyle’s attempted kills. The Melbourn player was now controlling the play – not dominating, that goes too far but playing ahead on the scoreboard and in rallies. He kept his nose well in front through all of the next three games, each built on fast starts that saw him rattle out into 5-1, 6-1, 7-1 leads. That was enough to allow a cruise home in each stanza, Matt winning 14-16, 15-8, 15-8, 15-11.

Last to start was Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and Andy Phillipson. Some initial sparring established a contrast in styles, with Andy having a nice touch-based game, with float and weight big elements, that was not ideally suited to Melbourn courts playing in super-fast mode. Jan, meanwhile, was pinging the ball around… which also fitted badly with the conditions as the red-hot orb sat up rather than dying. A feeling of chaos permeated for much of the opening game, Andy controlling it better to build a 14-11 lead. From there Jan played two good rallies to save the first two game balls… and then an ace to save the third. Yay! He then promptly made two soft errors to lose the game 16-14 anyway. D’Oh!
Calmer play allowed Jan to establish a bit of an advantage early in the second game, which was soon followed by the realisation that Andy was struggling to breath. Having initially looked to take advantage, it gradually dawned that this was just due to physical play but also a reaction to the heat of the day and dry wind of the Melbourn court heaters (which, for some reason best known to them, had turned themselves on). Being unable to breath properly is a pretty significant hindrance to playing one’s best Squash and from here on out Jan had control of things, wrapping up a 14-16, 15-18, 15-10, 15-10 that completed the 3-0 win on the night.

With that it was off to the curry house when a ravenous Moises “ate like three people” as he informed the team WhatsApp. Who promptly interposed some extra commas, and a new nickname was coined: El Canibal.

Jan, who was acting as stand-in skipper, commented afterwards “That was three enjoyable matches. They gave us a very good game. The third string match was the highlight of the evening – the Squash played was much cleaner and of a far higher technical level than is often seen at this string in this Division. Moises did very well to get through it in three.”

Melbourn lost 1-12

Derby day! Well, from our perspective, Letchworth being our shortest away trip of the season. It also paired us with one of the two teams we lost to in the first half of the campaign. Could you reverse this (the answer, dear reader, as you can see from the line above, is ‘no!’).

First on was Roger Woodfield (3), who was up against Chris Saynor. This match promised a contrast in styles as the knock-up suggested Chris had more power and better movement, but with a less classical technique than Rog. Long rallies were not going to be Roger’s friend (they never are any more) so his aim was to try and keep them short… and end them with a winner. Chris was more interested in extended exchanges, but early on he worked out that Roger was going to hang deep to cover any drives, and that meant cutting the ball in short was going to be effective. This pressured Roger to find good lines and lengths at the start of the rally to prevent Chris dropping. Unfortunately he only successfully managed this in the later half of the second game, resulting in a 5-15, 11-15, 8-15 loss. Chris later estimated the longest rally of the entire match was five shots!

Next on was Jamie Ware (2) against Jason Tinsey. This was another challenging encounter for the Melbourn player as Jason is a deeply tricky opponent, who moves well and hits a clean ball when going straight... but also no hesitation (at all!) to bring out his deadly boast shots to kill rallies off. Jamie coped well with this in the first game, up on his toes to prevent his blood getting totally twisted as he was moved into unexpected front corners, but not quite well enough as Jason shaded the game anyway. Jamie came out firing in the game two though, playing the same way but with that bit sharper purpose and determination in both shots and especially movement. This meant he was forcing Jason deeper into the back corners in some rallies, and simply asking him to play many extra shots in others (not what Jason is used to). Both elements drew errors, levelling up the score. However that level of intensity was hard to maintain, and we should also note that Jason himself responded, which meant games three and four saw Jamie being “Full Tinsey’ed”. Final score was 11-15, 15-9, 6-15, 5-15
Jamie fist-pump count: Plenty. Meter broke.
Jamie’s shout-at-self-for-perceived-error-after-winning-rally count: Three

Those scores meant the evening was Letchworth’s: the only question to answer from Jan Brynjolffssen (1) vs Jason Attwood was the scale of our loss. Things didn’t look promising for Jan when he fell 8-1 down in the opening game. It wasn’t that Jan was playing badly, or the rallies were easy (or short!) wins for Jason. It’s just that, after 15-20ish shots up and down the walls it was always the home player finishing things off. What was needed was more intensity and purpose in Jan’s Squash. Which he found to make things much closer to 50/50 in point pick up, but from so far down game 1 was gone. Game 2 featured a number of lung-busting rallies, some of them verging on the spectacular. There was one when Jason even executed a behind-the-back shot to keep himself alive (Jan killed the next ball anyway, the spoilsport!); another when Jan played a cross-lob from front backhand corner, cross-drive from front backhand corner, backhand straight volley-drop 1-2-3 shot combination that was executed at somewhere near the maximal level he is capable of. But that it took all three attacking shots to win a rally says something about Jason’s movement. And the pressure that applied told in two key moments – errors from Jan at 12-13 and then 13-14 in the second game, and then a string of them from 7-all in the third. It all added up to a 8-15, 13-15, 10-15 loss for Jan and Melbourn being beaten 1-12 overall.

Melbourn won 12-3

The sun was scorching down. The England Men’s Football team had a game to play in the European Championships. What to do? Let’s play Squash! Well, obviously.

Turns out this was a good choice, because, well, Oh, England! The action on the court was far more inspiring… it’s true that is a low bar, but cleared with great comfort with the first two matches on particularly exciting. These started simultaneously as both courts were available to us (others had made the opposite choice and were being bored silly in front of the telly). That meant Colm O’Gorman (2) taking on Helen Walsh on Court 1 and Matt Walker (3) up against Clive Baker on Court 2.

Colm started well against Helen finding his rhythm, the back corners, putting a lot pace on his shots and with good positioning, he was able to comfortably stay ahead of his opponent throughout, taking it 15-7. However there were signs that Helen was warming up, had excellent fitness and the shots too. The second was a much closer affair, Helen in fact took a lead early on having introduce accurate drop and boasts, catching Colm out of position repeatedly. Colm gathered his composure, along with a lot more retrieving to nick the game 15:13. Ominously Helen was increasingly mobile around the court by the end of game two, retrieving extremely well, and a little unlucky to lose it.
Helen made amends in game three and dominated from start to finish, pushing Colm from corner to corner, his inability to recover his position giving Helen many opportunities to go for the kill. Helen’s fitness was telling as Colm was beginning to fade in the heat. A change of tactics was required, and Colm served deeper, and focused on simpler squash to drive to the back corners. This paid dividends in the sense of staying in the game. It was nip and tuck, at 10:10 anybody’s game. Helen had the greater need in order to stay in the match and some brave drops and boast again caught Colm out of position, Helen nicking the game 13:15 and setting the stage for a decider.
Colm had expended a lot of energy in the fourth, however he doubled down on his tactic of hitting deeper drives to keep Helen away from the front wall or with half court opportunities. This had the desired effect and Colm took a commanding 6:1 lead, then an unassailable 9:3. While Helen fought hard to recover the score, Colm saw it out to win the game 15:8 and was relieved to take the match 3:2.

Meanwhile, next door, the play started pretty loosely, with the ball popping out at unexpected angles. Matt initially struggled to control the chaos which resulted in the opening game being nip-and-tuck – up to 9-9 there had never been more than a single point in it. However, from here, Matt managed to impose some structure on the rallies, pushing Clive deep and benefitting from forced errors as he raced away with the opening game. A similar pattern held in the second, initially loose in rally construction and tight on the scoreboard but once again moving sharply Matt’s way in the closing stages as Clive’s pace around the court slowed up a little.
At 2-0 up Matt clearly felt comfortable and tried to pivot towards his natural game, looking to shorten rallies. The aim appeared to be to rattle through. And, well, it did make the rallies quick… but with the ball sitting up, and Clive rapid around the court, they were breaking in the wrong direction from Matt’s perspective – he was rapidly 7-1 down. From here things stabilised a bit, pulling back to 6-9, but then a further flurry of errors saw Matt fall 13-8 down. At the point of no return Matt stopped trying to force winners, won four straight points with solid rallying to close back to 12-13… and then immediately reverted to “how do I hit a winner here when it’s so bouncy?!?” tinning two balls to throw the game away.
A quick chat with teammates ahead of the fourth focused on long rallies being Matt’s friend – he was winning the vast majority of these – and this was taken on board which saw the crisis of confidence abate as swiftly as it had developed. Matt raced out to an 8-1 lead with some sensible and consistent Squash where he made no errors and simply kept the pressure up until Clive did. This broke the back of things, with Matt able to cruise the rest to win 15-9, 15-10, 13-15, 15-7.

Those results meant Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was able to start against Tom Oliver without the pressure of needing to win – the 2nds already had the three bonus points. But could he make it just a second 3-0 win for the team this summer? Yes he could because, being freed up to play his game, Jan found everything was in working order. And then some. Movement was good vertically and horizontally, shot choices were sensible, and mistakes were rare to non-existent in an opening game that was somewhere near Jan’s maximal level as he raced through it with the loss of just four points. The conditions may have helped somewhat in that – Tom’s game appeared to be touch and finesse based, which is a tricky gameplan to pull off when the ball is bouncing around like a lurcher…
… but the lopsidedness was also down to Jan burning nearly as hot as the day.
He cooled off very briefly at the start of the second, dropping 5-1 down… and then started serving like a demon, putting in a string of pinpoint efforts that either didn’t come back at all or made it weakly to the front wall. This resulted in a run of 10 straight points, part of a wider sequence of 14/15 in Jan’s favour. Game three was all about staying in the moment and not letting the knowledge of how well he was playing undermine him “stay in the moment” as was said in the between-games chat. This was mostly managed, with the pressure previously exerted also contributing as Tom offered up unforced errors at key points; for instance when Jan had made a rare error at 12-7, tinning a makeable drop shot kill, Tom immediately returned the favour by serving out. Two points later it was all done, a sharply taken backhand reverse drop closing out a 15-4, 15-6, 15-8 win that left Jan very happy and just a little bit gobsmacked about exactly how well he had played.

Skipper Colm said afterwards it was “yet another highly competitive tie against a strong Nuffield team, we continue our good run of wins and especially pleasing to see Jan play to his potential with a fantastic performance and a well-deserved win against a highly ranked opponent”

Hoping to continue winning ways, Melbourn 2nds travelled to Berkhamsted looking to put in another good performance.

The 2nd strings played first, with Matt Walker taking on home player Grant Kleiner. Grant is a deceptively quick, skillful and experienced player, very hard to take points off. The first game went somewhat along expected lines with Matt's movement, accuracy and shot-taking seeing him dominate, even if he wasn't translating this dominance into score. He did persist however and powered through to take the game 10:15.

Matt, while playing well in general, decided that tonight he was going to miss winners by the bucketload, and doing this against someone like Grant was not going to end well. Deeply frustrating for Matt that he dominated for long periods of the next 2 games, but handed away point after point with unforced errors. The 2 games followed a similar pattern with Grant gratefully accepting the points and contributing with some deft drops and much of his trickery.

Matt had to win the 4th to stay in it. Grant was also up for it and was moving well, using all his experience to keep it close. At 10:10, the momentum had swung slightly to Matt, but again he handed Grant a couple of cheap points. Grant brought his accuracy and trickery to bear in closing out the game by taking the last 3 points, demonstrating how difficult a player he is to play against.

Next up at string 3, Moises Estrelles Navarro was in determined mood as usual, confident in his ability to retrieve and outrun his opponent but also looking to outplay Andy Worwood of Berkhamsted. The first game ebbed and flowed, chaotic at times, but always entertaining. Moises was staying in it, knowing his fitness was likely to be a factor, and sure enough he ground it out to win it 12-15.

Both players were fighting for every point, and the second was even closer, could have gone either way. Moises was starting to show a little more structure in his game and this got him over the line, taking it 13:15, Andy perhaps frustrated that he deserved a little more than finding himself 2 games down.

Moises' growing confidence in his capabilities showed in the 3rd, where he started to noticeably dominate, making better decisions and moving Andy around the court more effectively. Combining drives and deep cross courts with some boasts and drops, Moises forged ahead and was not to be caught, taking the game 8:15 and the match 0-3.

At string 1, a winner takes all clash between Colm O'Gorman and the home player James Barron. Colm won the toss and served first to James' backhand. Looking over to acknowledge the start of the game, he watched James stand against the wall, intent on returning with his forehand. This didn't put Colm off and he served as usual, chased down the inevitable drops from his opponent to pick off points. James' unorthodox style didn't faze Colm and while Colm was doing most of the running and retrieving, it paid off and he took the game 8:15.

James double down on his tactics, but added in deep drives and tricky boasts to make a real fight of the second game. Trading game points to 18:18, Colm steadied himself to find some length and put James under pressure, and taking the 2 points necessary to take the game 18:20.

The 3rd game was close again, Colm struggling to deal with James' variation in his shot taking. Again Colm retrieved relentlessly to nick the game 13:15 but felt the pressure going into the 4th, also tiring a little. Colm decided to change it up, knowing that he risked not having the stamina otherwise. Deeper serves, more pace on his drives and dropping at every opportunity meant Colm cruised the 4th game 2:15, taking the match 1-3 and therefore Melbourn win on the night.

Melbourn captain Colm noted 'great to see Moises take another win with a strong performance again, it's been a really good league for us so far and hopefully we can keep it up through the holiday period'.

Melbourn won 12-1

The 2nds were in the rare position of coming into this match against Chantry Squash Club (which is in Bishop’s Stortford… though this match was in Melbourn) on the back of a defeat – could we bounce back against a side in the lower reaches of the table.

First on was Jamie Ware (3), who takes no responsibility for the loss seven days prior as he wasn’t playing in that one… nor could he claim anything much about the four wins out of five preceding that as this was Jamie’s seasonal debut! It pitted him against Will Kirkham.
Your correspondent didn’t see much of this match as I was still involved in the session on the next door court, so we go with Jamie’s own words on this “It was a conquest for the ages, a true David vs Goliath, where my opponents brute strength was met with my messy movement but importantly tinning it a bit less than him! 😂”
Will’s power caught Jamie off balance initially, leading to an early 5-3 lead in the opening game for the Chantry player, but once Jamie adjusted to the speed of travel of the ball he had more game, pushing Will deep and taking advantage of this with drops and crosscourts when he had Will on the run to kill points. That saw the opener turned around, and a comfortable second for Jamie. The third went Will’s way initially as he built a 7-2 lead, but Jamie fought back to close things out in straight games despite a slight late wobble (13-12 at one point). It finished 15-7, 15-6, 15-12 in the Melbourn’s favour.

Next up was Colm O’Gorman (2) against a familiar figure on the Herts Squash scene, Paul Carter. Sometimes a contrast in styles is a challenge. Other times coming up against somebody wanting to play the same way as you do is a problem… and here Colm was having to cope with Paul’s insistence on playing against the grain crosscourt drops. The bitter bite!
Basically all three games followed the same pattern – Colm initially struggling with rhythm against the super-attacking play, but gradually reconciling himself to the chasing into the front corners and the deep hitting needed. Once he did that he took charge of each game, forcing Paul into really deep positions from where counter-attack wasn’t really on. 4-6 in the first, 5-7 in the second and 4-9 in the third consequently turned into a 15-8, 15-7, 15-11 straight games win as Colm put together was exceptional runs of point gathering: 8-in-a-row in the opening (4-6 to 12-6), 10-in-a-row in the second (5-7 to game) and another 8 point burst in the third (4-9 to 12-9… though 4-3 to 4-9 had preceded it during Paul’s best spell of the match).

… and that meant we were 2-0 up going into the top string match. Given all the 2nds previous fixtures this summer had finished 2-1 one way or the other, and also Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was up against Mark Douglas, who had beaten him 3-0 the last time the players met (at Chantry last summer) another narrow win seemed in the offing. However, despite trailing for most of the opener Jan ended it was a good sequence of points to shave the game and find himself 1-0 up.
The second saw Mark’s style taking charge, picking Jan’s shots off earlier than expected and using the Melbourn’s players recovery movement against him. It looked like being a heavy loss in the game, though a late recovery drew more respectability on the scoreboard; still it was 1-1.
The third game proved to be the key one, staying nip-and-tuck most of the way through… until, at the death, Jan put together a sequence of pressuring rallies that drew mistakes (possibly not full forced…) from Mark to once again see Jan run away with things from at the death. And then there was the fourth. In this one the atypical errors from Mark’s racquet came in the early phases of the game, a string of balls going into the tin as 4-4 rapidly turned into 10-4 in Jan’s favour. Mark finally won a point then, looked down at his strings and found one was broken! Opinion varied to when it had happened – was it that rally, or was it responsible for the tins? But whatever the cause, the five point gap was decisive, Jan holding and extending it to hold 7 match balls (14-7). He tried to win in style on the first, messed that up, so went for anti-style instead on the second chance as a shanked backhand dropped short, which Mark could only tin.
15-12, 10-15, 15-11, 15-8 overall, and a full 12 point evening for the 2nds for the first time this summer.

Melbourn lost 4-9

The seconds arrived at Haileybury School to take on the local side… a note on them before we go on: they may be located at a (very famous public) School but they are not the team of that School, but rather represent the local community – Hertford and Hoddesdon in Haileybury’s case. So like us, then… as both Melburn Village College and Haileybury College are schools. There may be further similarities, but there are also some differences… “Got any spare change, guv’nor?!?”

The absence of kids in training for Imperial Civil Service (Haileybury’s purpose may, possibly, have moved on a little by now…) string three instead pitted Melbourn club chairman Roger against Everton Brown. The court and ball was playing very warm and bouncy, as it generally does at Haileybury [looks askance at the Swimming Pool next door!], which didn’t suit Roger’s game of shortening rallies with his deadly drop shots, but was ideal for Everton’s good movement and counter-punching approach. The Haileybury player also quickly worked out that once he pushed Roger into a back corner all he needed to do was drop and that would work. Roger, by contrast, wasn’t trusting his drops, which takes most of his game away – he wasn’t playing them much in game one, and then, in game two, put a very atypical number in the tin in game two as he tried to make them extra, extra short so they couldn’t be retrieved. What was working instead was straightness and width, drops that didn’t produce a clean winner but instead clung to the sidewall and forced retrieve errors. However, changing a shot target like that that is difficult midway through a match and Roger wasn’t able to do it consistently enough, losing 9-15, 7-15, 8-15.

Next on was Colm (2) against Adam Gourpinar, with super fan Girvan in attendance/trying to pop up from low boards on the glasback to suddenly appear to the players. Colm did superbly to ignore this significant distraction and play his game, recovering from a 7-2 deficit to win the opener thanks to a succession of stunningly tight shots down the backhand wall, and also his rapidity in the front court, particualrl yup to the front forehand corner, allowing him to get to Adam’s attempted kills. Basically this was Roger and Everton in reverse, as the Adam’s boasts and drops (the cornerstone of his game) were not tight or short enough for the court conditions, allowing Colm to pick up and counter-punch with his opponent out of position. The key moments of this match came at the conclusion of a tight third game, which Adam built a lead to hold two game balls at 14-12. He had a clear chance to claim the first opportunity as Colm dragged a shot towards himself … but Adam didn’t claim the stroke and instead played through, losing the rally. He clearly immediately regretted it, enough that it caused errors in the following three rallies, two of them on return, as he handed Colm the game on a tie-break. Colm didn’t return the favour and let Adam off the hook, instead establishing a lead at the start of the third. This was decisive, Colm rolling through to win 15-10, 16-14, 15-8.

So it all came down to the top string, where Jan took on against Matthew Savides. Unbeknownst to Jan, Matt is a 3000ish player on Squashlevels… but what lay ahead was flagged instead when Matt casually drop beating Derek  Brown of Berko (a very good player for Div.4) 3-2 in a recent match. That conveyed pretty well the same info – Jan was going to be up against it here. But maybe not to extent of an opening game where nothing worked for Jan and everything did for Matt, who was applying the pressure which wasn’t coped with as Jan’s lines were out, repeatedly clipping walls to leave the ball loose near the service line; Matt fully capitalised on these attackable balls. Jan managed to improve his hitting lines and with it his length in game two, by means of upping his movement and therefore his balance on his shots, extending his stride into the ball and getting his torso a bit lower to the deck. This made for a more competitive game, though still in Matt’s favour. Having stepped up the court a half-pace in game two Jan was able to finally get properly to the ‘t’ in game three and this succeeded in reversing the pressure of the opening game – suddenly Jan was dictating a good portion of the rallies from the ‘t’ and Matt, trying to attack from deeper against an in-position opponent, began to leak errors. With the carrot of a game suddenly dangling Jan got all determine, chased everything down and watch in pleasant surprise (plus a little bemusement) as Matt gifted him the last two points; suddenly it was Game On. Could the fourth be the same? Well, yes. And no. It was in parts, but at other times game one made some re-appearances. Most notably from 10-all as Jan made two quick and regrettably unnecessary errors with Matt playing a good rally in between. Confidence now up the Haileybury player finished things off in style (power backhand kill, the last of many), sending Jan to a 1-15, 8-15, 15-11, 10-15 defeat.

So another 2-1 night, but against for the second time this season. And that meant only 4 points for the 2nds total, which wasn’t enough to keep us top of the Division. But we in the upper echelons with a third of the season gone, so there is plenty still to fight for.

Melbourn won 10-3

Another week, another 2-1 match. This one a win, against Radlett 4ths.

The first match on pitted club chairman Roger Woodfield (3) against the visitors skipper Jamie Goodman. Roger had drops; Jamie was fast to pick them up. An interesting contrast in styles. And in the end there was next to nothing in it, though after Jamie had shaded the first 15-13 and established a 9-3 lead in the second it did appear trouble for Roger. However he then found success crosscourting, to open up the space for his killer drops, and came back to win that game on a breaker. From then on out it was a toss-up who was going to claim the key points. Sadly for Roger it was Jamie in games three and four as he went down 13-15, 17-15, 12-15, 14-16. On another night…

Next up was Matt Walker (2), who found himself with an interesting challenge against U19 player Chloe Bhola. This was a match of mental challenges as well as physical ones. First for Matt – could he be ruthless against a young female opponent? This was swiftly answered in the affirmative as Matt correctly treated Chloe as simply human-with-racquet, got his excellent volley drops working, and fair chopped her up in game one. That, in turn, was the gauntlet thrown down to young Chloe – could she be resilient and make a fight of it? The alternative was getting embarrassed about getting hammered, which we have all seen young players fall foul off. But impressively not so her as Chloe hit harder to disrupt Matt’s volleying, succeeding in making the second and third much tighter. Indeed Matt was beginning to look a bit concerned when a run of five straight points against in the third saw him go from 12-6 up to only 12-11. However a backhand killer drop at the key time righted the ship, Matt closing things out 15-4, 15-10, 15-12, ending it 3-0. Which he was glad off as if it had gone to a fourth then Chloe’s younger legs could have become a factor.

That sent everything to Jan Brynjolffssen (1) against Ian Taylor. After some slightly odd opening exchanges, Jan winning five points in a row from 2-2 to go 7-2 up… and then losing five straight to be pegged back to 7-7, a pattern of play established itself as Ian tried to go in short and Jan chased it down, hit deep… and got a succession of unpredictable bounces out of nicks. In fact, this would be a theme for the whole contest as it proved to be Jan the vagaries of the Melbourn court vs Ian. However to get a weird bounce out of a nick you have to hit it first, and Jan was exerting lots of pressure on his opponent with his deep hitting, which got him to game two after a dicey start and then saw him pull away from 6-4 to win game three 15-9. It all added up to a 15-10, 15-10, 15-9 win, which was enough to ensure overall victory on the night for the home side.

Next up is a trip to Nuffield 5ths. Who are second in Division 4 with 36 points, to our third place with 35 (the leaders are on 37). Oooh, exciting!

Melbourn lost 12-0

Only two players, Mike and Miles.

Both somewhat (*cough*) outmatched by their Radlett counterparts.

0-12.

Enough said.

Melbourn won 10-4

The Kardiac Kids was a nickname given to the Cleveland Browns American Football team of 1980 after they had a number of dramatic finishes to their games. Melbourn Squash Club 2nds might be a rather less famous and less watched outfit, but we seem to be channelling ‘dem Browns so far this campaign – match 1 of the summer saw us win by two strings to one, both of the victories being 3-2’s and one (Moises) needing a final game tie-break and a saved match-ball against before triumphing. Week 2 was nearly, but not quite, as dramatic. 2-1 again, but the wrong way around this time, as was the 3-2 string which went against Colm. Jan at #1 had the tie-break in this match, but lost it at a key time (third game, with the score 1-1).

Would our match at Ickleford be less dramatic than those? Yes… but only marginally so. Once again it was still on a razor which club would come out on top until the very last second, even though there were no 3-2’s this time.

First on court was Moises Estrelles Navarro (3), who took on Andy Moody. Moises looked in charge in the first game as he brought out all his strengths of chasing and retrieving, breaking Andy’s game down. Only a slight loss of concentration towards the end of the game, where Moises let three points rapidly escape as he sought to win the game in style rather than simply forcing an error made the score appear close at 15-13. Game two was genuinely that tight though as it went to a tie-break as Moises began, unusually, to slow down. And when Andy edged that on a tie-break that was the writing on the wall for the Melbourn player, the next two escaping 15-9 in each case to add up to a 15-13, 14-16, 9-15, 9-15 loss. The score would have been about the same if both players had called all their strokes… but it would have taken rather less time to get there!

Next up was Matt Walker (2), taking on Andy Phillipson. This one was also exceedingly close for two games as both the first and second went to breakers. Matt was getting frustrated that he wasn’t able to impose his preferred style of play (driving exchange down the wall, get a high ball, drop volley it), feeling the play was scrappy. Too much cross court… but Andy was making it hard to straighten up. However sheer determination got Matt through the opening two, and having established a significant lead he was able to relax more into his game in the three to take it considerably more comfortably and win 18-16, 16-14, 15-9.

That put everything on the clash of Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and Jimmy Muldoon. The match started with both players probing away at each other, with some extended rallies, before each seemed to realise they were best off going for their shots and trying to end things. Unforced errors also played a significant part, Jimmy making a string of them in the latter stages of game one to had Jan the lead, only for Jan to return the favour in game two. Game three saw Jan tighten things back up again, hitting harder and straighter, and also having success in lifting the ball into Jimmy’s volleys, to establish a 2-1 lead. Jimmy dug in though, taking the lead in game four only for Jan to fight back in the latter stages to get to game ball (in this case match ball) first at 14-13. A snatched drop lost this, followed by a serve out at 15-14. Another chance came and went at 16-15, with Jimmy having his turn at 17-16 – Jan saved this with a cross-court return winner. Death or glory. Having squandered a fourth match ball at 18-17 Jan had his fifth opportunity at 19-18… and he really ought to have lost this as well, except Jimmy, up at the front wall and playing a probable winner, saw the racquet handle spin in his hand. This resulted in a flying racquet, the ball in the tin and Jan, having first ducked for cover, relieved to have won 15-11, 8-15, 15-12, 20-18.

Melbourn lost 6-9

Two teams with opening week wins clashed as the Seconds welcomed our equivalent from Letchworth to Melbourn.

First up was El Bandido, Moises Estrelles Navarro (3). He was taking on/drawing a ‘M’ on to the stomach of Paul Davidson (who knew you could do that with a racquet?!?). The pattern to come was apparent from pretty well the opening three shots of the match – Moises served, Paul went for an immediate short kill, Moises raced forward and picked it up, Paul looked concerned. And that pattern was to be repeated for much of the next half-hour… apart from the bits where Moises got a bit bored and tried to kill himself. Those didn’t go so well, but when Moises relied on his legs and his speed he took Paul’s game away from him, Moises winning 15-8, 15-8, 15-8.

At this point we spilt on to two courts, so I only know the outcome of Colm O’Gorman’s match at second string against Nishan Ramnarain second hand and by the comments of the players when they were outside the court. Which was that Colm was being Colm, keeping the rallies short, using his retrieving and counterpunching skills and looking for unlikely short reverse angles thanks to his strong wrist/adapted hurling skills. For two out of three games this worked, Colm establishing a 2-1 lead, but Nish was gradually wearing the Melbourn skipper out by looking for extended up-and-down-the-wall rallies and in games four and five a tired Colm was just failing to execute. It was still close, but it added up to a 15-10, 12-15, 15-8, 12-15, 12-15 defeat.

Going on concurrently with the second string was the top string match, which pitted Jan Brynjolffssen (1) against Jason Attwood. Both players had clearly had significant amounts of coaching in the past as this was quite a classical match, lots of rallies up and down the backhand wall. There was little in it in game one until Jan benefitted from some unexpected unforced errors from Jason to go 1-0 up. A favour Jan then returned in game two to level things up. Oops. But it wasn’t that one causing lack of sleep afterwards – no, this was the butchered chance at 14-13 in the third when Jan had a clear backhand drop shot chance to win the game… only to skew it, catch the side wall first and end up standing in the way to give away a stroke. D’Oh! Two points later it was 2-1 to Jason and despite Jan putting together four clinical rallies to open up game four with a 4-0 lead that tie-breaker in game three proved the decisive moment as Jan lost 15-12, 10-15, 14-16, 9-15.

That meant an overall 9-6 win for Letchworth – disappointing, but three good games and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening. Which, surely, is the point of County Division 4 Squash.

Melbourn won 9-5

The firsts kicked off their 2024 summer league campaign with a daunting away trip at Nuffield.

First on court, were the second strings. This pitted Jason Burgon (an honorary Melbourn team member for the second summer in a row) up against the sizeable Tim Bloomer. Tim is known around the Herts circuit for his low and hard-hitting approach, which was fairly evident in the first game as he continued to drive Jason deep. Jason was able to negate this power play with some of his tricky boasts catching Bloomer off guard to remain in the first at 7-7. A couple of errors from Jason and lucky bounces in Tim’s favour eventually swung the first game to Tim, 11-7. The second game began in much the same fashion as the first with Tim trying to pin Jason into the back corners and Jason trying to wrong-foot Tim with one of his stylish shots. As the game wore on, Tim started reading some of these shots and was able to move forward in anticipation and put Jason under pressure. Tim ultimately taking the second 11-5. Jason, now feeling a bit looser from the long drive, started the third game well and was able to get in front of Tim more often and dictate the play. With Jason moving more freely and Tim tiring, the third was nip and tuck. Unfortunately for Jason, the backhand corner was clearly working favourably for Tim and a couple of fortunate nicks helped Tim win the third 12-10.

Next up was the third string tie which saw Mike Herd take on a familiar face to the Melbourn team in Teejay Sogunro. Mike started off strongly, holding the T and keeping Teejay behind him – this allowed Mike to dictate the rallies and attack when the opportunity presented itself; resulting in Mike taking the first 11-4.  The second didn’t start as planned, with Mike losing a bit of width and Teejay taking hold of the T. Mike did well to keep in the game at 7-7, but suddenly lost his way falling to an 11-8 loss. After some advice from the chauffer for the evening (Jase) Mike went back to basics in the third, keeping Teejay in the back and commanding the rallies. This helped Mike build a 10-5 lead; only for Teejay to pull back to 10-9…Fortunately for Mike, he was able to pull out a ‘Tim Bloomer’ shot and hit a fortuitous nick to seal the third 11-9. The fourth started at a frantic pace with Mike building a 3-1 lead when a ‘discussion’ broke out between the players and marker. Fortunately for Mike this helped him concentrate even more so to develop a 7-1 lead and ultimately unassailable lead to win the fourth 11-5.

The final tie, and the one for the match, had Matt Sampson up against newcomer for Nuffield Andy Duckworth. Matt dazzling in the warmup with his vast array of shots was able to take this into the first game and saw him wrong-foot Andy on a number of occasions. With the game keenly poised at 7-7, Matt was able to put this deception to good use and close out the first 11-8. The second saw Andy come back strongly to take the second. So, there we were…1-1 in matches and 1-1 in the decider. Matt clearly feeling the effects of not having played competitively for a couple of months went on for the third and produced some great (and some not so great) squash to take the third 11-9. Could Matt seal the win 3-1 and ensure Melbourn first team had their first win in Div 1 for two seasons? Of course he could, closing out 11-8 in the fourth to take the match 2-1.

A good win to start the season!

Melbourn won 9-7

After the briefest of respites (our fault for getting to a Cup Final) the Seconds were right back in to action, albeit the somewhat more casual stuff of the Herts Summer League.

The Herts Summer League is three person sides – our team of Jan Brynjolffssen, Matt Walker and Moises Estrelles Navarro made the shortish trip down the A1 to Welwyn to take on Gosling 3rds. First up was Moises (3) against Adrian Rates… and it was quickly apparent what both players strength was – running, both fast and lots of it. Rallies were extended, the ball was pinging around and the match see-sawed as both took control and then relinquished it again. Often multiple times per point. The up-and-down nature of the contest saw Moises lose the first game having led it comfortably, but then win the second and launch a comeback of his own in the third. 2-1 up it was time for Moises to drop a game. So we were into a decider. This looked to be heading Moises way as he moved 12-8 ahead, with one particularly lung-busting rally when he made about five extraordinary retrieves before killing it off on the counter particularly memorable. But even Moises was tiring by now and this turned from four points up to match-ball down at 13-14. However a clutch of running and cautiously consistent hitting rally levelled things up, a mistake from Adrian edged Moises to match-ball instead and then a great length was too tight for Adrian to dig out and Moises had his victory! Scores were 11-15, 15-11, 15-13, 11-15, 16-14… and both players seemed spent afterwards. As you would be.

Next on court was Jan (1), who took on Matt Robinson. Again the pattern was rapidly clear as Matt had shots, and was willing to use them – anything other than getting into an extended rally! He took game one easily, helped by three total mis-hits that went for winners. Jan tried to attack more in game two to avoid a repeat, and found some excellent touch on the drop shots. That got his nose ahead, all the way to a game point at 14-13, but this wasn’t converted as Matt played a strong rally. And the match was slipping away from Jan from there, Matt winning the next two points to establish a 2-0 lead and then racing into an enormous lead at the start of the third as his trickle boast caught Jan out repeatedly. Jan tried what he could to edge back in, but it was a lost cause by a margin of 8-15, 14-16, 7-15.

So all eyes were on Matt (2) and Chris Tutton. Here there was a clear contrast in styles as Matt wanted extended rallies he could snap off with his volley drops, whereas Chris was keeping as much as possible short. Game one saw Matt predominating and looking more in control than the 15-11 score would suggest, only for errors at the start of the second to get under Matt’s skin and buoy Chris. Pegged back to 1-1 and angry about it, Matt laid it all out in game three pinning Chris deep in the court – where he didn’t want to be – and racing home with it by a distance. Keep the concentration and keep the ‘t’ position high and it will be 3-1, right? Well, no, as Chris came again to level up as Matt got a little tight with the finishing line in sight. He wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice though, putting together a strong final game that pounded Chris deep on the court, established a big lead and saw Matt home 15-11, 10-15, 15-6, 12-15, 15-11.

Melbourn lost 3-2

A long and pretty successful season for the Seconds drew to a close with a chance of glory – the Hereward Cup final against Cambridge 3rds.

Pre-Match optimism (l to r: Jan, Gareth, Kate, Matt, Colm)

Colm’s team have had a good campaign, finishing in a record high of third place in Division 3. However final opponents Cambridge had gone one better, overhauling the 2nds in the second half of the season to claim runners-up spot and promotion to Division 2. That was partly achieved by Cambridge winning both league clashes between the sides, by four strings to one (17-6 in points) at Churchill College back in the autumn and 3-2 (14-10) in a critical meeting in the penultimate round of league fixtures. So Melbourn went into the Final as second favourites… but only narrowly given how tight the league games had been… which would prove to be a very good guide for what was to come.

The first match on court was the third string encounter which pitted Gareth Jones up against Ben Knappett. This was a reprise of a league clash at Churchill that Ben had won 3-2… but Gareth seem on course to get revenge for this as he powered into a two games to love lead, putting everything together sweetly in the first and then looking in increasing command in the second. Unfortunately things changed in game three as Gareth started to vary the style that had been working, going for more kills as opposed to grinding away at Ben with power and depth. He started to miss, and with that the game changed. A bit of a time out in game four saw Ben run away with that one, which meant it was the Cambridge player who had the momentum in game five. Gareth did what he could to reverse things but by this point had lost a crucial bit of pop in his legs which resulted in him being edged out 3-2. Again. Gah!

The next match to start pitted Matt Walker (5) against Andrew Stott. This was a contrast in styles as Matt’s strengths are his deadly drop volleys, whereas Andrew plays more of a deep power game. Matt edged a tense first as both players looked a little nervous and then saw this advantage wiped out when Andrew forced him deep in the second. Game three saw Matt stepping up the court… and stepping up the accuracy in general as he avoided lose balls for Andrew to attack. This produced a comprehensive claim which had Matt seemingly in control. The fourth didn’t quite go to plan though as determination saw Andrew force Matt back a crucial quarter step from his high ‘t’ position. This made things inordinately close, with barely even more than a couple of points between the players. It got as far as a tie-break, which was massively tense as game balls and match balls were traded until… Andrew claimed it to level up at 2-2. Now the pressure was on Matt as the momentum was all in Andrew’s favour – could he swing the match around again. The answer was yes as Matt’s fitness proved the better of the two players. The fifth was never comfortable, but Matt claimed it to take out a 3-2 win and level the tie at 1-1.

After that start, would the third string on be any less dramatic? Erm, no, it wouldn’t. Not when Colm O’Gorman (4) and Peter Connaughton went at it. Peter took the first game as Colm warmed up but from then on this was in Colm’s hands as his ability to retrieve the ball, particularly to retrieve it at the very edge of reach but with some nasty spin that saw it not be attackable began to get under Peter’s skin. As long as Colm maintained self-belief in doing the hard yards and waited for Peter to attack first before counter-punching, he was on top. Being constantly cautious isn’t really Colm’s style – like many (most, nearly all?) he prefers to end some rallies quickly and save his energy… but in terms of set up that just gave Peter the chance to take a controlling position. Colm recognised this though, kept himself in check and saw things through 3-1 to put his side 2-1 to the good.

So we needed one more string for the Cup. Could Jan Brynjolffssen (2) provide it against James Buckley? The omens were not good, the pair having met twice before with James winning both. Each was a good game… but Jan really needed to get his nose ahead. He had a game ball to do so as part of a very close opening game, but James snuffed the chance out cleanly and eventually took the opening game 18-16. Jan had been living a little too much on James’ errors in game one, so attempted to up his attack in game two. This produced a better standard of Squash, but even so it remained nip-and-tuck up to 11-all. Unfortunately there is another half to the phrase “Live by the sword…” and this bite when Jan made two errors going for kills at this point to gift two critical points away. 15-11 in the second, and a long way back for the Melbourn player. This became even further as James raced out to an 11-4 lead in the third. Though Jan clawed most of this back, most of it is not ‘all’ and it finished 3-0. Taking us to two strings all.

So it all came down to the top strings, Kate Bradshaw (1) taking on Alex Holland. As would be expected this was a good match, full of lovely constructed rallies and shot-making as benefits two players north of 2500 on Squashlevels. In terms of a match-up though  the players strengths appeared to favour Alex as he was swift enough to get into the front corners and pick up Kate’s usually deadly drop shots. She still pulled off some in the first game, but it ended around 15-10 against and this prompted an idea to change strategy to one of more patient rally building. And, well, Kate tried. It was good to watch. But Alex was winning three points to her two throughout the contest, and that is untenable for victory. It was a lovely game to watch… it ended 3-0 to Cambridge, which made the final score 3-2 in their favour. ☹

So the season concludes with the Seconds just missing out again. League AND Cup. At least it give us something to aim for next season, eh? ♫Always look on the bright side of life♫

Melbourn won 4-1

“Oh, the Cup? We need to complete that, don’t we…”

After a break of a few weeks following the completion of Division 3 the Seconds were back in action at Peterborough in the Hereward Cup Semi, something the side had qualified for way back in the mists of time (Thurs 11th January was the QF date).

The Hereward is for clubs in Divisions 3 and 4 of the Cambs Leagues, which meant the 2s were a strong contender to reach the final having finished third in Div.3 in the bread-and-butter. But doing that meant seeing off a dangerous Peterborough outfit – the seconds had won both the league meetings between the sides, but each time by three strings to two, and with one of the three strings in our favour being itself a 3-2. Every string was assumed to matter, then…

The hosts got off to the quick start as Kate Bradshaw (1) found opponent Shane Maelane was not her ideal opponent – despite playing clean and proper Squash (a positive as far as Melbourn’s International star is concerned) Shane was also swift in chasing down Kate’s drops and then nimble in the front corners to counter-attack. Kate’s options were either to alter her strategy… or to attempt to double-down and go even tighter on her drop shots. She went for the later option, which resulted more in atypical misses into the tin than the winners sought. Kate’s best game was the second which she got to game point in, but when she eventually lost that on a breaker the writing was on the wall, Shane winning 3-0. Good to watch, though – nice clean lines and properly constructed rallies.

Meanwhile on the other court Jan Brynjolffssen (2) was taking on Renzo Rozza Gonzalez. The two had meet in the league at Melbourn, Jan winning 3-0 in a lung-busting game but one where he generally had more shots than Renzo. Game one suggested something along the same lines here, only for the Peterborough player to strike back to make it a game-all. That leveller came courtesy of a slow start from Jan – game three saw a medium start and a good finish as the score went from 5-5 to 14-5 in his favour (eventually won 15-6). This accompanied a change-up in tactics, the work and extended rallies of the first two game having slowed Renzo’s foot speed meaning the front corners were now open for Jan’s drops. A lightening start to game four to establish a 5-0 lead was consolidated through this to see Jan home for a 3-1 win. One string all.

Second on the glassback was a clash of the captains as Colm O’Gorman (3) took on Carlos Correia. To a large extent this match was about Carlos, as many of his matches are – his touch and attacking shots are exceptional; his movement not so much. Colm had to start rallies switched up, keep himself high and trust that counter-drops didn’t need to be stone dead, merely up. Though ‘merely up’ undersells the difficulty in getting some of Carlos’ kills from unlikely positions back! The first saw Colm somewhat caught in the spiders web, losing it on an extended tie-break, but from the second on the Melbourn skip had his opposite numbers measure – it was never easy, no rhythm was possible and the constant lunging is exhausting, but Colm overcame all of that to win each remaining game 15-10 or thereabouts to claim a 3-1 success. 2-1 to Melbourn.

Following on from Jan on the ‘other’ court was Matt Walker (5) and Pierre Caruso. Pierre has some nice shots on him, and gives the ball a decent pop, but from the opening exchanges it was clear Matt had the stronger game – it was just a question of whether he could deliver it. The game one mark was 7/10: good enough, some errors but a surge towards the end got Matt home 15-8. Game two was down to 6/10 as the error rate climbed and Pierre came into it. But when things got clutch towards the end Matt opted to play solidly, and proved he could win rallies by driving down the wall as well as by his trademark cut-out volleys. Little in it (15-12 or so) but a two game lead was a major one. Especially as Matt was then on fire in game three. This would score as 9/10 only due to falling 2-1 down early on and needing two goes at match ball. In between those two it was near perfection as Matt moved beautifully, cutting off Pierre’s attempts to push him deep, and dropped and volley-dropped superbly. There was one backhand drop at 13-2 that was breathtaking – hit with pace from the back of the court directly into the nick when it fizzed out along the floor. Superb. And 3-1 on strings, so Melbourn were in the final.

This meant the final match on was a dead rubber, though Gareth Jones (3) and Josh Filmore didn’t know this when they got underway as the fifth string game was still going. This was a last chance for a Melbourn 2nds player to take Josh on as the kid (and his Dad) are imminently moving abroad… and when Josh re-appears he won’t be Under 13 anymore and is basically certain to be too rich for Melbourn 2nds blood (Josh is no.3 in England in his age group!). Gareth knew this was his one and only chance to get a win over this particular opponent – he hit the court running, pounding away at his kill shots and rushing Josh into errors. This saw Gareth take the first comfortably and the second slightly closer, with a bit of a wobble emotionally from Josh mid-game. Gareth’s hopes were high that Josh would fold mentally in the third (… its happened before) but the opposite happened, which is a sign of the youngster’s increasing maturity. Instead he dug in, reduced the errors and got on the board as Gareth’s own focus drifted and with that the game changed. Josh was now confident and cut the mistakes out totally in the fourth which he won all-ends up. Gareth had been pegged back to 2-2 and in trouble. But Gareth has lots of experience he can fall back on, which meant he could turn game five into a battle. An all-the-way battle as it went to a tie-break. Both players had match balls, but in the end it was Gareth who triumphed 3-2, celebrated… and then was confronted by sniggering teammates to tell him it was unnecessary effort as we were already into Saturday’s final either way. But a win, one to remember if and when Josh appears on the pro circuit, and a 4-1 overall success for Melbourn.

Melbourn lost 17-9

The final match of the league season sent the Seconds to Hemingford Grey to play the side a place behind them in the Division 3 table, Hunts County 3rds.

The match would decide third place in the final table – the Seconds final chance of finishing runners-up and being promoted to Division 2 expiring when Cambridge 3rds had won their game earlier in the week. Hunts, meanwhile, were assured of at least fourth going into the final round of games, and were just about within striking distance of overtaking us to claim third… but they need to win by 13 points to do that. This meant the Seconds target from the evening was 8 points, as that (due to the maximum of 20 from a fixture) would be enough for an all-time best finishing place.

The first match on pitted Sean Hamilton (5) against Billy Bremner. Sean appeared on his way to a comfortable opening game when he built an 11-4 lead, only for a loss of focus to prove just how little there was between the players. Despite Sean digging in after losing 8 consecutive points to force the game to a break, he somehow found himself a game down. Focusing on what had worked (pushing Billy back) saw Sean win the next two, but now he was in a battle. And Billy is a wily customer. This was most notable by the Hunts player employing an unusual body serve that repeatedly cramped Sean up. Whatever Sean tried, such as adjusting his position to be literally in Billy’s half of the court, he couldn’t make the space to play as he would rush back to where left comfortably close to the wall before Billy had actually served. Worst of both worlds. This particular play probably only generate four or five points for Billy but that was enough to the Hunts player to take the fourth narrowly, and then amid tense scenes (including one unlikely off-boast return winner from Sean from another handcuffing serve!) the same in the last. Sean exited the court hugely frustrated with himself at somehow losing 16-18, 15-9, 15-10, 13-15, 13-15. This, however, did provide two of the eight points Melbourn were after.

Next door on the glass back Jamie Ware (4) was taking on Sam Hewson. Jamie started ice cold and looking nervous, losing the opening game heavily, but found his way into things in the second. This also went against him, but not in the same one-sided manner, which meant he was in the game. The third saw Jamie finally begin to produce the Squash we know he is capable of, getting himself back into the contest, but ultimately being two games down was untenable against a younger player and Jamie was beaten 3-15, 12-15, 15-12, 8-15. But that third game, dredged out against the odds after how the opener had gone, took us up to three from the evening.

Following on from Jamie’s match Matt Walker (3) took on Marcus Lattimer. The first game saw Matt mostly dictating the play, getting ahead but then wobbling slightly as the line approached. However his lead was enough to see him one up. But the seeds of the second were planted in the first as this one started closer and once again Matt was on the edgy side as the conclusion approached. That was enough for Marcus to take advantage and level. Game three saw Matt steel himself to play the drop volleys that are the cornerstone of his game. Marcus was quick around the court, but not quick enough for these, and with that Matt was 2-1 up. Was this our first win of the evening? No, because the fourth was tighter and once it got close Matt got risk averse again. He hoped Marcus would miss to see him home, but Marcus didn’t. It went to a tie-break, but when this went against Matt the writing was on the wall – he eventually lost 15-12, 13-15, 15-6, 14-16, 10-15. Another one that had got away from a Melbourn player (on another night, on another night…), but also two more points to the total – we were up to five now.

That meant skipper Colm O’Gorman (2) could deliver the decisive points if he was to see off Rick Watson. Colm did it. And how. The key shot in this match was Colm’s backhand volley drop, which was absolutely on fire – the balcony agreed at the conclusion that he made around 10 and missed only one. And these were not played with margin for error either but millimetres above the tin and straight into the nick. Rick is a quick player around the court, but these were far too good for him. As was Colm’s general play, when he constructed the rallies to his game-plan – drive Rick back and then step in to kill. Apart from a brief spell going off-message in game two when well up (14-6) this was one-way traffic… and even that one ended with Colm finally get a chance to play one of his killer drops-shots to see off the game 15-13 and generally break Rick’s spirit. Colm won 15-8, 15-13, 15-10, which took Melbourn up to 8 points on the evening and limited Hunts to 17 max – third place was ours.

Everything was settled before the 1st strings, Jan Brynjolffssen and Sean Brodderick, took to the court – Hunts had the win on the night, Melbourn had third in the table. So it was just about the head-to-head. Both Jan and Sean have been around the Cambs Squash scene for a while, but somehow they had never played before. So the start of game 1 was a case of feeling each other out… and for Jan looking for some kind of feel on his serve. Sean had his measure, especially in the latter part of the game, winning it comfortably and the second even more straightforwardly as Jan fought hard but was always a step behind in the rallies. Game three saw Jan take a “throw the kitchen sink” approach, setting up the court, going for his shots and generally looking to cut things out as much as possible. This worked exceptional well, pulling a game back… but also served as a template for Sean to do the same in reverse as he waltzed away with game four to complete a 3-1 win. The game scores (Jan first) were 11-15, 7-15, 15-7, 3-15.

And that meant the evening ended up 17-9 in Hunts favour. Which, when added to the league table, left the Seconds third out of ten in the Division 3 table, with 246 points having won 12 of our 18 games. All of these are team records. It was a good season…

Melbourn won 16-9

Melbourn 1sts rounded off their Division 1 campaign, or at least the regular season part of it, with a 16-9 win at bottom-of-the-table Ely 1sts.

Gareth Jones (5) made an impressive debut for the 1sts as he recorded a straight games win over Lee Moll, overcoming initial nerves to play some of his best Squash in the third. Ely struck back though as Kate Bradshaw (4) fell 3-2 to Jack Woor despite Bradshaw twice recovering from a game deficit, quickly followed by Mark Oppen (3) being beaten 3-0 by Jack’s brother Jamie Woor.

Vinod Duraikan (2) pulled the side back level pegging with a solid 3-1 win over Chris Purkiss, but it still looked like the 1sts were heading for defeat when Chris Shaw (1) fell two games to love down to Ben Mitchell. Shaw fought back though, winning the next three 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 to give Melbourn overall victory.

The win kept the 1sts 8th in the table, but the side are only now 4 points ahead of March, who have a game left whilst the 1sts have completed all their fixtures. Dropping to a final position of 9th seems almost certain, and that will mean winning a play-off with the runners-up from Division 2 to retain top flight status for another season.

Melbourn lost 10-14

The 2nds season got to its crunch game with this one in the penultimate round of fixtures against promotion rivals Cambridge 3rds – the sides came into the match third (Melbourn) and second in the league respectively, with 11 points between them. That meant the 2nds needed a good win to take to go into the final week with a good chance of second spot.

With such an important match a strong lead-off was asked for – skipper Colm O’Gorman (4) provided it against the tricky skills of Sanjay Porja. Sanjay’s ability to boast from seemingly anywhere, and his clear intent to keep rallies short are not exactly Colm’s favourite attributes in an opponent (find me a player who likes playing against this style!) but he initially did well coping, winning the opening game comfortably. However, mistakes and bad choices began to creep in – Colm relies on the wrong-footer to put the ball away, and when an opponent holds their position all his instincts go awry! Game two was the crucial one in the game as it got inordinately tight, going to a tie-break, and then on, and on. Chances came both ways, but mostly to Colm and he was the man who eventually claimed it by the time it was more like a game-and-a-half. That probably did for Sanjay’s chances of winning, but he still made it tough in game three before Colm rounded off a 15-8, 22-20(!!), 15-13 success.

The first match on the other court was the top strings, as Kate Bradshaw (1) had to play and scoot. She found herself pitted against James Buckley, who is fast into the front corners but who has the occasional odd error in him. That wasn’t the greatest match-up against Kate’s preferred style of utilising her superb racquet head control to take the ball early and cut it in for drops and volley drops. However sheer willpower made it work in game one, but not the second as the mistakes built up. Kate seemed back in complete control in the third as she raced into a 12-4 lead, only for a focus wobble to see this one become close – however she closed it out. This was a sign of things to come though as Kate tried to push for the line in each of the fourth and fifth games, starting well but seeing the tape getting ever away from her as she went down 15-11, 12-15, 15-11, 13-15, 13-15. 

So 1-1 after two strings, but Matt Walker (5) was a strong favourite against Toni Coppolaro as Matt is a much more technically clean Squash player. For a game it went to plan, Matt cruising through the opener comfortably, but Toni has been on the scene for years and he knows how to get under opponents skin. He also has a range of power short kills when the ball becomes loose, which he began to induce Matt into providing. This got increasingly under Matt’s skin – how is it becoming tight against a player like this?!? – but he kept on top of the frustration just enough (aided by some very helpful unusual errors form Toni on points late in the second) to wrap up a 15-7, 15-12, 15-13 win.

We needed one more, then. Could Jan Brynjolffssen (2) provide it against Christopher Thorpe. The opening half of the first game was promising as Jan built a nice lead and was finding some decent shots. However Chris upped his level towards the conclusion of the game, turning things around to go one up instead of one down. This was rather instructive as it said Chris had an extra gear when he needed it. We saw much the same in game two, Jan getting cautious late on when leading 13-10 whilst by contrast Chris stepped it up. 2-0. Jan’s head was down by now, losing his way in the opening stages of the third to sink into an 11-4 deficit. Surely the end? Probably, but that eased Jan up and he began to play rattling off a string of points to claw things back to 9-11 and then 11-12. However a tinned backhand drop at this point that Jan would ordinarily make was the death knell, as he fell to a 13-15, 13-15, 11-15 defeat.

So it all came down to the last match on. This pitted Gareth Jones (3) against Gift Nuka, with yet another contrast of styles – Gareth’s attacking approach, with his power kills and chop drops against Gift’s game, which is based on him being super-fit and able to run everything down. For the first two games Gareth prevailed by a distance as he was still feeling fresh and moving well to Gift’s digs. But things turned around in game three as Gareth’s movement slowed a fraction and his patience dwindled with it. Game four was the pivotal one – Gift had an early lead, but Gareth was coming back and had the finishing tape in sight. He had the score at 12-all, and controlled this rally, forcing a mishit from Gift deep on his forehand. Unfortunately either Gareth’s focus was on the wrong thing (where Gift was rather than the ball), or his feet were tired as he didn’t position himself close enough to cope with mishit generating odd spin that made the ball drop shorter than expected – the result was what felt like it should have been an easy kill instead ending up as an air shot. Two points later the game was done. As was Gareth, who was out-on-his feet in the fifth. He eventually lost 15-7, 15-9, 5-15, 12-15, 3-15.

On another night either of the 3-2’s might have broken our way – if either had the final score would have been 16-8 in our favour, and the battle for runner-up spot would have stood as very alive for the final round of fixtures. Neither doing so meant we lost 14-10 instead and are now 15 points adrift of Cambridge with only 20 left for each team to go for. It isn’t totally over… but it looks like Division 3 for another season for the 2nds now.

Melbourn lost 3-20

An injury-depleted 1sts suffered their third five strings to nil defeat in a row as they went down 3-20 at that outpost of the Cambridgeshire Leagues, Bedford (erm…), which is where Towers 1sts are based.

Melbourn were heading for defeat in this one after Mike Herd (3), Miles Jeanneret (4) and Mark Oppen (5) all fell to 3-1 defeats, Mike going down 11-5, 5-11, 4-11, 4-11 to Bruce St. Ledger, Miles falling 11-6, 9-11, 3-11, 9-11 to Ian Thomas and Mark being beaten 3-11, 8-11, 13-11, 5-11 by Jonathan Towers.

That meant Chris Shaw (1) and Vinod Duraikan (2) were in search of crumbs – but these weren’t on offer either as Chris lost 8-11, 8-11, 10-12 to Steven Davies and Vinod was beaten 8-11, 7-11, 4-11 by Steve Evans.

The loss meant the 1sts remained 8th in the Division 1 table, but now just six points ahead of March 1sts, who have two matches left to play to our side’s one. The recent run of negative results means finishing in Cambs Division 1’s relegation play-off place seems increasingly likely…

Melbourn won 16-7

The matches are coming in fits and starts for the 2nds at the moment – having had a 17 day gap between the previous two games (down to differing home match nights, plus an additional 7 days off for school half-term (gotta get the Skiing in!)) we were on just a four day turn around for this trip to take on Cambridge Uni 2nds.

The Uni Sports Centre is a nice venue with five glass-back courts… and it was also a busy one when we arrived to find Newmarket 2nds waiting and looking for their opponents. Er, what? It turned out the Uni 3rds were also at home in Division 4 on the same night – it was going to be a busy one. And initially a confusing one as no-one was sure which courts the two teams were meant to be on. Once that was sorted the other immediately noticeable thing was how noisy it was. This was due to the court walls only extending as high as the out line – above that is netting. And not noise-deadening netting (if such a bizarre concept exists!). Everything from the four other courts is audible as you play.

But enough moaning about trivialities, what of the action? Well, first up (in a break from tradition) was Jan Brynjolffssen (1). He was taking on Duncan Greenshields, last see by us going down 3-1 to Gareth at Melbourn in the opening half of the season. A few things were swiftly apparently. i) It was warm on the courts, ii) the ball dug out of Jan’s bag (not new, just available as no new ones were present) was apparently made of very bouncy rubber, and iii) both players were really happy playing a long driving game of attrition. We were in for some extended lung-busting rallies, often played up-and-down the backhand wall. Which made for a very clean looking game. This suited Jan, who swiftly built an 8-3 lead in the opening game. He then lost focus for a while, made some mistakes, and had to battle to convert this into a lead. But this was managed. This pattern was more or less repeated in game three, with game two done with only a minor mid-game wobble. Basically the opening pattern was maintained throughout as Jan won 15-13, 15-9, 15-13.

The first match on the other court (… of the courts that we were using) pitted our Dear Leader Colm O’Gorman (3) against Brandon McBride. Once again the patterns were swiftly apparent – Colm was the steadier and more accurate player, Brandon was a Tasmanian Devil of action as he blurred around the court chasing Colm’s shots down, especially his drops… but Brandon also had a chunk of Taz’s over-exuberance when he calmness was required to put the ball away. It came down to who was going to make the most mistakes – would it be Colm, desperately seeking a way to end rallies (he later said something along the lines of “I hate matches where I can’t kill it. It makes me feel very unsteady”), or Brandon being too loose when he got his openings. For the first game the answer was Colm making the errors [intriguingly this game has been blanked from Colm’s memory by the time we reach the Pembroke College bar!], but a more steely approach saw the second game turned completely on it’s head to level things up, and the large margin of that gave Colm the belief he needed that the patient approach, whilst painful on the lungs, was the correct one – yes, it sometimes needed five kill shots when he would strongly have preferred to play just one, but keep going for them and eventually, eventually, Brandon would fail to get one back. The strategy worked to the tune of a 14-16, 15-6, 15-12, 15-10 win.

Two match down and two to the good – Matt Walker (4) had the chance to complete the job against Oliver Johnson. The two players started on fire on the backhand drop shot, with the first four rallies of the match all ending with stone dead efforts and about 10 of the first 15 exchanges also finishing the same way. The game-plan of both was very similar it seemed – that meant it came down to execution. This was excellent news for Matt as his backhand volley drop is a think of wonder. Time and again he played it, made it, and that was getting under the skin of his young opponent, a player clearly used to his speed being high enough to chase down opponents kills. Having shaded the first Matt took complete command in the second… or rather Oliver lost his way totally as his frustrations got the better of him. That this was unrepresentative of the level between the players was soon evident as game three became nip-and-tuck. Matt was mostly behind through this, never by more than a point or two, but also almost consistently that. Whenever he closed, Oliver would find a solid rally to get his nose in front again. From behind the court one could tell that Matt was getting tense, knowing that if it became 2-1 there was every chance of the match becoming a real hot potato… but he dug in, saved a key point at game ball at 13-14 (with a backhand volley drop) and then closed things out two points later with, yes, you’ve guessed it, a backhand volley drop! Matt won 15-11, 15-3, 16-14.

The wins in the first three strings on court meant we had the 5 bonus points for winning the night overall tucked into our bags, but how many more could we add to the league total? That was something that mattered as we trailed second-in-the-table Cambridge Squash Club 3rds by 9 points going into Round 16 of matches, and they had a fixture they were highly likely to win away to bottom side Kimbolton. So there was still plenty for Sean Hamilton (5) and Gareth Jones (2) to play for.

Sean was underway first, up against Arjun Raykumar. After some initial early sparring Arjun took charge of the opening game as he found a nagging length from lofted shots that Sean was allowing to drop, in the hope they would pop out and he could get a comfortable balance to drive the ball. A forlorn hope as all that happened was the ball stayed tight and Sean had no shot. Game two saw Sean start to push himself up the court and take the ball on the full, which was key to him competing well with Arjun. This allowed Sean to establish a good lead in the game (If I remember correct it was 11-6 at one stage)… but as the dénouement hoved into view Sean’s discomfort in taking the aerial ball on combined with nerves about seeing the game out, and that meant he started to let it drop again. And that turned things on its head dramatically. Now two behind Sean found form again at the start of the third, taking on the volleys, punching the ball deep and staying calm when Arjun produced good digs out of the back conners. Controlling the ‘t’ worked very well as Sean pulled a game back… but this proved to be the limit of his accomplishments on the night as Arjun was back on it from game four, producing a high-quality display that was just too loopy and accurate for Sean’s blood. Sean lost 7-15, 12-15, 12-15, 4-15.

The final match of the evening pitted Gareth against home skipper Patrick Nickols. Gareth has been in great form this season, winning 10 times out of 12 coming into this match, something he looked to have a chance of adding to after a hard-fought, but good and patient opening game broke narrowly in his favour. This nice start proved to be rather a false dawn though as Patrick turned out to be very good… and just very solid in his movement and shot choices. Gareth began to struggle to find an exit from rallies, which led to him turning to old (un)reliable, the kill from a defensive position. This is a high risk, high reward shot, which can produce strings of kills from unlikely positions to the exasperation of Gareth’s opponents… but on other days it can also lead to a flurry of unforced errors. This was one of those ‘other’ days! It all added up to a 15-13, 8-15, 7-15, 4-15 defeat and a forlorn Gareth contemplating the effect this would have on his SquashLevels ranking, which he has repeatedly got to within a whisker of 2000 but never quite managed to turn that first digit over.

Melbourn lost 4-20

The 1sts last all five strings for the second week in a row as they were beaten 20-4 by league leaders Stamford 1sts.

Mike Herd (3) came the closest to claiming a win as he built a two games to one lead over Jon Hand, a solid and experienced Division 1 player, but Mike was ultimately to lose 3-2. Miles Jeanneret (4) and Kate Bradshaw (5) also won a game to contribute a game to the team’s score, the second of their match in each case, but both fell 3-1 to Eden Spooner and Simon Morris repsectively.

Chris Shaw (1) and Vinod Duraikan (2) were both beaten 3-0, Chris going down to Callum McGurk and Vinod to Neil Steedman as Stamford maintained their title push and the 1sts hovered precariously close to the relegation play-off – Melbourn currently sit seventh in the table, with a 21 point advantage over current occupants of the danger place (March 1sts), but March have a game more to play and with the a maximum of 20 points per fixture the season promises an exciting conclusion…

Melbourn won 18-8

After what felt like an extremely long break, but was only actually a week off for half term and a difference in home nights thing* the 2nds were back in action at our old friends from Kimbolton 1sts.

The two teams have had many battles down the years, in these guises and in Kimbolton’s old association with the St. Neots club… until the Leisure Centre there proved too inflexible to continue with team squash. These have mostly come in Division 4 recently, but we got promoted back in 2020, i.e. just before the pandemic, and Kimbolton followed us up last season. However, as we also found, the jump from Division 4 to Division 3 is rather high, and Kimbolton were struggling at the foot of the table ahead of this game.

Despite that there was some concern amongst our side as we were missing plenty – Jan, who has played as low as fourth string this season, was down to play #1 on this evening whilst Matt W, who played #5 in the clash between the sides in the opening half of the season, was at #3 in the return. Clearly this was going to make a difference to our level, but it would be just enough to make for a close and fun clash rather than too much for Melbourn to overcome? It proved to be the former… but my word was it tight.

As some may know the proper order for team matches (as used in the County Championships and so on) is not 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 but rather 5, 3, 1, 4, 2. That ensure the first string is always a ‘live’ rubber, as you want nominally the best match of the night to be. Well, we got closer to that order tonight… expect it was basically in reverse: 4, 2, 5, 3, 1! If it had been the proper way around things would have been truly dramatic as strings 2 and 4 produced the most even and impossible to guess the outcome of contests of the evening – if they had been the last two the nerves would have been seriously jangling.

Jamie Ware (4) took on Andy Rettie and initially struggled to cope with Andy’s pace and ability to chop the play up in the front court. Jamie looked heavy-legged at times in responding to this. Still, game 1 was close, but it ended up in a tie-break loss. Game 2 was more of the same, but more so and Jamie was 2-0 down with things looking bleak. However, in game 3, he began to play the sort of deep hitting, harder running game that suited him more than Andy. Cue a game back. The fourth was the key – once again things got close and once again Jamie looked in trouble. Particualrly when the score got to 10-all, 11-all, 12-all. Soon he was just two points from defeat. Being so close to losing sparked the fighting spirit though and Jamie was now moving at full pace and intensity – one epic rally of chasing at around 14-all was particularly impressive. Jamie was never match ball down, got through the game in a breaker, and now that his legs were going properly he took complete charge of the decider to win 14-16, 10-15, 15-9, 17-15, 15-6.

Things were no less dramatic on the opposing court where Colm O’Gorman (2) was taking on Graham Uff. Graham showed some excellent retrieving and nice touch in the early stages, with Colm’s game a little bit off, those mistakes seeing game one escape. It was more like the usual dogged O’Gorman in game two… but Graham’s tail was also up and he claimed it narrowly to lead 2-0. Colm is always in a battle between one side that wants to says “this hurts, it’s too difficult” and another that says “Chase everything! Just chase it, if you do you never know what might happen”. This obstinance surfaced in game three, which was again tight as anything but Colm wasn’t going to give it away easily and he ground it out. Buoyed by getting one back Colm produced his best game of the night in the fourth to cruise through, with his trademark hold-the-flick-cross drops wrong-footing Graham repeatedly. He carried this form into the fifth to rattle out to an 11-6 lead… but then dropped the intensity and saw this come back to 11-10. One key point to 12-10, but another lost straight after: 12-11. However Colm was keeping his head with a tight drop to get to 13-11 and then another good kill to make it 14-12 – two match balls. He converted the first with a squeeze that Graham dug out desperately but sent out to record another comeback from 0-2 as he Colm won 10-15, 13-15, 15-13, 15-6, 15-12.

The next match underway pitted Sean Hamilton (5) against Adam Jessup. Sean had been talking in the car on the way to the match about how he doesn’t enjoy playing players who are all flicks and kills… so there was a bit of concern when we figured out who his opponent was because Adam is all touch shots, attacking and short rallies. For a game Sean struggled with this but once he adjusted to playing into the open spaces and making Adam run into the back corners things turned around dramatically. The second game was absolutely one-way traffic and the third nearly as much. Game four was a bit tighter as Sean began to press for the finish and went back to trying to kill rather than simply grinding, but he always had the upper hand still and never really looked unconfident, winning it to wrap up a 12-15, 15-3, 15-6, 15-10 success.

Two old rivals met at when Matt Walker (3) took on Dave Parker. Matt has usually had Dave’s number in these meetings as his game style of low crisp driving and deadly cut-out volley drops is kryptonite to Dave’s hard-working approach – for once on this evening it the was the Melbourn who was looking to shorten the rallies and the Kimbolton one wanting to extend them. And, well, not much more to say on this one as it followed the pattern of lots of Matt-Dave games before – Matt always had control and the lead, even if he could never fully shake Dave off. But for all the clinging on Matt was never anything other than on course for his fifth successive win and seventh from nine matches this season as he completed a 15-9, 15-9, 15-11 success.

The two comebacks from 0-2 and the two more straightforward wins that followed took the pressure off Jan Brynjolffssen (1) prior to his match with Nigel Harper. And that was a good job for Melbourn as Nigel was in devilish form, taking full advantage of his knowledge of the Kimbolton courts to keep himself in front of Jan, dictating play. Despite the occasional inspired bit of guesswork to chase down what ought to have been stone dead drop shots Jan spent the first game playing catch up, without succeeding. 0-1. The second game was the crucial one of the match as Jan found a bit more rhythm, though he was still struggling with Nigel’s high looping serve to his backhand. This one went to an extended tie-break and if Jan could have won it, if, if… but Nigel was 2-0 up at the end. Jan had a much better third game, finding greater width on his serve to keep Nigel away from dominating from the return and that was enough for a significant turnaround, only for things to turn straight back as Nigel’s own serve went to new levels of loop and accuracy as he raced away with game four to complete a 3-1 win. Jan lost 12-15, 16-18, 15-9, 4-15.

* - our last game, a home one was on Monday 12th Feb, i.e. the Monday of the w/c 12/2, this one on Kimbolton’s home evening of Thursdays was on 29/2 but was the match of w/c 26/2. So over two and a half weeks between them… but still, technically, only one week off!

Melbourn lost 4-20

Melbourn 1sts suffered something of a reality check as they were beaten in all five strings by Cambridge University 1sts in their Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1 match.

Melbourn had been on a good spell of form since Christmas, accumulating 61 points out of a possible 100, a run that had lifted them into midtable and above the student side. However that order was reversed as the Uni won from the top to the bottom of the order.

Three Melbourn players contributed points to their overall total, Chris Shaw (1) taking a game of Benjamin Adams before losing 3-1, Kate Bradshaw (5) managing the same against Calum Harvey. Melbourn skipper Mark Oppen was the closest of his side to a win on the night, leading Ellie White by two games to one before losing 3-2. Vinod Duraikan (2) and Miles Jeanneret (3) fell 3-0 to Anant Gupta and Raphie Reeves respectively.

Melbourn slip to seventh in the table on the back of the 20-4 loss as the Uni moved back past them to reclaim sixth in the standings.

Melbourn lost 9-15

Supposedly luck will even out over time. Now I don’t believe this is actually true, but let’s go with it for now as an explanation of how the 2nds, off the back of two 3-2 wins that included one string won 3-2, ended up losing this game 2-3 with one string ending 2-3 against!

What would turn out to be a weird and uncomfortable night got off to a discombobulating start as Jan Brynjolffssen built a 15-3, 12-6 lead over Stephen Axford… only for Cambridge’s skipper to pop his head over the balcony to say they had got their order wrong and Stephen was their no.4 and not their no.3! After a brief pause and a consideration of “what now??” it was decided that Jan and Stephen’s (non-)match hadn’t been physical enough to make playing the right people impossibly challenging. So it was a reset and redo.
That meant Jan (3) taking on Nick Askew instead. For two games this went very nicely as Jan absorbed Nick’s power game and counter-punched him into deep tight corners with mistakes flowing as a result. Leading 2-0 and with a game-and-a-half already in his legs Jan wanted to wrap things up quickly, but a mixture of him overpushing and Nick changing his tactics to hit with less force but much greater accuracy allowed the Cambridge player to build a substantial lead in the third (11-3 at one point). Jan began to close this, which was obviously making Nick tense, but a key point at 10-13 went to the Cambridge player and he round things off to his audible delight.
The fourth was very back and forth until a good run saw Jan win 8 points out of 11 to lead 12-9. With the finishing line in sight and aware that the lactic was building he got a bit tight and conservative, which Nick seized on to turn things around again to reach game point first. A good depth in this rally generated a loose ball that was inviting for a backhand volley drop kill. Jan went all out for the shot, putting hearts in mouths (especially his own) as the ball sailed towards the front wall, but it found exactly the right spot: 14-all. A deep tight backhand drive in the next generated an error and a match ball, which was converted with an ace as Nick pushed all the way up to the service line, very central, to take it early… and Jan sent the ball around him by aiming for the nick in the service box and again precisely finding his target. That completed a 15-9, 15-7, 10-15, 16-14 win.

Whilst all this was happening things were equally dramatic, though along rather more traditional lines, between Kate Bradshaw (1) and Hamish MacKenzie next door. Squashlevels indicated that a tight match was to be expected, with Hamish shading it in the end. Spot on as it turns out, but a lot of sweat was shed before that outcome was reached! Game one went the Cambridge player’s way as he kept his nose in front and pushed Kate deep enough for her attacking shots to be just ever so slightly ineffective. However Kate fought back, and was as they say “on it” in games two and three, holding a high ‘t’ and pushing off powerfully to cut balls out at the midcourt. This meant she was in the attacking position which is where she is deadly – Hamish later commented “She didn’t miss a drop all night!” The games were tight, but Kate was 2-1 up and an upset win seemed possible. Sadly it didn’t quite last as Hamish, realising he couldn’t afford to allow Kate to intercept on the service line, put both more stick and more variety on his drives. That got the Melbourn player turned into the back corners again, where her game is less effective. Not ineffective, as anyone caught out by that deadly backhand drop shot played from basically on the back wall will attest, but with an extra bit of flight the opponent has slightly more chance to make a retrieve from the front corner. Fine margins, but when the match finishes 3-2 and the game scores are (Kate first) 12-15, 15-13, 15-13, 9-15, 12-15 fine margins are all there are between the two players!

Second on to Court 1 was Aidan Hird (4), with Stephen Axford returning to the fray to play the player he was supposed to be facing! After some initially nervous rallies a spell of cleaner play from Aidan saw him recover from 2-4 down to establish a 9-5 lead in the opening game. Those demons are never far away though and a burst of errors made things tight again… only for Stephen to offer a gift back to the other way at 8-10 that was of critical importance to getting Aidan feeling OK and over the line. Game two saw Aidan trying to hit deeper as his attempted kills were being picked up on the service line. However he took the pace right off to do it, and instead Stephen was intercepting, still at the service line! This was less effective from Aidan’s perspective (more so from Stephen’s) and meant the Cambridge player raced out to a 6-1 lead in the second. Aidan gritted his teeth from here, winning in two or three point bunches and almost never letting more than a single one go. It was hard, hard work but it turned things around to get him two ahead. The third saw another change in style, this time to the right pattern – hit to deep but hit HARD, taking Stephen’s time away. Some initial doubts were present about this strategy, leading to an initial 4-6 deficit, but once Aidan committed and realised it was going to work he finally began to relax and play Squash near the level we see from him in practice. An 11-3 burst of points followed as he wrapped up a 15-10, 15-12, 15-9 win.

Aidan’s victory had us 2-1 up, but that was about to become 2-2 when Will Bradshaw (5) was presented with his nightmare style of opponent, embodied by Cambridge skipper Jonny Hughes. Jonny has a technique all of his own devising, the eyeball test marking it as unconventional and unlikely to work, especially when put against Will’s classical, coached approach. This undersells Jony though as for all its funkiness his method works pretty well (or he wouldn’t be playing County Division 3 Squash!) and being experienced he knows where his strengths and weaknesses lie - that made him determined not to play an up-and-down the wall game against Will that Will would win! Play on your own terms, etc.
It came down to who could impose their style on their opponent, which is a scenario that many Juniors struggle with – basically Jonny appreciated that this was how the game would be won and lost whereas Will was just playing Squash! End result was Jonny repeatedly breaking the game up, hitting the ball to unconventional angles, being a tall bloke who was somewhat in the way and generally making things feel bitty and unlikely. That denied Will the rhythm he needed to establish his patterns. A masterclass of an experienced adult getting under a talented youngster’s skin and winning a match where the kid was arguably the ‘better’ player but the adult was unquestionably the more effective one on the night. Will lost 9-15, 8-15, 9-15 and was a rather frustrated and forlorn figure at the end of it. ☹

So it all came down to the second string, which pitted Liam Murphy against Peter Connaughton. And… I’m not sure what to say about this game, because it went very badly from Liam’s perspective. There were few signs of the problems to come in the opening game which Liam won 15-6, utilising all his considerable attributes of fitness, patience and core strength to retrieve absolutely everything and completely neutralise Peter’s game. The second appeared to be heading the same way as Liam rattled out to a 7-2 lead… but ‘rattled’ is the key word here as Peter then found a few nicks, which made the game closer.
Liam, somewhat misled by the opening game into believing he should be winning easily, started to lose his focus over these ‘lucky’ winners for his opponent. Loss of focus quickly led to mistakes from Liam’s racquet as his patience evaporated (‘I’ve got to kill this before he get YET ANOTHER nick’). This was disastrous against a player like Peter, who is deeply calm – Liam was making unforced errors to gift Peter points, but Peter wasn’t about to reciprocate. And rather than this being a brief interlude it became a vicious circle, only getting worse to the point where Liam had lost it completely by game four, resulting in a conduct warning after his rage against his own failing game went too far. It all added up to a 15-6, 11-15, 13-15, 7-15 defeat that also gave Cambridge overall victory.

Melbourn lost 8-16

Fresh off the back of a key win against March last week the 1sts travelled to Churchill College to take on Cambridge 1sts.

The home side are involved in a tight four-way battle to win the County title this season – they came into this game in fourth place, but only 8 points adrift of then leaders Hunts County. 8 points is a very slender advantage in a league that awards up to 20 points per round. The pressure was therefore all on Cambridge, whilst our boys, with their 30 point advantage on the bottom two (courtesy of that 20-1 win over March), were able to play with freedom.

The result was a very tight match… both overall and at each string. Every single encounter included at least one tie-break game with each string having the potential to go the other way. Melbourn held the upper hand at the top of the order as Matt Sampson (1) claimed a 3-2 win against Ali Dawson (11-3, 11-13, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7) and Chris Shaw (2) came through a closer match with Stefan Ranoszek than the 3-0 final score in his direction indicates, cf. the “at least one tie-break” thing; in this case the second as Chris won 11-8, 13-11, 11-7.

Cambridge struck back in the lower order with Melbourn’s Miles Jeanneret (4) and Mark Oppen (5) both going down 3-1 to Cameron Gibb and Joseph Reeds respectively… though if Oppen had won an extended tie-break in his fourth game then who knows? Miles game scores were 10-12, 11-8, 4-11, 7-11 and Mark’s 9-11, 11-6, 7-11, 12-14.

Arguably the decisive clash of the night was the middle string, where Mike Herd was seriously underrepresented by the final score of 3-0 in favour of Cambridge’s Grant Bryant.  Herd was intensely competitive in every single game but saw all three games go to the wire and twice well beyond it before Grant took the critical points as Mike went down 9-11, 15-17, 11-13.

The final score was 16-8 in Cambridge’s favour keep their title challenge up (they rose to second spot, in fact) but also edging the 1sts a spot higher up the Division 1 table to sit sixth.

Melbourn won 20-1

One glance at the league table prior to this match said it was a big one – the 1sts sat 8th in Division 1 on 131 points, March were 9th on 120. Whilst finishing second-bottom of Cambs Division 1 doesn’t mean automatic relegation (only bottom spot in the 10-team Division brings that, and that looks highly likely to be Ely this season) you still want to avoid finishing 9th as that means a play-off with the team second in Division 2. Which may fall on a day with bad availability or injury or whatever – a one-off match to save one’s top-flight status is situation to be avoided if possible!

That was what was on the line… but Melbourn is still a long way from March and that meant the visitors travelled short-handed, gifting Mark a walkover at fifth string. That left the 1sts looking for just two more strings, which they had pocketed two matches into the evening as Vinod overcame Christopher Parson 3-1 (11-8, 11-5, 8-11, 11-7) and Miles was too consistent for Andy Osborne, winning 3-0 (11-6, 11-6, 11-8).

This gave Matt and Chris at #1 and #2 respectively a rare chance to play with the bonus point pressure off – most of the 1sts matches seem to finish 3-2 one way or the other, but this time the boys were 3-0 already! Both put in strong displays, Chris having too much game and too much court coverage for Avi Warren as he won 3-0 (11-3, 11-3, 11-5) and Matt picking up a very satisfying 3-0 victory against Scott Drewery (11-9, 11-6, 11-7), his first win in four tries against Scott (the overall h2h now stands at 3-3), and the first time that a match between the two has been decided in straight games.

Melbourn won 14-8

The Seconds travelled to Peterborough somewhat below the strength of the last couple of weeks (numbers #1, #2 and #3 from those Kate, Liam and Ed were all absent) and a little bit nervous of whether the team we actually put out would be good enough against 8th in the table Peterborough. It wasn’t exactly bare bones, but it did involve at least one player who wasn’t going to play due to illness coming back in at the last minute as someone else was feeling even worse!

First on court (Peterborough’s glassback show court, no less) for Melbourn was #5 Sean Hamilton, who took on Jacques Calitz. This was just Sean’s second match for the teams this season, and his first since playing in the reverse fixture in the opening half of the campaign. That lack of recent game exposure would ultimately prove his undoing as Sean was a little bit low on confidence to go for his kills, which was an issue against a player like Jacques who defended and ran well but one who didn’t have particularly tight attacking shots. The ball was there to attack, and Sean was a bit slow to realise. There was also an issue of Jacques’ tendency to hit the ball back towards himself and not only stay there but actually push up behind it, ready for a counter drop. In game one Sean was forcing himself in front of his opponent but finding no backswing due to the compressed space, which resulted in bunted drops that Jacques was able to chase down.
Despite all this the game one really turned on execution at the clutch moments as Sean fought back from a deficit to build a 13-11 lead… and then got tight, made an unforced error when he should have gone 14-11 up and then backed off his attacks. That allow Jacques to power through to take the game. Sadly exactly the same pattern held in game two (despite Sean calling some lets that were awarded as strokes in this one as he realised Jacques was too close) and game three was nearly the same without Sean ever edging ahead in the final stages. It finished 3-0 to Jacques.

Meanwhile on the non-show court two up Matt Walker (4) was taking on Pierre Caruso. Matt was comfortably the more classical of the two players – the question was whether he could be light and rapid enough on his feet to cope with Pierre’s ability to play unusual angles and also the home player’s hitting lines which are occasionally unexpected loose/squirting out. What Matt was looking to do was to make it an up-and-down the wall sort of game where Pierre was repeatedly having to turn and retrieve from the back corners. This meant tight, deep hitting and a nice high t-position to react to short balls. The first game was where Matt put the work in, both on his own game (settling in to a rhythm) and in terms of making Pierre chase more than he wanted, tiring the Peterborough player out. This worked well as, after edging that opener Matt, won the second and third with increasing ease to claim a 3-0 victory.

The match stood at string each when the third strings took to the glassback, Colm O’Gorman for us taking on Josh Fillmore. Josh is a highly promising young player, ranked no.3 in England at U13 level. But he is still only 12, and his Squash ability is ahead of emotional development to an extent. What he is great at is playing against conventional players, who will rally up and down the wall with him – he beat Matt 3-1 in the reverse fixture at Melbourn in the opening half of the season before losing. But Josh’s rapid improvement means he jumped up Peterborough’s order and was up against Colm this time, and Colm is what is known in Squash circle as “an awkward cove” (or some similar in meaning word to ‘cove’), who plays unconventional shots that only somebody with the wrist strength from his old sport of Hurling could even contemplate. These are not shots a ‘proper’ Squash player would take on… and not ones an individual who has had as much coaching as Josh has is really primed to move towards. This meant the kid was constantly off balance, which in turn meant resulted in him not catching the ball as crisply as he expected. And this was clearly getting under his skin. As long as Colm stayed concentrated and made sure he kept his foe both deep and twisting and turning then there was only one winner. Beyond a wobble midway through game two he did that to wrap up a comfortable 3-0 success. Good job, as he won’t be beating Josh again this lifetime…

Another Fillmore was in action at #2 string, Josh’s dad Jeff taking on Melbourn’s Gareth Jones. The opening game saw some early sparring before Gareth put together a run of points that managed to combine brutal hitting with icy coolness on the chop-drop, as he rattled away with the opening game. It was great, and the key thing was for Gareth not to think about it. Unfortunately, his teammates, who should probably have left well alone, instead gave him the advice to “keep doing what you are doing” which made he do exactly the wrong thing and think! Dangerous, because thinking comes with second guessing. There was little enough between the players that this turned the second game the other way, and then things looked bleak for Gareth when he also dropped a very close third. However going back to what worked in game one worked again in game four as Gareth dug in and played a more conservative and consistent game, cutting down the unforced errors. Gareth with few unforced errors is a real force at this level and that was enough for him to flip the narrative once again to level up at two-all and then race into a 10-2 lead in the third. Jeff is a determined soul and he didn’t give up despite the large deficit, but despite shrinking the gap he never really closed it as Gareth wrapped up a superb 3-2 win.

Gareth’s success meant Melbourn had the win on the evening prior to (actually more like a game into) Jan Brynjolffssen’s clash with Shane Maelane at #1 string. This was a good job because despite some well constructed rallies, and a decent chunk of points in each game, Shane moved too well for Jan, particularly laterally, which allowed him to mostly control the front wall. Jan tried what he could to match this and find some sort of counter, but this mostly involved taking too much risk – for instance, on one point Jan produce a very good winner by cutting a high backhand volley for a cross-court drop volley that was just above the tin. An excellent shot (if, truth be told, slightly miss-hit in execution) but not something to be repeated often. However, having found a shot to get out of a rally Jan went for it once more… and not only tinned it, but did so with Shane proving he was not going to be caught out be the same thing twice and standing poised to respond. Instead it was Jan who didn’t learn his lesson as he attempted the kill twice more in the match, each time to no avail. He just couldn’t punch the necessary holes in Shane who cut things out on the service line too well, and also had a lovely bunt out of tight back corners that sent the ball zipping back to a length when no backswing seemed possible. It all added up to a 3-0 defeat, which made the overall score 14-8 for us. Good enough on a night where we were slightly perturbed where the three winning strings would come from.

Melbourn lost 3-20

The 1sts were looking to continue their good recent form when they took on St. Ivo 1sts, but so were the visitors who are pushing hard for the Division 1 title this season, something they haven’t been close to for a while.

St. Ives strength comes from two very promising Juniors at the top of their order, in particular no.1 Diego Pita, who is an aspiring pro. Diego is currently no.2 on the English Junior rankings, though his national representation is for Portugal (as with his sister Sofia, also on a pro path and who played for us last summer). A reasonably familiar face then (let us know if you want to play Div.1 in the Herts League this summer, Diego?) and a challenging one for Matt to face at top string. Experience can count for quite a bit, Matt taking the third game, but there are some gaps even it can’t bridge and Diego won this one 3-1 (8-11, 8-11, 11-4, 6-11).

St. Ives other talented kid is one of our former players, Mumin Bilen. Vinod took on the challenge on this evening but it took him two games before he began to make any impression. If Vinod had claimed the tie-break in the third would Mumin have felt under pressure? That will have to remain an unknown as it finished 1-11, 4-11, 10-12 against the Melbourn player.

The presence of Diego and Mumin has allowed Ivo’s previous long-time no.1 John Dewis to drop down to #3. He proved too strong for Mike Herd, John taking charge from game two on as Mike went down 7-11, 2-11, 5-11. Also dropping down the Ivo order is Nick Giles, who Miles Jeanneret ran into at #4 string. This one proved to be the match of the evening as Miles dominated the first two games as his brand of consistent Squash was a crucial bit more solid than his opponent’s similar style… but after two games fitness came in as a factor and that broke Nick’s way, resulting in Miles eventually going down 11-2, 11-3, 5-11, 4-11, 7-11.

Fifth string pitted Melbourn skipper Mark Oppen up against Harry Aldridge. Harry, whilst no longer in his teens, is still at the younger end of the bracket of Division 1 players. He also plays a nice game, a bit more conventional than Mark’s all-action style. The match-up worked against Melbourn as Mark was beaten 7-11, 10-12, 3-11.

A bit of a sobering evening for the 1sts overall, then. Only picking up 3 points from it saw the boys slip down to 8th in the table, with a big one looming against 9th-placed March next week.

Melbourn won 15-8

A heavy defeat against a strong Saffron Walden side the previous Monday meant the 2nds had fallen outside Division 3’s top two places for the first time in ages – all the way down to fourth in fact as Comberton had gone past as well as Walden. However we had a chance to reverse that immediately as we faced Comberton with the same close-to-first-choice 5 as had ultimately been outgunned the week before.

That meant Gareth Jones at #5 again. He took on Ollie Thorne and, after some initial sparring and settling in to things, it became apparent that Gareth had the greater control and shot placement of the two, at least on this evening as Ollie’s game was off. Once Gareth had figured out the his best pattern (push Ollie deep with a drive to the back corner, push high in expectation of a defensive boast in response, jump on this an win the stroke with a simple straight drop) he cruised through the first game, a flurry of points (7-in-a-row) seeing him move from 8-6 to 15-6. There was no particular reason to think this gameplan needed changing for the subsequent games, at least as long as Ollie was struggling to produce clean shots from the deep corners. The challenge was really just a matter of concentration and diligence for Gareth as he looked to maintain consistent pressure and not allow his opponent to get his confidence back up. There was a wobble or two along the way (7-2 in the third becoming 8-6 for instance), because, well there always is, but these were minor as Gareth basically breezed to a 15-6, 15-8, 15-8 win.

Next door it was the first strings in action as Kate Bradshaw (#1) took on Connor Harmer. Connor is a teenager, and as such has some notable strengths such as pace over the deck, agility in tight corners and a seemingly limitless supply of energy. He is a very, very good defensive player. He has his weaknesses as well though in the tightness of his lines when looking to drive the ball (though the ball will be whizzing along as it comes out a bit loosely!). With Kate’s racquet head skills the gameplan seemed obvious for her – grind and grind some more. Long, up-and-down the wall rallies were her friend as the first player to make an error was mostly likely to be Connor. The problem being this is not Kate’s game! Almost the polar opposite in fact. She tends to look to pounce on any half-chance and cut her usually deadly drop volleys in. Usually. Not against Connor – he is rapid enough to get them and that, it turns out, leaves Kate herself out-of-position.
Game one saw Kate attempting to make her style work, without enough success as she fell 1-0 down. Game two went the other way as Kate played the needed gameplan, though it was tight as Kate went 13-10 up, dropped back to 13-14 down, but then won the next three points to level up. Game three started evenly, Connor going 6-5 up… at which point Kate hit a wall physically (the unspoken problem with attempting to grind a teenager into the dust!). Her tracker app showed this quite dramatically. And that meant it was back to the wrong tactics, trying to end rallies rapidly and giving Connor the front wall. This didn’t work and Kate was beaten 11-15, 16-14, 6-15, 6-15.

Whilst Kate’s match was ongoing Jan Brynjolffssen (4) took the court against Jason Lane. Jan and Jason have both been on the Cambs Squash scene for years so there was no surprises for each player over the other’s approach – Jason looking to end rallies at the earliest possible opportunity with boasts and drops, Jan looking to go slightly longer but only by a few more shots as he looked for a front court opportunity to try a kill. An important pattern of the match was first seen on the very first point as Jason lobbed a high serve up to Jan’s backhand, the ball dropping with ice on it. Jan attempted a backhand overhead in response… and put it out on the front wall! The intent of taking it on the volley and not risk it dropping tight was right though, and the willingness to play play backhand overheads would eventually undermine Jason’s key rally construction of high looby serve, loose response at half-court, kill.
It took Jan a while to establish his counter-attack as he trailed through much of the opening game, but from 5-8 he inched it back to 11-12, and then focused hard to keep his serves tight, and therefore Jason deep, which lead to three successive points. Jason saved the first game point but on the next he tried the loopy serve, which Jan returned with a volley cross-court lob (essentially a counter-serve, except done from a dropping ball deep rather than the hand!) that found the perfect width and length, forcing Jason to turn and attempt a forehand defensive boast which went into the tin. Game two started with Jan making mistakes and Jason again looping the ball up. However from 8-3 down Jan found an extremely rich vein of form, playing tight shots to length and getting himself high on the ‘T’ to put together a run of 12 points from 13 rallies to claim the game. Two games up was a huge advantage as Jason was already visibly tiring (and soon had an injury aggravation to add to it), Jan picking up the intensity once again from mid-game to complete a 15-13, 15-9, 15-9 win.

Now 2-1 up Melbourn were looking for one more win to claim the five bonus points. Would Ed Aspeling (3) provide it against Richard Anthony? Erm, no, basically. Rich is a decidedly awkward player to play against at the best of times, with a deeply irritating ability to hold his shot and wait for his opponent to move before adjusting to play it away into a different corner. This is already challenge enough for most, but add in Ed being off his game and feeling off-colour and it was one-way traffic from the outset as Rich built a 10-1 lead in the opening game. Ed dug in somewhat but still lost the opening two games heavily. Game three saw Ed simply looking for some enjoyment out of his dispiriting evening as he attempted to hit out. This produced some nicer looking rallies for the Melbourn player and a move even game score, but even so Rich was always ahead and never really looked majorly concerned as Ed went down 6-15, 5-15, 9-15.

That meant it went down to the 2nd strings, which pitted Liam Murphy against Jez Cotton. In certain ways this appeared a good match up for Liam as Jez likes to break the game up with angles and boasts, which can catch slower players than Liam out. Liam’s height (1m90 ) and his well-coached ability to use all of that length in lateral lunges into the corners meant he was able to counter Jez’s attempts to outmanoeuvre him and claim game one. However Jez is a determined cur and he chose to play somewhat against type from game two on, going for more line and length early in the rally and then pouncing from in front rather than behind. This results in drops tight enough that not even Liam could dig them out. One game all. And then two games to one as Liam got increasingly wound up that he couldn’t dominate things. Game four saw Liam pulling out all the stops – that is in terms of movement, and determination, and also emotion. He was on the crest of the wave from 6-2 down and seemingly in trouble to win the game by a large margin, winning 13 points out of 15.
The deciding game was dramatic, albeit rather to voluble to be a classic. Despite the way game four went Jez still had his teeth into things and to Liam’s intense frustration he found himself trailing 7-2. But Jez wouldn’t give up and built a 7-2 lead at the start of the fifth. Liam pushed himself extra hard in response to try and claw things back, but Jez kept nicking a rally every other point or thereabouts as he got himself 13-9 up – the match was nearly Comberton’s. That became 14-11 to Jez and three straight points that weren’t only for the string but the whole shooting match. However Liam was flying about the court like a man possessed by now and he chased absolutely everything Jez tried down, whilst keeping errors out of his own game. All three saved. And then another in the bag and now it was Melbourn with a point for victory. The highs and lows weren’t done yet though as this time it was Jez who didn’t budge, claiming the next two rallies to give himself his fourth chance at 16-15. That was the second last twist – the final one was Liam gritting his teeth to save another match ball, and then earning himself his own second chance… which he took to complete an explosive and at times unlikely 15-11, 11-15, 13-15, 15-8, 18-16 win.

Liam’s comeback meant the 2nds won the evening 15-8, which was enough to swap the teams position in the table, Melbourn moving back up to third spot. Cambridge 3 suffered a shock defeat as well, which makes the gap between them and us just 12 points, which is potentially a bridgeable gap over the last six rounds of the campaign.

Melbourn lost 17-11

There was an element of After the Lord Mayor’s Show for Melbourn Squash Club 1sts last week as they were unable to back up a good opening win to the second half of the campaign. This side fell to an 11-17 away defeat at Peterborough 1sts, which was an intensely close match but also a slightly deflating outcome for Melbourn 7 days on from an away win at league leaders Hunts County.

There was next to nothing to choose between the players in all five strings, none of which were won in straight games. However at the end of things Melbourn only had two wins to their name, provided by Vinod Duraikan (3) and Miles Jeanneret (4) who won 3-1 and 3-2 against Courtey Burke and Tim Millintong respectively. Meanwhile Peterborough claim three wins as Matt Sampson (1) and Chris Shaw (2) both lost 3-2, Matt falling to longstanding rival Dan Soar whilst Chris, who played through injury to keep the order, fell to a shock-on-paper defeat to youngster Aiden Fillmore. The overall match went Peterborough’s way as they won the bottom string as well, Melbourn skipper Mark Oppen (5) falling 3-1 to Sean Michelson.

Defeat saw Melbourn drop two places to 8th in the Division 1 table.

Melbourn lost 3-18

This match had loomed on the calendar for a while given the positions of the sides just behind Cambridge 3rds at the top of the Division 3 table. We sat second, but Walden were only a couple of points worse off in third. And it was clear from the team selections that both Captains had pulled out the stops in terms of selection and availability as both teams were basically as strong as they could be – I believe that all 10 players involved either had a SquashLevel of >2000 on the day or have had that many points to their names at some stage over the past 12 months!

That pre-match SquashLevels check was also concerning though as, based on the ratings, we were looking at a 5-0 win for Walden. Could the 2nds upset the apple cart. Well, Gareth Jones (5) had a good go against Christopher Gray. Chris is a lovely player with a fine touch, but it was clear from early on that his fitness was short of where it could be, and that this was an opportunity for Gareth to claim a higher-rated scalp. All he needed to do was play against type and make a string of straight counter-drops. Nothing too complicated, nothing to hard, push your opponent deep, get a short ball, pop it in and wait for him not to run for it. After figuring this out midway through game one Gareth executed things perfectly for a game-and-a-half to build a 2-0 lead. He did lose his way in game three (Gareth wouldn’t be Gareth without a Gareth-esque wobble) but give how hard Chris was breathing a barnstorming comeback to win 3-2 seemed highly unlikely – instead Gareth was able to re-assert himself and take the fourth to complete the win.

That was the good news. That bad was ever other string went to the form book. Exactly to the form book. Liam Murphy (2) played well for two games against Will Blower, but his best shots making no impression on his opponent and the occasional loose one being pounced on was getting him down and he somewhat spiralled in the third. Kate Bradshaw (1) saw her match against Simon Goddard flow similarly, though here it was more Simon getting extra confident than Kate’s head dropping to her chin – still 3-0 overall. Ed Aspelling (3) was up against a player he knows well in Andrew Kidger. The two produced a lot of high class Squash… but Ed always seemed to be the more reactive of the two and this eventually told in every game as the later points flowed away from him: a third 3-0 to Walden, and with that overall victory. That meant Jan Brynjolffssen (4) against Mark Scott was academic from a result point-of-view (though not a league table one). That was handy as Jan spent the next 20 minutes consistently running in the wrong direction as Mark held his shots, waited for his opponent to show which way he was going to move, and then opened or closed his wrist to send it to a different corner. Another match that got easier for the away player as it progressed.

Jan (standing in for Colm) commented post-match: “This was the strongest side Walden have put out this season… they pulled out all the stops, and it showed. We were also at basically full strength but were simply outmatched – the match was played at an extremely high level for Division 3.
“If Walden can get the same team out regularly they walk away with the title. But if we can get the same five out most weeks we will be in with a strong shout for second. We do need to bounce back immediately, though.”

Melbourn won 19-7

The 1sts pulled off their best result of the season to date, and arguably of any of their recent forays into Cambs Division 1, as they opened the second half of the campaign with an away win at leaders Hunts County 1sts.

The home side had a very familiar look to them as three of their number, Colin Griggs, Sofia Averio-Pita and Jason Burgon, have each played for Melbourn in the past – Colin learning the game at our club many years ago (he now teaches it to others!), with Sofia and Jason having played for us as recently as the Herts League last summer.

All three former Melbourn players fell to a current representative though as Colin was beaten 3-2 by Matt Sampson at top string, Sofia fell 3-0 to Chris Shaw (2) and Jason went the same way against Vinod Duraikan (3).

The bottom two strings were intensely close contests, Mike Herd (4) coming out on the right side of a match that went the distance against Henry Ingham with Mark Oppen (5) losing out in similar fashion after he and Luke Halliwell (the newly appointed league secretary) played each other to a near stand-still.

The final score was 19-7 in the 1sts favour, which lifted the boys up to sixth in the Division 1 standings.

Melbourn won 18-6

The 2nds were after a less dramatic evening than in the Cup the previous week, when Liam had had to recover from two games down to win a decisive final string of the evening. And they managed it… if you consider Liam fighting back from one game behind to win a winner-takes-all match as a significant variance!

There was a whole evenings Squash to come before we got to Liam’s match though, starting with Matt Walker (5) against Benedict Cross. This string alone packed enough drama in for the whole evening as the match swung this way and that. Matt lost the first, found more consistency to win the second, but then got back into feeding Ben’s speed and dropped the third. He then found himself trailing 9-5 in the fourth (Cambs Division 3 is PAR-15 so this is not as terminal as some may consider it… but it’s still a serious hole to be in) only for Matt to respond by playing a string of focused, clean, low-risk points. And winning 8 rallies in a row as a result to move 13-9 ahead. There was still time for extra drama as Matt dropped off his level allowing things back to 13-12 before closing out game four and then kept edging ahead and being pegged back in the decider. That got nearly the whole way before an error from Ben at 13-14 got a relieved Matt over the line for a 3-2 win.

Things were more straightforward next door for Colm O’Gorman (4) against Martyn Goodger… though Colm did try his best to avoid such a boring match with some odd errors to keep Dave encouraged. Where is the fun in a quietly efficient win, eh? Colm always looked like he had the upper hand in rallies and was generally ahead throughout each game. He finally won 3-0. What’s all the fuss about?

The second match on Court 2 pitted Jan Brynjolffssen (2) against Chris Hornby. The pair had met before, Jan fighting back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 on that occasion. He was determined not to repeat that, pushing up the court high to attempt to take Chris’ drives down into the front backhand corner. This worked really nicely, so Jan repeated and repeated… until, mysteriously, he went for variation, trying to pull a backhand volley drop crosscourt instead. Having found the bottom of the tin with this it was “lesson learned” and back to the usual stuff until one comes back. Well, we are still waiting as the final point of the match was another volley-drop kill on the backhand side as Jan came through a much closer game than the 3-0 final score implies.

That put Melbourn 2-1 up and looking to Gareth Jones (3) to close things out against Dave Mankellow. This didn’t work as people in the depths of the Amazon rainforest can attest from having their ears burned by the “frustration”. Gareth was all discombobulated after a busy day and late arrival and that meant New Good Gareth, the patient sort that moves his feet and waits for his attacking opportunity was still unloading his stuff from the car and we got the older version of Gareth, all-upper-body, death-or-glory, winners-or-bust instead. Bust on this particular evening as more found the tin than zipped just above it, the match point at 13-14 in the fourth a case in point. Despite all the mistakes there was little in it in scores, Gareth losing the third and fourth 15-17, 13-15, but the hinderance of giving Dave a helping hand was too much to overcome.

That sent the night down to Liam Murphy (1) vs Andrew Jones. From the outset it was obvious that Andrew had some really lovely touch play in the front court – he was able to feather the ball beautifully. Liam spent the opening game trying to take him on at his own game, which is the Rod Laver method (‘attack a player’s strength, because if you can beat them on that then they have nowhere else to go!’) – this is why great players don’t necessarily make good coaches because what Rod Laver elides in that is step 1 is “Be Rod Laver”. Liam is good, but he ain’t an all-time great, and playing Andrew’s game just meant Andrew winning the opening game. However a problem is also a solution – game two saw Liam making Andew play his game, longer, more physical rallies, up and down the walls, and that worked well enough to claim a close one to level up. With that the match was turned on it’s head, Liam winning the next two going away as Andrew’s fitness dwindled and  as his breath went his touch followed it, leading to some odd errors as Liam won through 3-1.

The win kept Melbourn second in the Division 3 table, five points behind leaders Cambridge and only two ahead of third-placed side Saffron Walden. Who are the next opponents, as it happens. A lot riding on that one, then…

Melbourn won 3-1(ish)

3-1(ish)? What? How come we don’t know the exact result? Well, the first problem this game through up for skipper Colm O’Gorman was finding five players who were both available and eligible to play in this Cup game – the rules of the competition are that only those who have previously played a league game may appear in the County Cups. Sensible, but somewhat restrictive for any side who has had good availability for the league games only to find regulars unavailable in Cup week. Which, irritatingly, was exactly where the 2s found themselves.

That meant the Moises Estrelles Navarro’s clash with Chris Talbott at fifth string was officially lost before Moises had even hit the court – he only travelled to give Chris a game, really. Which was a shame as he turned in an excellent performance to pick up a 3-0 win against a player who Squashlevels would have picked to beat him. But it didn’t count towards the three wins we needed to progress, which left it up to the rest of the Melbourn side to deliver.

This was something that both Matt Walker (3) and Jamie Ware (4) did in impressive fashion, seeing off experienced campaigners in Oliver Pynn and Gary Last respectively, both by a score of 3-1. Each match was distinctly losable, and in the end that would have seen Melbourn eliminated, so it was key that both Matt and Jamie gritted things out.

Next on was Colm (2), who probably shouldn’t have been playing anyway due to illness but did so for lack of alternative options. Colm’s hopes weren’t high against a very handy shot-player like Paul Bragg, who has the game and experience to make things really tough for an opponent who would really rather not be running hard. Colm started off strongly, racing into a 7-1 lead in the opening game but was rapidly running out of gas, Paul fighting back to take the game after an extended tie-break. This was terrible news as far as Colm was concerned – not only had he expended a substantial fraction of his likely maximal effort he also had nothing to show for it! From there on out it was really just a matter of time, and how much Colm was willing to hurt himself fighting against the inevitable – this turned out to be considerably as Colm forced each game to go the distance… and still had nothing to show at the end as he lost 3-0 anyway. Sometimes life is unfair!

This meant the match all went down to the top string as it was 3-1 to Melbourn on the court, but 2-2 on the scorecard. Liam Murphy (1) had to win against Graham Clark. Which was looking distinctly unpromising when Liam found himself two games down and generally frustrated with his game. However Liam hung tough, using his fitness and reach to stop Graham’s momentum and take the third game. This turned things on its head as Graham began to take greater and greater risks to try and flip things back the other way. Which didn’t work as it just played to Liam’s counter-punching style, allowing the Melbourn player to come storming back and win 3-2, which also made the overall score a win for his team; be it 3-1 or 3-2 – pick your poison.

We appear to be a little ahead of the rest of the Hereward Cup draw – this was the first QF to be played. Well the deadline for getting it done is still a way away – the QFs are to be played by 31st March. In fact one of the first round games, pitting St. Ivo against Saffron Walden, is still to happen (and that is overdue as it was meant to be out of the way before Christmas). The Semi will be against either St. Ivo or Walden or Peterborough… but we probably won’t know which until the league season is over and Easter has gone by. The Semis just need to be played by Friday 19th April, with the Finals day set for Saturday 20/4.

Melbourn won 17-5

The 2nds opening half in the Division 3 has been upbeat, and it ended on an in-keeping note as the final game before the Christmas holidays produced a 17-5 win over Hunts County 3rds.
Hunts started positively after Kate Bradshaw (1) was edged out 3-0 by Sean Brodrick, though with only a handful of points between the players in every game. Melbourn struck straight back though, Jamie Ware (5) winning by the same score line with a 19-17 tie-breaker second game key to his success over Nathan Hilton.
Gareth Jones (3) got Melbourn’s noses ahead as he claimed a 3-0 win against Emily Fuller in a hard-hitting contest, though Gareth had to work for it as games two and three ended only 15-13 in his favour. Meanwhile next door Matt Walker (4) was involved in an epic contest with Rick Watson, Matt recovering from losing his first two games on tie-breaks to level things up at 2-2. The decider went all the way, Matt building a lead in the closing stages. The end was tense, Matt snatching at a chance he would usually snaffle in his sleep when match-ball up at 14-12… but then benefiting from an unforced error (Rick served out!) to get over the line 15-13.
With the winning bonus secured Liam Murphy (2) produced the performance of the night against Paul Goodwin, an experienced and tenacious player who arrived at the match with a record of five wins from six appearances this season. Nimble footwork and elastic stretching from Liam took Paul’s attacking game away from him though as the Melbourn player won 3-0.
The 2nds are locked in a three-way battle at the top of Division 3 at the mid-season break – they sit second, three points behind leaders Cambridge 3rds and ahead of Saffron Walden 1sts only on head-to-head record. Comberton and the Uni are a further 10 or so points back.

Melbourn lost 17-8

The 1sts suffered an extremely narrow defeat yet again as they concluded the opening half of the Cambridgeshire League Division 1 season with an 8-17 defeat at Cambridge University 1sts.
As with a number of other matches this season Melbourn were beaten by three strings to two, with at least one of the strings breaking the wrong way from their perspective after going all the way to the fifth game. In this match it was Miles Jeanneret (4) who suffered that fate, in his case not just losing his fifth game but seeing it disappear after an extended tie-break finally ended 15-13 in favour of Ellie White instead.
In the other strings the students won at the top and bottom as Matt Sampson (1) and Mark Oppen (5) both fell 3-0 to Benjamin Adams and Patrick Foley respectively. The middle strings went Melbourn’s way, Chris Shaw (2) recovering from a 2-1 deficit to beat Matthew Wong 3-2 and Vinod Duraikan (3) grinding his opponent down to win 3-1 going away from Ralphie Reeves, Vinod winning his third and fourth games 11-4, 11-2.
The 1sts sit eighth of the ten teams in Division 1 at the mid-season break.

Melbourn lost 17-6

This one had loomed large in the calendar for a while seeing as it was a top-of-the-table clash, the 2nds (who had been top of Division 3 for a number of weeks) visiting a Cambridge 3rds side who had recently been catching us up and were in striking distance to overtake at the start of this encounter.

The first match on was the fifth strings, Matt Walker taking on Sanjay Porja. Sanjay likes to break the game up and boast, which was information Matt took on to court with him but initially found hard to utilise as Sanjay’s attacking strategy worked well on the cold Churchill College courts. Matt gradually warmed into things though, building a lead in the mid-part of game 1 and then scrambling over the line 15-13 as both players made key mistakes on big points (fortunately for Matt doing so tit-for-tat). Game two was much better from Melbourn’s perspective as Matt executed his game-plan perfectly: stay high to counter Sanjay’s angles and reverses, and go for drops and kills as the Cambridge’s player’s approach is all rather death-or-glory – it’s either a winner or he is far out of position and set up to be counter-attacked. This game ended 15-5 to Matt and thoroughly established the pattern. Sanjay dug in as hard as he could in game three, which made things much tighter, but Matt always had his nose ahead to complete a 15-13, 15-5, 15-11 win.

The first string on the other court turned out to be an epic as 2nds skipper Colm O’Gorman ran into Gift Nuka, who is a human running machine.
Being able to go and go and go is not so different from Colm’s strategy, though in his case it’s more Irish Terrier, get-ones-teeth-in and refuse to let go rather than Gift’s hyper-fit greyhound version of going forever. Grit, determination and constant running against athleticism. And constant running. Both the rallies and the games went on and on and on as neither player could find a consistent way of putting it out of the reach of their foe. However, in the end, both games one and two eluded Colm’s grasp as an element of tiredness crept in late on, he began to search for winners that were just not there against a player as fast as Gift – Gift won the opening pair by the same score, 15-13.
Game three was much the same, apart from Colm established a few point cushion early on which enabled him to stay calm and with the game plan of simply rally and rally until Gift broke down – when fitness is an obvious strength then shot-making must be a relative weakness… or players wouldn’t be down in Cambridgeshire Division 3. Everyone at our level is flawed in some way, that is why we play where we do! Anyway, yes, grinding Colm ground out game three by the same score flipped, 15-13, but could repeat the trick in the fourth as this one was closer. The closest yet in fact, going to a tie-break. But this ended 16-14 to Gift, making the final score 3-1 in the Cambridge player’s favour. Both players seemed relieved it ended there – even someone as fit as Gift was feeling it, which goes to show how physical Colm had made the match.

By this point the 1sts strings were on the other side, Liam Murphy taking on Cambridge’s Alex Holland. And it was soon apparent that the players were going to put on a feast of Squash, with Alex’s shot making coming up against Liam’s superb movement and retrieving. Game one was nip-and-tuck until Alex upped things a notch in the final moments to squeak it 15-12. The second was Liam at his very best as he moved, lunged, kept rallies going far longer than they should and also feathered in some lovely touch drops. One particular jaw-dropping rally saw wrong-footing drop-shots exchanged at the front wall, both players lunging out to make unlikely retrieves until a slightly looser pick up from Liam allowed Alex to pump it down the backhand wall. Liam was not done though, racing back across court to boast it back. “No matter” said Alex, as he stepped in to take the forehand drop shot kill early… into the nick for good measure… yet somehow Liam ate up the court sprint to pick this stone dead shot up and flick it for a cross-court drop winner. Alex could only applaud. A handful of points later it was Alex’s turn to pull off the extraordinary when Liam produced a seemingly inch-perfect lob into the backhand corner. With no apparent angle to work with Alex somehow forced a backhand boast out that crept above the tin and dropped short enough to force an error from Liam.
These exchanges typified the high level of game two, which looked like it was going Liam’s way when he got 14-11 up. However, once again Alex found an extra gear in the clutch moments to play three very clean rallies to save the game balls. Liam was gutsy himself at 15-14 and 16-15 down, especially the first one as he won a rally that had been in Alex’s control from the serve, but eventually he broke at 17-16 to fall two games down. And that, really, was the match as it was too lung-busting and thigh-burning even for someone as fit as Liam to contemplate a comeback from 2-0 down. Liam tried to shorten rallies in the third, which just led to a string of mistakes totally uncharacteristic of what had come before. This wound Liam up, his lovely racquet (which had worked wonderfully for two games) paid the ultimate price, and Alex won 3-0. Game scores 12-15, 16-18, 4-15.

Meanwhile on the other court one epic was followed by another as Gareth Jones took on Ben Knappett at third string.
Gareth took a game to get going (never!) as the opener saw him playing his old style of overly attacking Squash, which didn’t work against a tall and swift mover like Ben, who was more than happy to counter-punch attempted kills from deep for his own winners. Having seen that Old Gareth wasn’t going to work Gareth broke out New Gareth for game two, playing with more patience and straightness, looking to work his way in front, and only then go for the kills. Not a particularly novel Squash strategy, but always a good one. And effectively delivered to win game two 15-8 and level up.
That was great. Keep doing that. Don’t get complacent and start mixing things up and going for winners agai… oh. So what we got instead was groundhog day as Gareth over-egged the pudding in game three, learned his lesson for it and played lovely controlled stuff in game four. 8-15, 15-12. 2-2. Unfortunately it is hard to break out of patterns and the same situation manifested itself at the start of the fifth as Gareth made key errors trying to over-press, falling a distance behind (memory says something along the lines of 11-3). Faced with impending defeat Gareth knuckled down, worked things rally by rally and was closing when an unlikely (*cough* mis-hit *cough*) winner gave Ben a key point at 13-10. Rather than 13-11 and getting increasingly under-pressure the Cambridge player suddenly had 4 match balls – he only needed one as Gareth was beaten 6-15, 15-8, 8-15, 15-12, 10-15.

Despite carrying an injury, Jan Brynjolffssen was determined to play and help the team against a strong Cambridge 3 side, who were positioned in 2nd position in the table before the top of the table clash. Jan was up against James Buckley, a match which would in normal circumstances go the distance.
Game 1 was evenly balanced, both players retrieving and driving to the corners, 5:5 and then 6:6. Jan was applying the pressure with relentless driving to the corners and forced the errors, to lead 6:8. Jan then uncharacteristically served out, in so doing handed over the initiative and the game 15:9.
In game 2, Jan again more than held is own in the early stages. The injury however was clearly constraining Jan’s movement and mid-way through the game, James was able to stretch ahead. Jan was forced into take some risks which inevitably didn’t pay off, James taking the game 15:9 again.
Jan, as is his nature, was in no mood to throw in the towel, and came out fighting in the 3rd. In his best period of the match, Jan moved James around the court with variety to his game and picked off points at will. Jan continued to drive to the corners but the restriction in his movement meant he gave away points he normally wouldn’t conceded, and James was able to stay in touch and establish himself in the game. While Jan continued to battle, taking 3 points in a row when his opponent had match ball, it was a step too far on this occasion and James took the game 15:12 and the match.

That meant it was 4-1 to Cambridge overall, 17-6 on points. That was enough for the sides to swap places in the table, but it remains tight at the top and the 2nds are still very much in the Division 3 title hunt.

Melbourn won 20-4

The 1sts picked up a maximum 20 point haul in their Cambridge Squash League Division 1 clash with bottom side Ely 1sts in Melbourn’s penultimate match before the Christmas break.
Melbourn approached the fixture in determined fashion after suffering a series of frustratingly narrow losses in recent weeks, each by 3 strings to 2, with some of the individual rubbers in those also ending 3-2 the wrong way from Melbourn’s perspective. That was reversed in this fixture as both Vinod Duraikan (3) and Miles Jeanneret (4) ended on the right side of encounters that went the distance, Vinod going all the way to a deciding game tie-break before seeing off Ben Mitchell whilst Miles found a second wind in his deciding game after Jamie Woor had pegged back from being 2-1 up.
Either side of those Melbourn picked up comprehensive wins as Marrk Oppen (5) cruised away from Chris Hornby to win 3-0, whilst Chris Shaw (2) was always in control of his match as he won all three of his games with Chris Purkiss 11-3. Matt Sampson completed the whitewash with another 3-0 win, taking two games by comfortable scorelines then seeing off a fight-back from Jack White to wrap things up in a game three tie-break that nipped any comeback in the bud.

What we told the local press, pt. 5ish
[Ed - I'm trying to presuade the 1sts to submit 'proper' reports with more colour in them... but it's not proving easy so far. Too focused on being good at Squash or something... ;-)]

Melbourn Squash Club 1sts were so close and yet so far to a second win of the season for the second consecutive week after they lost 15-10 at home to Bedford-based side Club Towers.

Every string was extremely tight, with a most games decided by two or three points, many of them going to tie-breaks.  Melbourn fell behind when Miles Jeanneret (5) recovered from a 2-0 deficit to force a decider but ran out of steam in that and lost 3-2. The hosts struck back though as Mike Herd (4) produced an impressive performance to win 3-1.

Another Melbourn player to go the full distance was Vinod Duraikan (3), who exchanged games with his opponent to get to a fifth. In this Duraikan fell substantially behind but then put together a series of highly determined, fleet-footed rallies to close the gap right up. However the deficit proved just too much to overcome.

Once again Melbourn responded, Chris Shaw (2) finding just enough three times over to win his string 3-0. Unfortunately for the hosts things went the opposite way for Matt Sampson (1) as all three of his games went to tie-breaks, but all ended up going Towers way.

Melbourn lost 18-7

A third of the season had gone by and the Seconds were yet to taste defeat. However we knew we would be challenged on that when we saw Cambridge Uni’s team was the strongest they had put out all campaign, with their somewhat irregular top string present and correct and a new player to their squad at second string pushing everyone else down one or two spots.

Individual string summaries below follow the principle "a problem shared is a problem halved"... or in this case fifthed as reporting duties were shared around the team.

Jan writes:
The first match underway was the fifth strings, where Matt Walker took on Patrick Nickols. The first game as a back and forth affair as neither player managed to string runs of points together. Matt was having joy exploiting Patrick’s deep backhand corner whilst Patrick was catching Matt expecting drives and therefore a bit deep, which opened up the front corners for straight drops. In the end it went to a break and ended on a frustrating error from Matt. Game two was much better for the home side as Matt adjusted his position higher up the court, which allowed him to get Patrick’s kills and really work over that deep backhand. A string of forced errors gave Matt the game 15-12, and things were looking rosy. Unfortunately this didn’t last long into the third as Matt relaxed a little and made a few more errors whilst Patrick knuckled down. That meant a lead for the Uni player which he never relinquished to move 2-1 ahead. Game four was fairly similar to game three as Matt was always a little behind. He kept pushing and trying and fighting and generally giving it his all, but the small gap was never levelled up and Matt fell 14-16, 15-12, 9-15, 11-15.

Liam:
Next door Kate Bradshaw (1) was taking on Calum Harvey who’s warm up did not belie his game - controlled, consistent and economic movement. Kate started at pace which fed into Calum's natural rhythm; Calum’s refusal to make mistakes led him to a quick lead. Kate did try and mix it up but lost out 15-11. Hoping her legs would fire up, Kate tried to disrupt Calum and change up the pace in the second but again Calum won marginally 15-12. The third saw Kate finally find her movement, this time slowing the game down, and also the killer volleys she had been searching for. Calum lost his way a little and Kate forced the errors seeing her take it 15-12. The fourth was a real tactical tussle and saw both players play some beautiful squash, with each in a position to take the game. However, some errors from Kate toward the end gifted Calum a marathon game 19-17 and the match 3-1.

Matt:
The second match on Court 1 pitted Jan Brynjolffssen (3) against Benjamin Peng Jan took to the court knowing that a win would be essential to maintaining hopes of a team victory, following first-up losses for strings 1 and 5.
The tone for a highly competitive and clean hitting match of lung-busting rallies was set in the first game which ebbed and flowed but ultimately went the way of the visitors as a run of points in the final third of the game proved too much ground to make up for Jan. The second and third games were similarly cat-and-mouse with both players finding lengths and widths to keep points tight and, with a warm court making dead-drops or die-in-the-corner drives hard to come by, outcomes often decided by an error. Jan proved the more consistent in both games, edging ahead 2-1.
It may have been the mental and physical effort of the first three games that saw Benjamin capitalise on a slight dip in Jan’s form in the fourth game. A 5th-game decider felt fitting for the match, and this was as closely fought as any of the preceding games. The spoils went to the Cambridge player who in the closing stages perhaps profited from higher risk tactics in showing more willingness than in previous games to go harder and lower in his shot-making. Regardless of the outcome, it was a great watch and the match of the night. Jan lost 9-15, 15-13, 16-14, 9-15, 12-15.

Liam (stepping in for Kate):
Long before Jan’s match had finished Gareth Jones (4) got underway against Duncan Greenshields. What looked like a blood and thunder contest very much played out that way in game one with both Gareth and Duncan having a repertoire of thunderous drives and cross courts which, on warm courts, meant the rallies just kept on going. Duncan took a fast lead, with Gareth learning very quickly that he would have to slow things down. Into the second and Gareth produced more control and less swashbuckle, and as a result put Duncan under more pressure, translating into a well fought levelling of the match. The next two games saw Gareth continue to exert control and increase pressure on his opponent. Duncan started to make more errors as he didn't intend on changing his game plan, which led him to fade out of the contest, Gareth sailing through the next two games to take the match 3-1. Game scores were 6-15, 16-14, 15-12, 15-9.

Gareth:
As Liam Murphy (2) went on court the match was still in the balance. Yes, we were 2-1 down but there were still 2 matches up for grabs. Liam hit overdrive and played out of his skin. Chasing down seemingly impossible balls, keeping the rally going, playing tight and deep, minimal unforced errors. All the things we normally say should win him the game.  Quite frankly Liam was playing beautiful squash. But.....and it was quite a big but.....his opponent, Chris Miller, was doing the same...but better. Quite a lot better as I am sure Liam won't mind me saying. Great to watch. Easy to mark, but only really going in one direction despite Liam's almost superhuman efforts.  Suffice to say the result was 3-0 but basically we should probably acknowledge that Chris should not really be playing 2 in Div 3! Game scores were… painful (and not to be repeated here!).

Narrator* takes back over:
Jan, skippering Melbourn for the night, observed afterwards “Gareth did the business for us, and Kate, Matt and I were all in our contests; on another night we could have snatched one or two more wins. But equally the results that happened were fair. They were all good contest and high quality for this level. The Uni put out a very strong team in general, and in Chris [their no.2] they have a player who is exceptional at this level. Liam was very unlucky to run into him.”

* - Sometimes reliable. Unreliably reliable, then.
* - Did you know the narrator in Danger Mouse (definitely unreliable!) is called Isambard? The things you learn from reading these reports…

Melbourn lost 10-16

Press Release report

Melbourn Squash Club 1sts fell to an agonisingly narrow defeat in their Cambridgeshire League Division 1 match at Stamford last week.

The sides went into the match with little between them in the table, and that closeness was transferred onto the court, especially at fifth string where Miles Jeanneret battled hard but eventually came up short against Eden Spooner 3-2. Stamford extended their advantage as Mike Herd (4) was beaten 3-0 by Neil Steadman, but Melbourn fought back with 3-1 wins for Chris Shaw (2) and Vinod Duraikan (3), the former coming against former World Women’s no.4 Tania Bailey and the later versus Rob vVvian.

That sent the match to a deciding rubber at top string, Matt Sampson (1) building a two games to one lead. Sampson’s teenaged opponent, Callum McGurk, showed no signs of slowing though, and took advantage of some non-ideal court conditions (a damp night resulting in wet walls with skidding bounces that disrupted Matt’s attempts to find dying lengths) to power his way back to win 3-2, securing the overall win for the hosts by three rubbers to two.

Melbourn won 20-3

Week 6 of the season, and the 2nds were yet to lose a match. Could we keep that record going against newly promoted Kimbolton?

The initial signs were highly promising as Aidan Hird (3) and Matt Walker (5) took the court against Ian Morgan and Adam Jessup respectively, and immediately took firm control of their matches.
Aidan was in ‘Good Aidan’ mode, playing with control up and down the walls to keep the ball to a nice depth – it took a good eight rallies before he finally unleashed the power, by which stage he was 7-1 to the good. Ian fought as valiantly as he could but he was always behind, both on the scoreboard and physically on the court. And he found what many others have discovered before him, that playing from the back of the court against Aidan can be a nightmare. Aidan never let up, keep himself calmly constructing rallies throughout to rattle through a 15-6, 15-7, 15-3 success.

Something similar was happening next door between Matt and Adam as Matt kept the tight and deep, asking Adam to play his touch shots from near the back-wall – not where Adam’s game is at it’s most effective. This lead to a string of errors from the Kimbolton player’s racquet as he tried to make high tariff shots. By contrast Matt was up on the service line, which was perfect for his cut-out drop volleys, which Adam had no chance of retrieving. The only potential issue for Matt was a loss of focus, which he avoided by staying true to his game to wrap up a comprehensive 15-6, 15-6, 15-7 win.

The match was played to the National League standard order, albeit by pure coincidence. That meant the third game on was the top strings, where Liam Murphy (1) took on Graham Uff. And see above, really – Liam always had this one in the palm of his hand as Graham struggled to cope with his spectacular retrieving based on his length and stretch. Liam can always be relied upon to keep the crowd in the match, which he did in this one by making a few unforced errors at the start of ame three that kept it close for a while, but when it came to the crunch Liam’s focus and simple, basic and highly effective defensive Squash was back on show as he rounded out a 15-5, 15-6, 15-11 win.

The 2nds had the win in our pockets whilst Gareth Jones (4) was on court with Andy Rettie. Andy has the touch and court nous to exploit errors if Gareth let’s them creep into his game, and that was the case in the first as Kimbolton got their first point of the evening on board. However Gareth reacted right by going cleaner, simpler and more patient, a generally applicable mantra. That saw him take the second 15-6 and generally take control of the match. From then on Gareth was dictating playing, eventually winning 9-15, 15-6, 15-9, 15-9.

The first four strings were all very quick, and there was concern that we would be at the pub for dinner before they were ready. However Jan Brynjolffssen (2) advised his teammates to wait to call “in case my game goes four or five” – prescient. It didn’t look likely after Jan waltzed through game one against Dave Parker 15-5, but after that Dave began to dig balls out of the deep backhand corner much better, and Jan seemed to lose his way playing loose balls that Dave was able to push forward and boast or volley-drop. Jan was no longer able to read his opponent’s shots and found himself scrambling, losing game two on a breaker and falling 14-7 down in the third. That was a turning point though as from there Jan found that playing with less calmness and more intensity worked – nearly enough to turn game three around as the first 6 game balls were saved (but not the seventh) followed by game four fairly comfortably. Game five was tighter as Dave threw the kitchen sink at it, but a key call from the marker at 12-9 proved critical as he ruled a shot back over Jan’s head had also cleared Dave’s: no let and 13-9 rather than a stroke and 12-10. Jan took advantage of the let off to close things out 15-5, 14-16, 13-15, 15-8, 15-10 and ensure Melbourn’s first maximum point haul of the season.

After the match Jan commented “Well, I couldn’t let us get to the pub too early, could I? I blame my teammates for being all efficient and stuff. Next time, lads, like me and Gareth – put a little bit of tension and drama into the evening!
“That said, it was great to finally get a 5-0 win, which we have been threatening for a while. It took us 20 points clear at the top of the table as well, which is also good news. Somewhat unexpected news. But good, nonetheless.”

Melbourn lost 5-18

What we told the press:
Melbourn Squash Club 1st team were frustrated by the outcome despite competing well against Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1 leaders Cambridge 1sts hard before going down to an 18-5 defeat.
The visitors started fast, winning 3-0 at each of the bottom two strings, though Melbourn’s skipper Mark Oppen (5) was involved in an extended tie-break in his second game with Hamish MacKenzie; former Cambridge player Miles Jeanneret (4) was well beaten by Cameron Gibb.
Mike Herd’s match with Grant Bryant at third string was extremely tight, with games going either way by a handful of points. It eventually went the full distance, but in the end Herd was beaten 3-2. Vinod Duraikan (2) also played a series of tight games against Ali Dawson, but saw each go against him to lose 3-0. Melbourn got a consolation win as Chris Shaw (1) came through his match with Stefan Ranoszek 3-1 to ensure Melbourn got a decent point return from the evening.
Melbourn currently sit 8th of the 10 sides in Division 1.

[Ed - hopefully a 'proper' website report will replace this short summary at some point]

Melbourn won 19-5

All refreshed after a week off the 2nds returned to Cambs League action with a short trip to Churchill College to take on Cambridge 4ths.

The first issue of the night was the building work going on at the venue, which neatly segregated the car park from the building housing the courts. Once this obstacle was negotiated and all the players were inside the venue it was time to start… and 30 seconds later it was time for everyone to comment “These courts are icy cold, aren’t they?? The walls are stone dead!”

First into the cooler was Jamie Ware (5) who took on home skipper Jonathan Hughes. It was immediately clear that Jamie was the cleaner of the two players, and would win if he kept himself light on his feet to cope with Jonathan’s admirable attempts to scramble and irritating ability to somehow get the ball not only back, but back popping out at all sorts of unexpected angles. Jamie was mostly dictating the rallies in game one, lost his way for a period in game two as he went for immediate kills that Jonathan had read he would attempt, but once he steady himself to construct rallies took charge again at the start of game three – racing into a 7-0 lead – and eventually came through 15-9, 13-15, 15-7, 15-11 without undue stress.

Next door Matt Walker (4) was up against Stephen Axford. Matt made somewhat heavy weather of the first game as he frittered away a lead and got drawn into a battle. Mistakes at key moments kept undermining his attempts to pull away, the game getting closer than he wanted. However Matt ground it out to take the opener on this breaker… and once he had that really decided the match as Stephen had given his all to the first and fallen short. Matt cleaned his game up, utilising the patented Walker pattern of deep drives and cut-out drop volleys [a patent liable to challenge by many others on the grounds of prior art… but that is not our concern] to take an increasing stranglehold and claim a 15-10, 15-7, 15-7 win.

Colm O’Gorman (3) had followed Matt on to court, up against Anderw Stott who looked like he had classy shots in the warm-up. Colm started well enough, establishing a lead as his more dogged play was initially outdoing Andrew’s stylings. But the game got close, and Colm got a bit tight, Andrew eventually taking it on a tie-break. That proved to be rather pyrrhic for the Cambridge player though as the effort involved had clearly drained his tanks. From game two onwards he was a step slower, which allowed Colm to put him into deep positions where he needed to make his attacking shots from poor court positions. He tried anyway… and made errors. Colm was in increasing command of proceedings as a result and came through 17-19, 15-9, 15-6, 15-8.

A similar contrast in game styles was in evidence as Jan Brynjolffssen (2) took on Chris Smith. Chris had looked to have some really flashy shots in the warm-up, the top-spin backhands were particularly interesting, but once the game got underway Jan found he could read Chris’ attempts to kill in the front corners, which in turn allowed Jan to pump the ball into the icy-cold back corners were it flopped down, waved its legs in the air and never moved again. Chris looked increasingly bemused about why it wasn’t working, with Jan also quietly perplexed about how well things were working – the first two games ended with really lop-sided scores. Game three was closer as Chris played somewhat more conventionally and Jan made more errors than he had in the first two combined, but an acceleration towards the end closed things out for a comprehensive 15-5, 15-4, 15-10 win for the Melbourn player.

The final match of the evening between Liam Murphy (1) and Peter Connaughton was therefore a dead rubber. It proved to be anything but dull though. In fact it was the closest, and far and away the most dramatic clash of the evening.
The pattern of play was set early as Peter tried to catch Liam out with boasts and Liam moved and stretched and lunged in his usual highly accomplished fashion to counter-punch these. Liam appeared to be cruising in the opening as Peter was forced into errors going for too much, with Liam having six game balls at 14-7. Good job as he lost focus and half-a-yard of speed with it, only regaining it when he heard the score was now 11-14. He queried this (it was right) and having woken from the spell he won the next rally to avoid throwing the game away. The second was similar, even though Liam was frustrated by his serve during it. But even so he controlled matters and took a two-love lead.
Game three proved to be a turning point as Liam lost a fraction of sharpness, which let some of Peter’s boasts become the winners the home player needed. Nothing in it as the game went to a break, but it was Peter who claimed it 17-15 to revive the contest. Now Liam was struggling, mentally and physically. His Squash was still there, but the legs and at times the self-belief were not where he would have liked them to be. This saw a lead at mid-game turned around, and we were in for a decider.
If what had come before was drama it was nothing on the last. Liam had a smallish lead at mid-game when a ball off the back wall came all the way back to Peter on the ‘t’. Liam asked for a let, meaning a stroke. Technically he was probably right, but most markers in Division 3 apply the (not part of the rules!) rule of thumb from club play of “no strokes off the back wall” so Liam only got a let out of it. This prompted an eruption from Liam, which didn’t get him the stroke he wanted… but was channelled into six points of massive intensity, all of which he won. With a 13-7 lead it seemed the match was in the bag… which was unfortunate because that meant the wave of emotion subsided and that allowed Peter to claw his way back in, one point at a time. One at a time and seven in a row as 13-7 became 13-14! It looked for all the world like it would be 13-15, only for Liam to make an extraordinary stretching forehand retrieve, another desperation chase to the deep backhand corner, and somehow turn the point around to save the match ball. And then promptly serve out to make himself face another. He saved that one as well, but couldn’t repeat the trick for a third time at 15-16 as Peter’s boast was just out of reach of the forehand stretch. It finished 2-3 against (15-11, 15-10, 15-17, 12-15, 15-17), making the final score 19-5 in our favour.

After the game the news filtered through that Cambridge 3rds had lost elsewhere. Which was important as we had started the evening second in the table to Cambridge 3rds, who were the only unbeaten side in Division 3 alongside us. No longer – Melbourn are now the only unbeaten team, and are top of the table. Whoop!

Skipper Colm reacted thus: “A strengthened Cambridge 4 team present a big challenge for us tonight, and a special mention to Jamie, who stepped in for his first match of the season, winning a tough match. Taking 19 points tonight and going top of the table after 5 rounds puts us in a strong position early in the season.”

Melbourn won 15-9

Week four of the season brought with it a clash of unbeaten teams as Peterborough made the trip down the A1 to face us.

Pre-match was characterised by late chopping and changing in our side as Ed and Aidan dropped out from their planned games at 1 and 5,* which lead to strings 2-4 moving up a spot and Sean Hamilton and Matt Walker coming in at #4 and #5 for their first appearances of the season.
* - Yes, Aidan was really going to play #5 in Div.3. Given what happened in that string (see below) this would have been very interesting. Maybe we can get him out at that number for the return gam instead?

Matt (5) found himself up against a 12 year-old… but a very talented one as young Josh Fillmore is in the top handful for his age group nationally. It was immediately apparent in the knock-up that Matt would have his hands full as Josh belied his small stature by absolutely hammering the ball around the place. Pure timing… imagine what it will be like when he grows and adds muscle as well?!? *gulp* This wasn’t really the match that Matt was looking for as he attempts to work his game back into the state it was at prior to around three years of injuries. Too many errors from his racquet resulted in key points against as the kid battled with impressive maturity. There was so little in in… but Matt’s chance of beating Josh went by as he was beaten 11-15, 16-18, 15-12, 14-16. All his teammates were sympathetic… and glad it was him rather than us (and also hoping that Josh will be up into Peterborough 2nds before any of the rest of us have to try and cope with him!).

Sean (4) was facing a rather more experienced player in Peterborough skipper Pierre Caruso. These two have met before and that was very tight… and this was the same. Pierre was playing clever Squash, changing his angles around and Sean was getting frustrated as he felt he wasn’t hitting the ball clean, not really realising this was because it kept coming to him in (deliberately) awkward positions. When Sean did get a clean strike on to push Pierre back he could control rallies and dominate the front court, though. The phrase “there was nothing in it” is swimming towards this report, but actually there was a single fine margin there – Pierre won the clutch points in every game. That’ll do it – Sean lost 3-0. The final point of the match was typical of Pierre’s clever strategy as he got a service winner with a serve deliberately played with more angle, Sean rushing towards the wall to cut out any possibility of a dying serve into the corner… and finding the ball right up against his tights as a result. Sean lost 14-16, 12-15, 15-17.

OK, so we were two down. All on the top three then, starting with Gareth Jones (3) against Joe Eggins. Joe had the edge on Gareth in age – at least 15 years the Melbourn players Junior. But Gareth maybe had more Squash nous of the two. And game style favoured Gareth as Joe was the sort of hard-hitting run-and-gun player that Gareth excels against. As with many a Gareth match this was very much on the Melbourn player’s racquet – could he force himself to eschew the power kills from no sort of position and get the good lengths, letting Joe make the mistakes instead? Apart from game two the answer to this was ‘yes, he could’ as Gareth once again showcased the greater control he has found in his game over the last year or two, coming through a match he might once have lost in relative comfort, winning 20-18, 12-15, 15-9, 15-10.

One back then. On to Jan Brynjolffssen (2) to add to it. Jan was up against Renzo Rozza Gonzalez, who was another youngish player who likes to run and likes to hit… but does the latter a little loosely. Just up Jan’s street really as he played a high, wide and deep game, finding repeated dying lengths into the back corners as Renzo opted against volleys in favour of hoping the ball would pop out – sometimes yes, but give repeated chances to try a dying length and he will find it sooner or later. There were some dips, the start of game three featured some over-aggressive play which lead to errors trying to kill balls that didn’t need to be killed, but mostly Jan was Mr Consistency, happy to rally away with Renzo because he was always confident that he was fit enough to last until his opponent was forced into an error. Jan won 15-11, 15-9, 15-9.

That sent it to the final match of the evening, Liam Murphy (1) taking on Jeff Fillmore. Liam once again showcased his wonderful movement and near professional stretching and lunging to keep getting balls back that Jeff was sure were going to be winners, this causing the Peterborough player to overpush. Jeff was responding with workrate and pure determination to keep himself in touch… and also living off the occasional odd error from Liam’s racquet when he moved from the defensive counter-puncher to trying to make the play. But overall the balance was in Liam’s favour as he took the opening two games and then got himself to three match balls at 14-11 in the third. However an overly aggressive attack on the first of these led to an error, which in turn prompted Liam to be too cautious with the remained. Jeff won five straight points to turn the game around. Suddenly it was game on.
The fourth was again tight as the players were nip-and-tuck, but once again it was Jeff’s determination that triumphed. But at what cost? He had seemed close to exhausted after game three and now was nearly out on his feet. Maybe that contributed to the fuss in game five as when Jeff didn’t get a stroke decision he wanted, but even if he had Liam was already in charge of the game and would probably have still won anyway. Jeff’s clear disagreement with the call (and the substantial majority opinion who thought he was wrong) definitely contributed to the margin in the decider as he lost his focus, allowing Liam to run away with it to claim the win for Melbourn. Liam won 15-11, 16-14, 14-16, 12-15, 15-4.

Stand-in skipper Jan offered the following post match comments "The finale was very dramatic. Liam’s fitness and retrieving was again exceptional, and this ultimately won him the match as Jeff could barely move anymore by fifth. It was probably his best performance of the season. As a team we did well to come through a challenging match with another win."

The 2nds sit second in the table in the Division 3 table at the half-term break following this win, just behind Cambridge 3rds, the only other side with four wins from four.

Melbourn lost 10-14

The last match of the opening quarter of the season sent the 1sts north to take on March.

The match started off in disappointing fashion as the player due to play Mark Oppen (5) didn’t show, meaning he travelled and got no play. Hmm. That did mean Melbourn had one 3-0 win over their belts though.

March put this underwhelming start behind them by claiming string 4 as Miles Jeanneret was beaten 12-10, 11-13, 11-4, 11-3 by Christopher Parsons. Knowing the games of both players – lovely and clean with few mistakes but more defensive counter-punching than shot-makers – and looking at those game scores I’m thinking games one and two were pretty epic and those took all the sting out of Miles’ legs… Melbourn responded though as Vinod Duraikan (3) beat Avi Warren 11-8, 11-8, 11-6. Both Vinod and Avi have been around on the Cambs Squash scene for many years so I’m guessing there were no secrets here.

That put Melbour two rubbers to one up going into the top two strings, which both proved to be intense and drawn-out battles. Chris Shaw (2), up against Mark Davis, won his opening game on an extended tie-break, but was then narrowly edged out in the next three that were nearly as close, one of them another breaker. Game scores were 14-12, 9-11, 10-12, 8-11. Matt Sampson (1) also won his opening game on a breaker against Scott Drewery, and established a two games to one lead at one point, but was eventually undone by the Scott’s youth and fitness (he is in his early to mid-20s) as he outlasted Matt 3-2 (12-10, 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 3-11)

The final score was 14-10 to March.

The 1sts go into the half-term bye week in 6th place out of the 10 teams in Division 1, with 42 points to their names from their four fixtures so far. Around 10 points per game would have had the side in mid-table last season, so this counts as an encouraging opening for sure.

Melbourn lost 7-16

The 1sts were looking to back up a first win of the season when they travelled to Huntingdon, which St. Ivo now call their home.

The hosts were noticeably strong at the top of the order, and noticeably young as well as two talented teenagers* as Chris Shaw (1) took on Diego Pita and Vinod Duraikan (2) faced off with Mumin Bilen. Neither clash went well for the Melbourn players as both fell 3-0, though Vinod did managed to drag one of his games as far as a tie-break. That was as close as either he or Chris got to claiming a game. Game scores were 8-11, 4-11, 5-11 for Chris and 2-11, 3-11, 11-13 for Vinod.
* - each of these handy youths has a Melbourn connection: Mumin had played for us for a couple of seasons around three or four years ago. Diego hasn’t played for us… but his sister Sofia (another super young player) did in the summer.

Melbourn countered in the bottom strings as both Miles Jeanneret (4) and Mark Oppen (5) battled out tough 3-1 wins, Miles securing his victory over Matt Dixon in a crucial game four tie-break as he dug deep when his energy reserves appeared spent, and Mark dealing with the huge hitting of Grant Mankee as he recovered from losing his opening game to storm back and win. Miles scores were 11-8, 11-6, 4-11, 12-10 whilst Mark came through 7-11, 11-9, 11-7, 11-9.

The crucial encounter of the evening turned out to be the middle string, where Mike Herd (3) was up against Nick Giles, who is a very clean and classy player. It took Mike a while to make any inroads on Nick, but once he was up to speed games 2, 3 and 4 were all close. However only the middle of them went Mike’s way as he lost 3-1 (3-11, 8-11, 11-9, 7-11).

The final score was 16-7 in St. Ivo’s favour.

Melbourn won 16-7

Match number three of the season sent the 2nds on the short trip to fellow South Cambs side, Comberton.

Once we arrived, and some who had been there many times before had refound the courts (oops) we discovered Comberton have had some recent investment which has given them a new glassback court. Whizzy. The opening of this must have been extremely recent as things are not yet set up fully around it. Which is something we will come back to later.

But let’s start our round-up on Court 2 (old traditional) where Colm O’Gorman (5) took on Tom Snaith. Tom is a very good touch player… usually. Not today though as Colm kept pounding him deep, drawing errors from his racquet. Great tactics from the Melbourn skip, frustrating as hell for his opponent. This saw Colm get comfortably through games 1 and 2, well comfortably on the scoreboard at least but we got the usual bellyaching from Colm that he was being asked to run around and work, and this was unreasonable, and it was all closer than the numbers said. No wolf, yet again.
Colm lost his way a little in game three after building an initial lead (Girvan-related loss-of-focus seemed to be the issue – playing and childminding are difficult to do simultaneously) but dug in when he fell behind, possibly spurred on by the knowledge he really didn’t want a fourth. He was aided in this by some outrageous fortune on shots at crucial times, clawing through the third game and avoiding what could have been an unpleasant turnaround of fortunes – Colm won 15-8, 15-7, 15-13.

Meanwhile over on the glassback the first strings on were the top ones where Kate Bradshaw took on Connor Harmer. During the warm-up Kate was already looking a bit uncomfortable with the set up, as the unlit spectator gallery and dark unfinished areas behind the back wall were seeing the ball disappear when it went deep. She was also essaying a little concern over Connor’s likely game style – hard running and hard hitting rather than the technical rally-building of Kate’s own game, which she also excels against. Despite this Kate’s killer touch was in evidence in game one as she went ahead, but then her fears came to fruition in game two as Connor picked up her kills and then fired it back at her with both pace and odd directions. Kate came off saying she needed to play “high and tight” which was achieved in game three, but then she lost her way again in games four and five as too many pop outs and balls sitting up allowed Connor to run her out of it. Kate lost 15-9, 12-15, 15-9, 10-15, 11-15.

Switching back across to the standard court where the second match on pitted Liam Murphy (2) against Alastair Maclean. Liam was talking about how he is the fittest he has been for years – lots of time and effort has been invested in it – and this is both true… but of the two players, in context, veteran Alastair’s energy and movement was even more impressive. Tag on deadly attacks when he gets a loose ball and Alastair is a difficult player to play against, which makes Liam’s eventual 3-1 victory all the more notable. As does finishing it on close to one leg after a stumble saw Alastair’s full body weight go through Liam’s calf – Liam’s description of this was a “chop tackle”. Game four was obviously the critical one as it was extremely close, but Liam went on to claim a 15-10, 9-15, 15-7, 15-13 win to have us 2-1 up.

This lead wasn’t to last all that long though as back on the glassback Jan Brynjolffssen (3) was struggling with two things – the somewhat dead front walls, and opponent Richard Anthony’s ability to hold his shots and mess with his opponent’s movement. Jan fell behind early in the first and never really rallied, but did have Richard a little worried in the second with a string of points late on. The issue was this was from 14-8 down and if it took a death-or-glory volley drop return winner to see Richard across the line on his fifth game point, that was still good enough. Jan also essayed a bit of a comeback at the end of game three, but again this was from a losing position as ultimately he was out-thought in this one and beaten 9-15, 12-15, 10-15.

This sent the match to the deciding rubber, which, untraditionally, was the fourth strings. Gareth Jones took on Jason Lane in this one, the crowd gathering around the glassback to watch, intrigued.
After two games where the unresponsive front wall and dead (and ball obscuring!) back corners had been an advantage for the Comberton players, this time the court conditions favoured Gareth’s power game. He could whack the ball as hard as he liked, and this would work wonderfully. Marvellous. This built him a lead in the first against Jason’s more coached game, but as the game got to its denouement Gareth began to lose his way, making drop shot errors to lose points. It got to 13-12 down, and a key moment as Gareth race into his front backhand corner and slapped the ball hard crosscourt right back at Jason – the Comberton player had the whole court to aim at, but rushed for time he tinned it… and then promptly followed this up with two more unforced errors in the next two rallies to gift Gareth an escape.
And that, basically, was the match as it turned out that Jason had cycled 250km two days before and his legs were turning to jelly. Gareth took increasing command, utilising the idea that power and pace could rush mistakes out of his opponent if he got into trouble (accurate attempted kills were put away on the counter, wild slams were tinned as Jason was rushed for time!) as Gareth won 15-13, 15-10, 15-8 going away

Melbourn won 16-9

Last season it took Melbourn Squash Club 1st Team 14 goes to collect their first of the season in Cambridgeshire League Division 1. The team were relegate as a consequence… but receive a last-gasp reprieve a few weeks before the 2023-24 season when another side had to bail on the top flight after losing key players. So another assault on the top Division is underway, with everyone determined to improve upon the underwhelming outcome of last season.

The 1sts first step to most of their good fortune was to get that opening win rather quicker this time around. How about round 2 of the season at home to Peterborough? Yes, how about that…

The middle of the order was the key for Melbourn as Chris Shaw (2), Vinod Duraikan (3) and Mike Herd (4) all won.
Chris’ was the critical success, as he showed his superb conditioning to outlast a talented teenaged player, Aiden Fillmore, recovering a 2-1 deficit to win 3-2 (6-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 11-6).
Vinod brought out all of his usual understated athleticism (incredibly quick around court whilst never seeming to work hard) to claim a 3-0 success against Paul Watson. Game scores were 11/6, 11-9, 11-8.
Mike meanwhile won 3-1 going away, taking the clinching fourth game against Tim Millington for the loss of just two points to close out an 11-9, 11-7, 6-11, 11-2 victory.

Either side of this there were wins for Peterborough as Matt Sampson (1) was edged out 3-1 by Dan Soar, a very tall and hard-hitting opponent (11-3, 6-11, 5-11, 4-11), whilst Mark Oppen (5) fell by the same score against Sean Michelson, an unconventional but oddly effective player who gets results like this 7-11, 11-7, 7-11, 7-11 win that the eyeballs tell you shouldn’t happen [ed – you need to get on court with Sean to understand just how tricky he is to play!]

Overall it added up to a 16-9 win for Melbourn, meaning the side are up and running for wins after just two games this time around rather than having to wait until the final quarter of the season to get the scoreboard ticking over. Hopefully that is a sign of better things awaiting from this campaign…

Melbourn won 17-5

Week two of the Cambridgeshire Leagues Division 3 season pitted Melbourn against a bunch of familiar faces, but not in a familiar location as Saffron Walden’s home courts at the Lord Butler Leisure Centre in their town have been closed after new owners of the centre found a problem in the roof above the courts, which they apparently have no plans to fix. This means the ‘home’ side now face a 1-hour round trip to Great Dunmow in Essex to play their home games. They have our sympathies, and we hope Squash can happen in Saffron Walden itself at some point in the near future.

N.B. This match report is once again a collaborative effort. Report writer identified ahead of each string.

Jan writes:
The match itself got underway in unusual fashion, with the 1st strings. This pitted Kate Bradshaw against Chris Gray. Kate was playing her first competitive game in a number of months after a spell out injured and was making her return to action for the 2nds rather than the 1sts. This showed in a couple of ways in the first game – the rustiness resulting in some mistakes in both shot execution and tactics, and dropping down a team seeing Kate walk off thinking she had lost the game when she fell 11-9 behind! It looked like Kate might make the most of her second chance when she immediately reversed the deficit to lead 13-12, but Chris took the next three rallies to win the game anyway.
The other issue, the tactical and execution one, was addressed from game two onwards as Kate accepted that the front court (her key strength) was also where Chris wanted to play and had his best shots, but that she had the beating of him by playing a deeper and more conservative game than is her usual wont. This resulted in claiming the second comfortably, and racing into a 5-0 lead in the third. We then got the Bradshaw-wobble as Chris was allowed back in, the game eventually ending in a tie-break. But when Kate won that 16-14 she had the match basically sewn up as Chris was patently out-on-his-feet by this stage. Game four was hardly a cakewalk but Kate was always ahead and in control as she won 13-15 15-8 16-14 15-12.

Liam:
Colm O’Gorman (5) came up against an opponent that nobody ever likes to play against - someone who plays tennis!! Colm was clearly the superior player winning 3-0, but a mixture of an 'unusual' playing style from Charles Arthur, awkward angles and mental tiredness from Colm, made it trickier than usual.
Despite winning each game, Colm's tendency to play the shot a squash player wouldn't want, did not mean Charles would respond in the same way. Each break between games involved a conversation on informing Colm on what his opponent didn't want, namely playing straight and low where he couldn't volley or cut the ball short. Elongating rallies and moving Charles back and forth saw Colm comfortably close the match out 15-9, 15-9, 15-10. Nice one Captain!

Colm:
Next up at string 2, Liam Murphy was against the highly ranked Mark Scott. Liam has been in excellent form, but this would present a challenge Liam has not faced. Mark was quick to assert his authority and forged ahead to lead 7:1. Liam however was not in the mood to let the first game go easily and found his rhythm. Using his fitness and determination, he retrieved brilliantly and started to step forward more. Liam took 5 points in a row to battle his way back to make it an even game at 8:8, we were in for a great contest. Each player fought for every ball, staying within a point of each other. Both players had a chance to take the game, Liam missing the opportunity at game point, Mark took it narrowly.
In the second, Liam was able to keep it close, but let Mark get ahead at the crucial time. Some marginal calls along with unforced errors were very frustrating for Liam, giving Mark the opportunity and he was able to take the game. While Liam was feeling hard done by, he overcame the frustration quickly and started the third game in confident mood, dictating the playing, introducing more variety to his game and putting his opponent under a lot more pressure. He was especially able to move Mark to the back corners before some deft drops, taking point after point. It looked as though Liam had figured out his opponent's game too. Mark however responded and adapted, helped with some luck and very clever play, in particular a number of accurate lobs to the back corners. He brought it to 13:13 and had the momentum, taking the third game and the match (Liam’s scores first) 15-17, 6-15, 13-15.

Jan:
Gareth Jones (4) finally got on court as the fourth match of the evening, having been all prepared to go on first. He found himself up against a very familiar face – current Melbourn member John Goodfellow, who played for the 2nds for a season recently but is has a much deeper association with Walden as he is their vice-captain.
How well did Gareth know John? Maybe a mix of too well, and not well enough. John is a clever, tricky, handy player at our level – he has a tendency to put the ball in positions that require twisting and turning to reach rather than necessarily outright winners. His opponent is constantly finding their movement messed with, and balls that in terms of location on the court may appear attackable but in context of how the player needs to move to reach them are not really like that.
This was close to a perfect strategy for unsettling Gareth, who couldn’t resist the apparent openings to attempt to bash winners even if it meant starting to swing whilst the ball was still behind his back! A half-court ball is attackable come what may, right? This led to frustration for both the Melbourn player and his teammates because i) he knew he was making errors and ii) they could see if he just played sensibly he was going to win.
The latter point was emphasised by Gareth reining himself in and by doing that having just enough to win the first game. He also edged the second, though this time he was of making it hard for himself was by floating his drives down the wall and trying to wrong-foot John on every kill when John was waiting patiently to see which way Gareth would go. Game three finally saw all the foibles ironed out as Gareth hit crisp drives down the walls and took the kill chances into the open court. That, finally, saw the best Gareth, the one we see in training sessions, emerge. And with it a 15-11, 15-13, 15-11 win was secured.

Gareth:
Last match of the evening was Jan Brynjolffssen (3) vs ‘Derek’ [Ed - aka Kirk Archibald 😉]   Pressure was off as the match was already in the bag, but that didn't stop Jan being determined to put in a decent performance. First game proved a bit tricky. ‘Derek’ was cutting the ball out early and looked to be on great form. 1-0 down. Time for some amazing advice – “Don’t let him take it early!” Jan upped his game and tightened up his line and length. Fitness also came into play and Jan started to take control. 1-1. ‘Derek’ continued to put up a decent fight but couldn't cope with Jan's consistency and extended rallies. 11-15, 15-10, 15-10, 15-7 in the end with Jan very much in control in the final game.

Job done. 4-1.

Colm said this was “Another good performance by the team which is great early in the season. Special mention to Liam who competed so well against a highly ranked opponent, unlucky not to get more from his match.”

Melbourn lost 9-16

Melbourn's 1sts first team match of the winter season was against Hunts County… and also lots of fellow team mates from playing Herts summer and Cambridgeshire intercounty matches.

Melbourn's team comprised: Chris Shaw (1), Vinod Duraikan (2), Mike Herd (3), Miles Jeanneret (4) & Mark Oppen (5). It proved to be a series of closely fought battles.

Chris won comfortably 3-0 against Hunts captain Colin Griggs (11-8 / 11-6 / 11-6), who learned his Squash at Melbourn.

Mike's match against Jason Burgon looked like it may have been a straightforward win for the opposition after Mike lost the opening game 5-11. However, Mike gradually pulled it back in the second game, levelling the scores 10-10 and with the spectators wondering which way the result would go?!? For Melbourn though, Mike just missed out on the second game 10-12 and the opening half of the third game looked to be as tight as the second until around the 7th point - Mike made some errors that let Jason in that extended the lead. This resulted in Hunts gaining their first 3-0 match win of the night, levelling the overall teams result one-a-piece (5-11 / 10-12 / 7-11).

Miles was on next against Henry Ingham. The match was up and down, seeing Miles move from losing the opener 5-11 to then winning the second comfortably 11-6. With the games 1-1 it was more a case of whether Miles' had the legs to keep his match alive. The third game was close but Henry's retrieving was relentless and after a loose drop from Miles' the visiting player had game ball and shortly after the game 11-9. The fourth game was more like the first as Miles battled to stay in the game but alas the result went to the Hunts player 3-1 (4-11 / 11-6 / 9-11 / 5-11).

Mark (skipper) was on after Miles and it was looking like the match could be a close affair as Mark lost the opener 10-12 to his opponent, Luke Halliwell. Mark worked hard to control play, resulting in winning the second game 11-9. The third was even closer with Mark just about taking it 13-11. In typical fashion, the fourth game was a fitness mind game for Mark as he battled to gain control, losing the fourth 9-11. Going into a deciding fifth game, Mark had to dig deep to keep his match alive but through sheer determination he managed to take the fifth game 13-11 and match 3-2 (10-12 / 11-9 / 13-11 / 9-11 / 13-11).

With the overall nights Squash hinging on the result of Melbourn's Vinod Duraikan and Hunts Sofia Aveiro-Pita' match, the suspense was palpable. Sofia had a great start as she took the two first games 11-4 & 11-6. Vinod not to be underestimated, came back in the third game playing the ball earlier and with good length and variety that removed time for Sofia to tee-up for her killing drives. The third game was fantastic, seeing great rallies and excellent play. Vinod played well that earnt him a very close game win 15-13. The fourth game saw Vinod continuing to work hard, carrying on with his third game formula. Although it was tight, Vinod thankfully won the fourth 12-10 to level the match 2-2, making the fifth game the one game of the night to decide the overall result for both teams. Vinod' start in the fifth was not great as Sofia found herself with slightly more shot-prep-time again for unleashing her trademark drives. With Vinod 4 points behind it was looking dicey whether he could pull the scores level. Vinod did bring the scores close but the earlier slow start from the blocks made it an even bigger challenge and unfortunately Vinod missed out on the win 8-11 and his match 2-3 (4-11 / 6-11 / 15-13 / 12-10 / 8-11)

Red Thai curry and hospitality at the Queen's Head afterwards was excellent, as usual. 

Mark commented afterwards: “It was great to see the team back on court again competing in league 1. This division is always a challenge, but we put in a good fight against our close rivals, Hunts. Although not a win, we were grateful for the 9 points and look forward to our next match, at home to Peterborough.”

Melbourn won 17-3

Here we go again, then. Another Winter League season. The 2nds are in Division 3 once more, having finished a comfortable fourth last time out, and with a beefed up squad as it looks like we will have Kate and Ed to call upon, for a while at least. Hopes of a good season are high in that regard.

The first test was against an Ely side newly promoted from Division 4. Like any promoted side the visitors were used to winning, but there is a definite step up in level between Div.3 and Div.4 and this was something Melbourn successfully demonstrated by winning the bottom four strings all 3-0.

The margins of victory may have been the same, but the pattern of the matches varied. For instance skipper Colm O’Gorman (5) had to work his little cotton socks off* to see off Daniel Osborn, who proved to be very fit and tenacious (not the sort of player Colm enjoys facing at all!) but who made too many mistakes. As Daniel tired in games the margins grew, and we all know Colm likes a moan about things being too difficult/exhausting/whatever but the final scores of 15-8, 15-6, 15-6 really do make the match seem more one-sided than it really was.
* - these are green, I assume

Gareth Jones (4) had a challenge to keep concentrating and keep patient against Krystof Kucharczyk. Gareth always had the game and the fitness to win this, it was just a case of knowing when to attack and when to defend, and not to let Krystof have too many half-court balls to play the kill shots he wanted for easy points. I’ll say a few wobbles at times, but then it wouldn’t be Gareth without those – an entirely wobble-free Jones would be a most confusing concept – but nothing like enough to threaten his victory. Gareth won 15-9, 15-5, 15-10.

Third string saw Jan Brynjolffssen in action against Martyn Goodger. It took Jan a while to adjust to Martyn’s wristy play - he later admitted to being an adapted Badminton player, which explains the strong flicks straight form positions where a boast was the Squash shot. Jan’s kept trying to jump the gun, and then find he had to unjump it and reverse his first step. Tiring, slow and not great for balance that. Despite this, Jan was able to build a 12-8 lead in each game… and then promptly blow this so that all three became close. However focus in the critical points allowed Jan to get out of it 3-0, though the first game was altogether too close before he claimed it on a tie-break. Jan won 17-15, 15-11, 15-12.

Showing the way to do it was Liam Murphy (2). Liam has been in excellent form in recent months, reflected in a swap in the playing order with Jan. Key to Liam’s improvement has been playing more regularly, which is helping with both fitness and error rate. The former was much in evidence in this one as the extra bounce in the step meant Liam was able to pull off the exceptional lunges into the corners that use his full 6’4” frame in a near-professional manner. His ability to pick seemingly dead balls up left Martyn struggling for answer, particularly in game 2, Liam winning 15-11, 15-4, 15-13.

That took us on to string 1, and the return of not just one but two familiar faces. First we will say welcome back to Ed Aspeling, who has opted to swap back to Melbourn for this season after playing for Newmarket in the spring. The other returnee was slightly longer term, Rob Davis, who played for us in the 2017-18 season, is now back in the area and representing Ely. This match would prove to be utterly lung-busting, and ultimately rather frustrating for Ed. He knew he was capable of the cleaner Squash after rattling out to 8-2 and 7-1 leads in the opening two games, but Rob gradually wore Ed down in each as he just kept getting it back. Both games went to tie-breaks, the first in particular an epic with Rob eventually prevailing 20-18 (getting the serve in on game ball helped!). Much the same in game 2, though this time the tie-break was a little shorter… but only a little: 16-18 against Ed.
For most of game 3 it looked like a breaker wouldn’t be needed as this time it was Rob leading from the front. However, with the match in his grasp the same gremlins that produced the out-of-court serves in game one struck as Rob got cautious and Ed took advantage to save four straight match balls and claw a 10-14 deficit back. If Ed could have won this breaker, then maybe… but two straight errors gave it to Rob instead as Ed went down 18-20, 16-18, 14-16.

Skipper Colm’s assessment of the evening was “Everyone performed really well tonight, lots of close games that could have gone either way. We're delighted to be back playing as a team after the summer and it's great to kick off with a win against a strong Ely team.”

Melbourn lost 3-12

The 2nds final match in Division 4 of the Herts Summer League saw us welcome Gosling (from Welwyn) to the club.

In a reversal of the usual order the top strings went on first, Jan Brynjolffssen taking on Dan Sadler. This was a repeat of the clash at Gosling earlier in the season that Jan won 3-0 but this one was different from the outset as Dan found gaps at the front of the court that Jan was struggling to get forward to cover. That saw the first game go the Gosling player’s way, albeit narrowly, only for Jan to fight back to win the second comfortably. He then lost his way completely in the third, whilst the first was back to the pattern of the opener as Jan lost 13-15, 15-8, 5-15, 13-15.

Next on was Will Bradshaw (3) against Adrian Rates. The first game was looking very promising for the Melbourn teenager as he looked the cleaner and classier player in the rallies, keeping his nose ahead to win it 15-12. However this is when Adrian’s experience kicked in as he figured out that extra width could draw Will out of position and produced skewed shots from him. Will appeared at a loss to why this was happening, which set up a pattern that he couldn’t break. Games two to four all escaped in similar fashion as despite all his determination Will went down 15-12, 9-15,7-15, 11-15.

The seconds were the final match on, with Sean Hamilton pitted against Oliver Bush. Oliver is a big guy, with the associated power that comes with it, but also nice touch. He wanted to keep rallies short and sharp, and Sean was only to willing to trade power and winners in the front court. Right up Oliver’s ally, leading to a wipeout of a first game for Sean. He improved his ball striking in the second but was still playing to Oliver’s strengths, and that meant he was 2-0 down. It wasn’t until Sean stopped trying to fight fire with fire that he made headway, adding loop and depth to his shots winning him the third. However Oliver dug in hard, aware he couldn’t afford it to go to five, and closed things out in the fourth. Sean lost 5-15, 9-15, 15-12, 8-15.

Skipper for the evening Jan remarked “This was a slightly disappointing end to a good summer, as we all came off court thinking it was a match we could have won. But the Gosling fellas played well in the crucial moments and they deserved it on this particular evening.”

Melbourn lost 10-5

3rd string: Moises Vs Michael
Another match with Moises saw him use his pace and power to overwhelm Michael Broadbent in the 1st closing out the first 15-13. Michael slowed the game right down from there on to take control and moved Moises around the court which saw Moises make one too many errors. Michael took the remaining games 15-9, 15-11 and a very close 16-14. A match that could have gone either way had Moises not drained himself playing a match the day before.

2nd string: Sean Vs Jack
Sean always gets a bit of an advantage Vs right handers, added to Sean's form and game has improved this season seeing him take valuable points. This proved to be the case winning the 1st Vs Jack Wright, 15-11, then ensued a fast and furious match! Cut and thrust from both players saw some spectacular kills and volleys, but Jack's finesse at the front of the court saw him finish off Sean 15-12, 15-8 and 15-7. 

1st string: Liam Vs Nathan
The reverse fixture 8 weeks ago saw Nathan Bascom win 3-0 with Liam nowhere near the level required. This time round saw Liam in much better nick, which blunted the physical edge Nathan usually has over his opponents. Liam took the first 16-14, by just keeping himself in the rallies. Those tactics saw Liam take the second 15-8, but a step up in pace from Nathan saw him take the third 15-7. Then efficient play from Liam saw Nathan drawn into errors and take the 4th 15-6 and the match.

Melbourn lost 11-4

The end of the league is approaching – this was the 2nds last away trip of summer. And on paper the most difficult as it sent us to St. Albans to take on league leaders Nuffield 4ths.

First up were the third strings Will Bradshaw and Clive Barker, whose doings were streamed live via Nuffield’s YouTube channel. Which allowed Will’s Mum Kate (who plays for Melbourn 1sts) a rare chance to watch her son in action as Will finds her being their additional pressure. And for those on this website to watch on replay as well – here you go (from 1:02:45 if the link doesn’t jump automatically there):-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwx-GRMIDuM#t=62m45s
Game One saw both players feeling each other out, with the score ebbing this way and that. Will was hitting crisply and moving well, Clive was trying to get forward and stay there to play his drops and kills… and hope the fleet-footed youngster wouldn’t get to them. Towards the end of the game it looked like Will was getting in command as he built a 14-12 lead, only for Clive to dig in impressively on both the game points. Will was on the ‘t’ in each rally and did little wrong as he tried to find the killer length, but Clive scrambled as hard as he could to stay in both strokes which eventually allowed him to turn each around for a counter-punch winner.
The disappointment from Will on the game balls passing by was clear and he promptly lost the next two rallies to drop the game 16-14 (Kate, via text “Aarghhh! Not sure this is good for my heart!! Very unlucky") and this psychological blow saw also evident in game two as Will dropped a long way behind. Unrecoverably so, despite one serve that he managed to frame directly into a rolling nick, a move called “absolutely filthy” by the home team.
Post game analysis by Will was he was playing too many boasts and these weren’t working anyway (everyone else: yep, that’s true) so he should straight things up and drive down the walls. Good idea? Great idea as he moved into an 8-4 lead on game three. At that stage things looked good but a marking call he didn’t agree with (but was probably right) led to a period of discombobulation and the lead evaporating… only for Will to show impressive maturity by visibly calming himself down and then producing much more focused Squash to take the game to a tie-break. This proved to be an absolute epic with Will having game points but more often Clive having match balls, around four in all. All saved before Will pushed himself up to win 20-18, the clincher a boast from a seemingly defensive position that die in Clive’s front backhand corner.
Well now, what next? Another game of nip and tuck until Clive seemed to make a decisive break towards the conclusion to earn himself another set of match balls at 14-10. Will was not about to give up though, and actually produced his very best Squash of the match over the next three rallies as intensity was well combined with low-risk choices to pound his way through and bring things back to 13-14. Sadly, just when it seemed a huge turnaround was possible (Will would have been a very strong favourite in the fifth) a choice to attempt to play through some interference saw Will’s backhand dig go too high and wide. And that ended matters. Will lost 14-16, 7-15, 20-18, 13-15. So, so close to that first ever win in adult Squash.

Moises (from 1:51:20):- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwx-GRMIDuM#t=111m20s
Match two on the live streaming court was the second string encounter between Moises Estrelles Navarro and Keith Ragg.
After a few points scoping each other out the first player to make a run was Keith as he pounced on loose attempts to kill from Moises to counter-punch his way to a 10-3 game one lead. Moises got more conservative in his shot choices after this, which was indicative of the way forward for him as the change in approach saw the gap close back to 10-12, only for a missed forehand overhead at this stage to result in a Spanish scream of frustration and a crucial point against – Keith won the opener 15-11 soon after.
Moises had left a few points out there in game one as he had been playing the standard player and not his actual opponent. This meant trying to wrong-foot a player who hadn’t actually moved from his shot. An adjustment to take the open court when it was available (and generally adjust to a player who knew when he needed to move and when he didn’t need to) got the second closer, with the game reaching a dramatic conclusion with Moises saving a game ball at 14-13, having one of his own at 15-14, but losing that on a stroke call and again seeing the game escape.
No matter though as Moises had made Keith work very hard for his two game lead and was also gradually getting used to the idea that drop shotting and kills were not his friend given his opponents clear discomfort with extended rallies involving lots of running. Pumping the ball deep work beautifully at the start of game three, rapidly building a 9-3 lead for Moises. Errors crept in a little as the game progressed allowing it to be a bit closer, but not enough to prevent Moises closing it out with a lovely backhand drop shot into the nick to claim it 15-11 and get on the board.
By now Moises had established a pattern that worked, if he could execute it. That was exactly what he managed in game four – after  some initial early sparing has seen it get to 5-4 in Moises favour he gradually pulled himself clear winning roughly two points for every one Keith was able to scramble to claim the game 15-8.
Going into the deciding game with momentum and fitness on his side Moises was the clear favourite to win. Things appeared to be going as expected as eased 7-4 ahead, but maybe a touch of comfort sneaked its way in as Moises lost the pattern for a while and saw this early advantage evaporate into a 9-8 deficit. This concentrated the mind, a string of four straight points re-establishing the three point advantage at 12-9, which was held to the end despite some fishing for lets from both players that the marker was not having any of. Moises won 11-15, 15-17, 15-11, 15-8, 15-12.

Due to the length of Moises match Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and Alexander Craig went on to a different court to play their match. So there is no video. What a pity, as you will soon discover 😉
This was a re-match of a clash at Melbourn earlier in the summer when Alex had won 3-2, but only after letting Jan off the hook in the first two games as the Melbourn player recovered big deficits to win them 15-13. This started off in similar fashion, long drawn out rallies up and down the walls that Alex mostly won. Almost entirely won in fact as he powered into a 10-0 lead as Jan was left wondering how on Earth he could kill the ball against someone so quick. He did managed it sometimes, but only very occasionally. 1-0 and comprehensively so.
The second saw Jan trying to play more of his game rather than taking on Alex at a steady up-and-down the wall encounter which the home player was just better at. Initially it didn’t work as another big gap was opened up, but then in a reprise of events at Melbourn it started to as an 8-2 advantage was gradually clawed back to 10-12. Jan had a clear chance to go for a kill at this point, but mistimed it, the ball sitting up for a counter winner. And that was moreorless that as Alex went on to take game two 15-11 and by game three the extended nature of the rallies had drained the energy from Jan’s legs. He found himself deep and pushed deeper, which gave Alex kills in the front court that he exploited to wrap up a 3-0 win that gave the hosts victory on the night.

Melbourn won 12-3

This match was the 2nds fourth meeting and final meeting of the season with Ickleford, who have two sides in Herts Summer League Division 4. The previous seasonal record read Melbourn 2, Ickleford 1 with the previous match between these particular teams having ended as a 9-4 win for Melbourn.

The last time the two clubs had met it had featured Moises Estrelles Navarro taking on Tony Dean at third string. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose…
1st Game
This is the 2nd leg of the Raging Bull (Moises) Vs Tony and like the first time round, it was very back and forth. Neither player scored more than 2 points in a row in the first. At the sharp end of the game, Moises edged the remaining run of points from 12-12 onward to take the game.
2nd Game
Some 'words of wisdom' from Jan in the interval did not seem to have the affect they were supposed to. Subsequently, Moises started to play a slightly confusing game, making errors and not using his pace and power to overwhelm his opponent. Tony eased to 15-7 to take the second.
3rd Game
The third very much went the same way as the second with Moises not playing to his strengths and Tony capitalising on errors from Moises. Frustration from Moises started to become apparent and losing the third 15-7, he needed a hard reset!
4th Game
Moises cleared his mind and focussed on what he's good at, and so he entered the 4th to execute with clarity. Moises started to move Tony around and started taking the opportunities when they arose. He picked up the pace, elongated rallies and wore Tony down to ensure he took it to a fifth, winning 15-9. 
5th Game
Going into the 5th, Moises was very much on the front foot, Tony looked weary and as a result started playing some extraordinarily high risk shots. A lot of these came off and threw Moises off his game somewhat. Moises however recovered but Tony looked nailed on to take the fifth when he got himself 14-12 ahead. Moises dug deep though to save the two match balls and pushed Tony to the edge to eventually take the game and match 16-14.

Next on were Liam Murphy (2) and Paul Etherington. It was swiftly clear from the initial sparring that Liam was the cleaner player; he was having  joy pinning Paul into the back corners where the latter’s somewhat exaggerated swing left him cramped for space. This was handy as consistent down-the-wall driving is Liam’s game – he won the opener 15-8. However this proved a bit too straightforward and in game 2 Liam moved away from diligent rally construction and went instead for kills early. This suited Paul, who is rapid around the court, which in turn left Liam seeking to go extra tight. And that meant finding the tin and getting frustrated about how his game had apparently deserted him. Game two escaped 15-9 and we were all square.
Back to basics was the cry from his teammates after this. 10 clean, straight driving rallies into game three later Liam was leading 10-0 and everything was right with the world again (well apart from some marking calls…). The bagel wasn’t quite achieved, but 15-4 was impressive. So was repeating that in game four as Liam stuck fast to the method that was working. This time the rush of points was somewhat backloaded with the double figures string coming after falling 4-2 down. 15-8, 9-15, 15-4, 15-4 overall and victory on the evening secured for Melbourn.

Jan (1) took the court after that with the win already for a full reprise from the reverse fixture at Ickleford as he once again took on Sean Barry. That match had ended with Jan running away with things, winning the final game 15-3. He went one better in the opener of this one, rattle through things 15-2. Jan had been aided in that by Sean appearing nervous and making some odd mistakes, but once the Ickleford player had got his game in gear things became closer. Quite a lot closer. But never quite close enough for the visitor as Jan always managed to just keep his nose ahead even if it was only by a point or two in games two and three. But even so consistent hitting into the back corners was enough to ease Jan home 15-2, 15-11, 15-12 to wrap up a 12 point night for the home team.

Jan was skipper again for the evening. He commented “All the matches were up-and-down, but in each of them our players found their groove for a while and played some nice Squash when we were in that.”

Melbourn 2nds travelled to play Chantry.

First up at string 3, was a continuously improving Moises Navarro, against an experienced Mark Bagnall.

Moises was quick out of the blocks in determined mood, chasing everything down and putting his opponent under huge pressure, taking a 0:5 lead. However as Mark settled into the contest, he was able to reduce the lead and fought hard to keep in touch. Moises remained in control however and a combination of good driving and the occasional drop kept him in front. Mark was taking some risks to close the gap, but Moises was the better player, continuously forcing the errors by his opponent and took the game 11:15.

In the second, Mark changed tactics with a lot more dropping and boasting. Moises was up for the challenge and fought all the way. Some unfortunate lets against Moises kept it nip and tuck, forcing his opponent again into taking risks, some of which paid off and it was 10:10, both players giving their all. Moises got to game point with great retrieval and determination. However he failed to capitalise and let Mark recover, then an error by Moises handed Mark game point, which he took to win the game 16:14.

In the third, Mark again persisted with more dropping to try to move Moises forwards and backwards. Mark’s experience was beginning to tell and combined with Moises understandably unable to maintain the high energy approach, Mark was able to move ahead, taking a 9:4 lead. Mark was varying his game more as Moises tired and took the game 15:5.

While Moises was still fighting hard and giving it everything, tiredness was setting in and this showed again in the fourth game. Mark had the experience to position himself on the T and force Moises into retrieving. Moises hung in for as long as he could, demonstrating that he had the game to compete at this level, however it was in vain on this occasion and Mark took the game 15:9 and the match 3:1.

The next match on was the second strings, which pitted Colm O'Gorman against the hosts Vinh Tram.

Having first dealt with the really important stuff – Vinh is not short for Vincent – the game got underway and it was immediately clear we were in for a long one as steady play from both resulted in extended rallies. As the game progressed Colm began to take command more and more, his length forcing Vinh deep and allowing him to close his opponent out and drop into the front backhand corner. This gave Colm the opener 9:15.

Could he keep it up though? Unfortunately not as Colm began to be more flustered and this resulted in errors earlier in rallies. He also lost his court position a bit, with Vinh now holding more of the front wall. The home player eased away and when the marker awarded him a stroke at 14:7 it was game over. But wait, Vinh had declined the stroke (to the bemusement of the entire gallery who all felt it was a clear cut call), only asking for a let instead and Colm made great use of the let off winning one point, two points, three points with consistent but also attacking Squash. Vinh was getting under more and more pressure as things got tight – he appeared to be hoping for the error rather than pushing for the winner himself (which, to be fair, is his general style anyway)… and Colm finally obliged at 14:12, albeit he was forced to, to give Vinh a simple kill. And with that we were back all-square.

Colm admitted after this game he was not feeling great, which prompted a death-or-glory approach to game three. Not really his game, which made it all the more difficult to pull off. The tail did wag in the game once again as Vinh went from 14:9 up to another 14:9, but once again just when an unlikely turnaround seemed about to be completed the home player drove himself to be more proactive in a rally and wrapped things up.

And that, frankly, was all she wrote. Colm was basically out on his feet in the fourth - he had been a fraction slow to clear the ball from the start of game three onwards, and now his feet appeared generally stuck. Vinh was still fresh and moving well, and that made for rapid work of sealing things. Colm lost 9:15, 15:12, 15:12, 15:5.

Jan Brynjolffssen, at string 3 was up against a very strong player in Mark Douglas.

After a first testing rally of drives and cross courts, the match changed to move touch style game with drops and boasting from both players. This tipped it in favour of the local to lead 6-4. Jan tried to arrest Mark’s momentum and brought the game to 7-7. But, the boasting and drops kept coming from Mark and at 13-7, Jan was continuously forced out of position and succumbed to a 15:11 loss. This was not for the lack of effort, endeavour and skill, Jan was just up against a very skilful and fit opponent.

Totally different scenario at the start of the second. Jan changed to deeper drives and went 0:2 up, but Mark was able to adapt and the game slipped to 8:2 in favour of Mark, again both players looking like they were performing to their best. Jan varied his game to try to counteract and had some excellent drop shots and recovered to 10-5. But in his attempts to cut the rallies short, we was taking risks and let the game get away from him, Mark taking it 15:8.

Jan wasn’t done though, and was determined to leave his imprint on the match. In the third, he started to move the ball more to the backhand of his opponent, taking the initiative and was rewarded with point after point to go 3:6 up. Jan was playing to the peak of his abilities, bring out some great shots, combining deep drives with drops on his forehand side (his opponent a left-hander). It was 10-10, Jan had given his all and there were signs of fatigue, but his opponent was also starting to tire. Mark was able to push to a 13-11, but back cam Jan and after some incredible rallies, he reached a deserved game point at 13-14. He couldn’t make it count, his opponents with a timely lucky nick. The players battled it out, but Mark just about squeezed home taking it 18:16, and the match 3:0, a high quality and very entertaining match to watch.

Captain Colm, while disappointed that we didn’t take more games acknowledged, ‘we were up against a very strong team in Chantry, and demonstrated that we were not far off their standard, well done to Jan especially for competing so well against a top player and to Moises for showing that he has the game to compete at this level’.

Melbourn won 10-4

Another week, another match, and this promised to be a tough one as we welcomed second-in-the-table Allenburys to Melbourn.

Liam Murphy vs Gavin Bone, 3rd String:

First on was the third stings, which pitted Liam against Gavin. Apparently there had been some irritable words between these two in the first meeting of the teams in Ware earlier in the season. There was no direct evidence of it in the return, but maybe there was something indirect in how wound up Liam appeared in the first. This resulted in some poor shot choices, mistakes and general irritation with how things were going. Gavin took full advantage of the chances offered to bring out his boast – his main attacking weapon – and race away with things from 7-5 up to claim the game 15-8.
Game two started off in a similar vein as Liam made errors. However these can be overcome with determination, which is exactly what the Melbourn player managed as he turned around 6-4 and 8-6 deficits in high style to win the game 15-10. That damped the annoyance down enough to allow a chat with teammates which meant the view from the balcony could be shared that it wasn’t just failure to execute but also court position that was causing Liam problems – get higher on the ‘t’ to cover Gavin’s main attacking weapon and Liam should dominate.
For the first half of game three it seemed like the message was fully on board as Liam rattled into a 9-3 lead. But this was to be a curates egg of a game as he promptly lost his way, forced things too hard again and six rallies later found himself all-square at 9-all. A refocus and reconcentration on length and rally construction meant a three point lead was re-established, which was enough to sneak through the game 15-13. And that finally, was the key as game four saw Liam up the court, pushing Gavin back deep (and looking tired). The boasts were now being picked off for counter-drop winners as Liam closed things out comprehensively, winning 8-15, 15-10, 15-13, 15-7.

Aidan Hird vs Gareth Jones, 2nd string:

The second match on court was a very familiar affair as Aidan found himself up against Gareth, who in the winter plays for Melbourn in the Cambs League and is a regular at team training (both had been along the previous Sunday, in fact). This felt like it might be a good thing for Aidan, who often fails to produce his best Squash on match nights due to the pressure of having teammates hoping he does well.
Initial signs were promising as Aidan looked relaxed and was moving well, despite some pre-match worrying about a knee problem. He was soon ahead 11-3 in the first. But it’s hard to keep Gareth and his ultra-attacking game down, and he ruffled Aidan’s feathers a bit with four straight points mid-game.. but ultimately not enough to recover the advantage – 15-9 to the Melbourn player representing Melbourn on the evening in the first.
Game two saw points go in streaks. First Aidan rattled himself to 4-1 ahead. Then Gareth won a couple of points and tense Aidan made his first appearance of the night as his play got frenetic and overly attacking – as his arm moved faster, his feet got more and more stuck, with errors coming thick and fast. Seven rallies out of eight went Gareth’s way as he moved 8-5 up. But after that Aidan calmed down somewhat, got his feet moving again and ran through seven straight points of his own to lead 12-8. What would happen next? Well, a reversal back to Gareth of course as Aidan lost a couple of rallies and was clearly concerned about blowing his lead again. He didn’t though as Gareth is also prone to the odd error, making two critical ones on what should have been drop shot winners at 12-13 and 12-14, the ball spinning off the dangled racquet face and bouncing into the tin to hand Aidan the game 15-12.
Calm down and slow down. A simple message, but hard to execute. Yes? No. Because Aidan took this on board entirely and produced a minor masterpiece in game three. Aidan is known around the leagues for his shuddering groundstroke power, but has a tendency to over-use this, especially when he is feeling jittery. Game three saw him play at least the opening five rallies simply on control, 60-70% hitting, looking for lengths and tightness. This allowed the adrenalin to drop back to levels where controlled Squash was possible… and the result was simply unplayable as Aidan was suddenly on a practice court on a Sunday with the first team, playing first team standard Squash. Much too rich for Gareth’s blood. The Allenburys-on-the-day player did claim a couple of points mid-game but facing Aidan not making errors was simply too much and resulted in Aidan wrapping up a 15-9, 15-12, 15-2 (sic) success.

Jan Brynjolffssen vs Ben Griffith, 1st String:

A great match to watch with an interesting contrast in styles. The first game started out with flowing and accurate squash from both players. Jan was a few points adrift by mid-game but pulled it back with a couple of pinpoint drops and some great tight lengths, exploiting our courts' noted tendency to eat anything hit accurately into the back corners. He held the court with patience and took his finishing opportunities well but lost out by turns to Ben's accuracy and low-margin kills. The exchange of points continued to 12-12 before a couple of looser rallies from Jan let Ben snatch it.
The pattern continued to developed further in the second game, with Jan taking an early lead as Ben tried and failed to grab points with risky shots from difficult positions. The Melbourn player settled in to await the game being handed to him, and while he was forced to watch the drops that missed the tin going unreachably short, his consistency was rewarded and they walked off at 1-1.
Ben appeared to have improved his focus in the third, being noticeably more mobile and awaiting a clearer advantage before attempting a finish. The rallies ground on longer but Jan was equal to it, staying in touch as his opponent's winners again became gradually more spectacular and risky-looking. Jan kept things tight and steady to take it to 12-12, before his consistency suddenly wavered for a vital few points and the game escaped him.
The 4th was a looser affair, with Ben looking tired from the outset and Jan gradually following him. Again, it was fireworks against stability with points traded, but at 7-7, Ben hit a rich seam of drops and tight drives and a 6 point lead quickly appeared. Jan fought hard in the last couple of points as rallies became messier but couldn't pull it back. Final scores were 12-15, 15-10, 14-16, 8-15.

Jan commented after the game “Aidan produced the performance of the night in his third game – given his attacking style he usually makes some mistakes. But in game three he made exactly none, and if he does that he becomes a beast to play against. Gareth was unlucky to get him in such form.
“Liam’s win was gritty – he initially looked out of sorts but turned it around well. I was happy to get a point against a stronger player, though that drop shot haunts. But even with that going down we still gained a 2-1 win against a promotion chasing team, and that is a great result.”

Melbourn lost 3-12

The seconds travelled to Berko hoping to end a run of two straight losses, a hope that took something of a knock when we arrived and the home skipper (who didn’t play due to a bug) admitted he had his strongest team of the season so far out to face us. Oh.

First to attempt to upset the apple cart was Will Brdashaw (3), fresh from his 14th birthday. Will was up against Mike Cowan, whose 14th birthday is also in the past… but rather less recently than with Will.
Game one saw Will’s fairly deep starting position causing himself problems as Mike’s height and swing had him moving backwards to stay safe. That gave Mike far too much room in the front court. A post-game discussion focused on getting in front both for tactical reasons and to feel safer, which Will managed to an extent as the game was much closer. That built confidence for Game Three when Will really got himself up the court and began to dictate play. Key to this were some excellent chips down the wall out of his deep backhand corner, Will turning rallies around to allow himself up to the ‘t’ where he could do damage. It all added up to a very slickly taken game. Hopes were high with his teammates when Will started game four well, moving 5-3 up, but a run of a few points and generally tiredness caught up with him as the run of points against continued and continued; 5-3 became 5-13. Oops. Some late resistance as Will went back to what had worked showed what might have been… but the deficit was too much to recover from, Will losing 5-15, 11-15, 15-9, 9-15.

Next on was Jan Brynjolffssen (1) against Mat McHugh. The first game saw Jan build an early lead as he fought and scrambled well… and also benefitted from some unforced drop shot errors from Mat. That saw Jan 12-7 up, only for Mat to dig in to level… and then Jan to respond in kind to take the game 15-12. This was good, the second was better as Jan kept things tight and deep and benefitted from more errors from Mat’s racquet. 15-6. 2-0. OK! A drop in intensity proved fatal in game three though, Jan ending up hoping for the errors instead of asking serious questions to encourage them. 7-15 against. Hmm. More shot pace meant a rapid start to game four and a 5-0 lead. Could Jan hold it together to close things out? All went well up to mid-game, but then Mat came roaring back and it was the home player who got to 14 first at 14-12. Now it was Jan’s turn to dig in saving game point after game point, to earn a match ball at 16-15. But this was well saved, and despite saving another game ball at 17-16 the game eventually escaped. 2-2.
Before the decider Jan told his teammates he still felt fresh. Two rallies and limited movement into the game he realised this wasn’t true! But if that was the case for him it probably was for Mat as well. It became a case of battling and fighting. Unfortunately for Jan Mat was doing that better, getting 13-7 up. That became 14-10. Five match balls. But even now Jan wouldn’t give up as one, two, three were saved by desperation running and hitting. Would things turn around again? Mat was looking nervous, but a deep shot that Jan could only just scramble back allowed him the front wall. One pump down the backhand got another scrap back, and with Jan still trying to recover a flicked drop onto the forehand side found a yawning gap to complete the Berko player’s win. Jan lost 15-12, 15-6, 7-15, 17-19, 12-15.

Which took us to Sean Hamilton (2) against Derek Brown. Though Sean didn’t realise it this was an extremely tough match up for him as Derek had previously only played this summer at top string, with good success, or for Berko 2nds! Anything Sean could get from the rubber was a bonus. The problems were evident immediately in game 1 – Derek is fast (very fast) and could run down any of Sean’s attempted drops and kills. As Sean game is all about killing the ball that was a bad combination. A one-sided first went to the home player. Post-game tactical advice for Sean was don’t drop shot, ever, he will get them. Don’t give him the front wall. Just rally and rally and rally and hope for an error. It may take a while to come. This worked… but was exhausting. Sean built a 12-7 lead on the back of it, but things turned with a really extended rally at that point that Derek won, and left Sean basically out on his feet. At this point he was desperate for exits from rallies so started attempting to kill the ball again… with the same effect as Derek won a string of points to turn the game on it’s head. That was basically all she wrote, Derek cruising through the third as Sean lost 5-15, 12-15, 7-15.

Jan commented after the game “Grant [the Berkhamsted skipper] said before the game it was the strongest line up they have put out this season. In the circumstances we did well to give ourselves chances to win some of the strings. It wasn’t to be, but everyone played well against opponents who they would be expected to lose to.”

Melbourn lost 5-9

The seconds were beaten 9-5 by a second team for the second week in a row. This time it was Ickleford 2s who were the nemesis.

First on were the third strings, which pitted Moises Estrelles Navarro's game of blood and thunder up against the smooth stylings of Tony Dean.

1sts
The first game was a microcosm of what was to come. Moises using pace and power to try and overwhelm his more mature opponents game of manoeuvring his man around. A very back-and-forth game saw Moises edged out 15-11 with one too many loose balls and errors.

2nd
Wise words from Jan saw Moises calm down, but perhaps El Toro relaxed too much? Playing slower fed into the hands of his opponent and Moises struggled to find his rhythm. However, playing better length and width meant he could move Tony around. Errors found Moises again and after recovering from 13-5 down, Tony just edged the game 15-13.

3rd
Moises was really now starting to hit his straps and his opponent started to tire, with Moises racing out to win the third 15-8

4th
The slog fest to end all slog fests. Tony found his 5th wind by this stage and in the business of finishing this one off. However, Moises wasn't having any of it and by keeping himself in the rallies he marched his way towards what looked like an inevitable 2-2 and into a decider. As we all know the squash gods are a cruel bunch and some ridiculously good shots from Tony saw himself level to 14-14. Like two heavyweights in the 12th round, they were swinging for the fences but Tony prevailed with a body shot that KO'd Moises to take the game 17-15 and the match 3-1.

Next on were the second strings, which pitted Liam Murphy against Andy Phillipson.

1st
Liam started rapidly, quickly opening up a 6-2 lead in the opener, but then appeared to lose his early focus and made some unforced errors to let Andy back level at 6-all. From this point Liam focused on consistent play and did it very well as he rattled through the rest of the game 15-8. Quite a number of these points were won with perfect lengths which died in the deep corners, especially Andy’s backhand. One would claim local knowledge… but this was at Ickleford, not Melbourn!

2nd
Could Liam back that up in game two? Could he ever! What was delivered was a masterclass of controlled Squash and length hitting. Time and again Liam pumped the ball hard towards the back corners and time and again the ball curled up a died once it got there, leaving Andy completed exasperated. The opening half of the game was pure perfection, Liam racing into an 8-0 lead. Andy did register a point eventually, but only after a long and lung-busting rally – this was also the case of the other two points he was to claim in the game as Liam made precisely zero unforced errors.

3rd
Staying on such an elevated plateau was going to be challenging, and Liam didn’t quite manage it. Even so he was in control, cruising into a 12-4 lead. The focus wavered briefly again, but having allowed three points against Liam produced a crushing and wall-hugging short forehand kill on the return of serve at 7-12 to move to two points from victory. He swiftly added the two further rallies needed, rounding off a highly accomplished performance that saw him victorious 15-8, 15-3, 15-7.

That sent things to the top string, where Jan Brynjolffssen faced off with Kevin Waring

1st
Irresistible force Vs the immovable object, I'll let you decide who's who. The metronomic game of Jan pulled Kev into areas he'd rather not be with Jan consistently finding length and line. He subsequently ran into an 11-5 lead. However one missed stroke call by Jan saw him lose his focus and squander his lead to end up 14-14. Kev eventually winning out 16-14.

2nd
The second saw Jan getting dragged into Kev's game, very un-Jan like. He started to tire quickly and tried to keep a high tempo which meant errors crept in and Kev took advantage to take it 15-8.

3rd
With the third saw the return of the Jan we know and love. The wall was his friend and slowing the game down saw Kev struggling to find rhythm and as a result saw his error count creep up. Jan was showing real court craft and took the game 15-8.

4th
Kev raced into a 6-0 lead in game 4 with Jan looking all at sea. However Jan zoned in and found his game very quickly which meant Kevin attempted more high risk shots to get back in the game. It looked for all the tea in China that Jan would be taking this to a fifth but some miraculous stuff from Kevin dragged him back level. The game was now at 16-16, gladiatorial would be the word for this battle. With Kevin having a strong kill game saw him edge out Jan 18-16 and take a very even game 3-1.

Jan saw skipper for the evening. He commented afterwards “So close! It felt like both Moises and I had the momentum after winning our third games, but the Ickleford boys dug in to grind out the fourth in each case. If either of them had gone to five… Sadly, we couldn’t back Liam up, which was a really shame as he was in imperious form tonight.”

Melbourn lost 5-9

The seconds wrapped up the first half of the summer season with a trip to Welwyn to take on Gosling 2nds.

First on court was teenager Will Bradshaw, 13 (nearly 14… but not quite yet) who took on Adrian Rates. Who is at least 14. Three times 14. Plus a bit more.
The match started with Will doing a good job of putting into practice the his coaching and the gameplan, stepping up to volleying his returns and subsequently to try and hold a high ‘T’ position. Adrian was probing away to find Will’s weaknesses… but was initially mostly picking out a key strength as Will scrambled around rapidly to pick up a number of attempted kills. Will was hitting crisply and used this to build an early advantage of a few points which he held through most of the game, until the conclusion approached when he started to get more cautious and consequently slipped 13-12 down. However a clutch rally was clinically played to level up at 13-all, and this was followed by a dead nick on serve for a wonderfully timed (from Will’s perspective!) ace. Serve was also key to winning the game ball as Will played a clever one with about three different spins or it (or, possibly, he framed it…), the ball going just above the front wall cut line and bouncing just beyond the service line. Adrian seemed nonplussed by this and returned casually as he was convinced something had to be illegal about it. Will promptly dropped the loose ball to win the point and game. After a brief debate about the serve, with the entire balcony confirming it as completely legal (but not cleanly struck), a fist-pumping Will had his first game in adult Squash under his belt.
Unfortunately this didn’t quite prove to be the herald of a first win as Adrian started the second game by upping his intensity and speed of shot, with Will going a bit conservative in his court position and shot choices in reaction. Encouragingly he seemed to recognise the issues and pushed himself higher up the court in the latter half of game two, producing play more like game one, but the early deficit conceded proved too much to overcome. This was a turning point as Will’s confidence declined and Adrian’s experience of how to win points came to the fore. Games three and four went to the home player by comfortable margins as a result leading to an overall 15-13, 10-15, 5-15, 3-15 defeat for Will.
The positive vibes of the opening game weren’t quite sustained the whole way through, but even so this was a significant milestone in Will’s development.

The evening then split on to two courts for the remaining games, to make sure they were done and everyone showered and changed before the Leisure Centre shuts at 10:00. That meant Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was taking on Dan Sadler whilst simultaneously Liam Murphy (2) faced Chris Tutton simultaneously.
Both matches were characterised by one player being very frustrated that the other seemed to have all the luck. With Jan and Dan it was the visitor who appeared to have the local knowledge as Jan repeatedly found nicks, particularly deep in Dan’s backhand side, doing so most often and notably in game one. Game two was closer as Jan lost his way at times (one poor choice to boast rather than drive stuck out – failure to apply the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” principle) but then played some clean rallies at the death to wrap things up. Game three was closer again, with the scores nip-and-tuck for the first time. Dan seemed to have made a significant break when he won three rallies from 10-all to lead 13-10. However Dan was gasping for air at this point and Jan sensed and exploited this to grind his way back in, playing two physical rallies to set up a simple deep-short combo which brought things back to 13-all. Taking a leaf from Will’s book (tactical masterclass) Jan served straight into the nick to go 14-13 up, and then found the back nick in the backhand corner one last time to wrap things up in appropriate fashion – if the match had a signature shot it would have been Jan driving down the backhand rail and the ball dying a death back there. Jan won 15-5, 15-10, 15-13.

Unfortunately for Melbourn next door it was Gosling’s Chris who was getting seemingly lucky repeatedly (it’s usual to quote Gary Player here “The harder I practice, the luckier I get”) which was making Liam climb the walls. Liam would feel in control of rallies, working Chris around, but when he went for his kills Chris’ speed got him to the ball and then his unconventional front-on swing would not only dig the ball up but also send it in a direction that Liam wasn’t expecting, keeping the Melbourn player twisting, turning and generally off-balance. After two games of frustration Liam knitted it all together in game three, punching the ball deep repeatedly to tight lengths early in the rallies to open up big enough front corner holes to get the ball to bounce twice before Chris could rush forwards. Sadly for Melbourn the positive vibes of game three were wholly absent from game four as early rallies went against Liam, who began to rage at the world as he slid to a 11-15, 13-15, 15-6, 7-15 defeat.

Jan was Melbourn’s skipper on the evening. He commented “The most memorable aspect of the evening will remain Will getting his first game in senior Squash. That contributed a league point – his first for the club, hopefully and presumably the first of many”

Melbourn 2 travelled to Biggleswade in anticipation of a big challenge.

String 1 played fist with Liam Murphy came up against an opponent who was more machine than man away at Biggleswade.

His superfit rival, Nathan Bascom, was in the form of his life and took the match 3-0. Nathan's team mates agreed he was playing the best they'd ever seen, combining supreme conditioning with shot making - with a sprinkling of good luck on top.

Even the player himself declared on court after another winning point: "I have been going to the gym a lot," before chuckling to himself.

Unfortunately Liam hit quite a few into the tin in first game and his trademark pick up drops were not working. Nathan was relentless in his desire to get the match over and done with as quickly as possible, lunging and reaching for everything, smashing volleys into nicks. Liam showed some moments of recovery, placing a few extremely tight lobs to the back corners. He adopted a strategy of trying to push Nathan into the back which briefly turned the tide.

There was an excruciating moment towards the end of the third game where it looked like Liam might be able to bring it back to 2-1 down. Unfortunately, at a crucial 11-13 up there was a stroke awarded against Liam. Despite strong objections from Liam, from the balcony it looked like the marker had made a fair decision - and remained cool under cross examination. Liam continued to fight, clawing back to 14-14. The spectators groaned when Liam then hit his next serve out, leaving Nathan to take the final game 16-14, and the match 3-0.

Next up at string 3, Sean took on Archie Broadbent. In the 1^st, after a couple of dodgy serves, Sean found his rhythm and radar, moving Archie around the court at will, killing off many a rally with some lovely cross court drives. Sean took the game comfortably 7-15.

The 2nd saw Sean try to mix things up early on but his opponent pulled off some beautiful lobs and drops. Sean reverted back to type with a straightforward game of drives and cross courts with his opponent desperate to move up and cut off early but to no avail. Sean however did have a wobble at game point but steadied himself and served to win 11-15.

The third game saw Archie mix it up and try to play into the rallies which threw Sean off a little. Archie's lobs and drops came to the rescue to nudge him into the lead. However, Sean picked up the pace and once again went back to playing a mix of straight and cross court drives to evade Archie's reach. Sean served out to win 12-15.

Last to play at string 2, Colm was up against Jack Wright.

A contrast in styles was evident early in the first, with Jack’s powerful hitting and Colm retrieving and touch play keeping him the game.

Jack forged ahead and with all the energy and pace, seemed to have the advantage, however Colm steadied the ship and gradually began to express himself. This made for an extremely tight game which ebbed and flowed. Colm was serving deep and cutting the returns early to force Jack off the T. Jack was driving well and lengthening the rallies game him the advantage. Jack just about held the lead 11-10 before Colm took a series of points with combination of drives and drops, and took the game 11-15.

The second game continued as the first ended, and Colm continued to apply pressure through serving deep, hitting the corners and cutting early where possible. This game was one-sided with Colm taking it 6-15.

Jack knew he hadn’t played his usual game in the second and was determined to make amends in the 3^rd. Jack cruised through the early stages taking a 7-2 lead and playing in a much more composed manner. With a mix of luck, some unforced errors by Jack and some well taken winners, Colm stormed back into the game to take an 8-10 lead. The next few rallies were hard fought but Colm was able to keep Jack at bay and again serving deep and getting more return from his drops, he took the game 12-15 and the match 0-3, securing the overall result for Melbourn.

Captain Colm noted with some relief afterwards, ‘that was a tough challenge and delighted to get the overall result, especially with Biggleswade having taken the first match with such a quality display’.

Melbourn won 11-5

The Seconds latest match in Division 4 saw us taking on league leaders Nuffield 4ths. We knew the St. Albans side were top, but it seemed they didn’t until they saw the updated league table on our noticeboard!

Having boosted our visitors confidence (oops) we dived into the match starting with the top string on account of both players – Jan Brynjolffssen of Melbourn and Alexander Craig of Nuffield – being present and ready to go, and that not being the case for any other string. At least Jan thought he was ready… taking six attempts (literally!) to knock a spare ball up to the balcony, and having to resort to throwing it instead suggested otherwise! Accuracy? What’s that?
Jan took this shonky form into the start of the first, and swiftly found himself 8-2 down. However it seemed infectious as Alex went from looking imperious early on to making some strange shot choices and odd unforced errors. That allowed Jan to come fighting back and emerge with the game under his belt 15-13. When the same pattern – Alex racing into a big early lead, Jan grinding it back and edging the game, similar to the point of an identical score – repeated in Game 2 Jan suddenly found himself leading two-love. To his general bemusement. If Alex got his patterns right… which he did in game 3, Jan also taking his foot off the pedal a bit in a physical match. This proved a bad move as once Alex’s confidence was back there was only one winner, Jan eventually going down 15-13, 15-13, 2-15, 6-15, 5-15.

The top string took long enough that the match now split on to two courts, Liam Murphy facing Mhairi Gritz at second string on court 1, and Colm O’Gorman (3) playing Julian Craxton on court 2.

On paper Liam looked to have his hands full against Mhairi, who is a familiar face to some at Melbourn (she is a former Cambridge Squash Club and Cambs County Team player), as the Nuffield player counts the Scotland O35 team amongst the sides she currently represents and came in with decent results this summer. However it didn’t prove that way at all as the match-up in styles worked beautifully for Liam, Mhairi’s mixture of low, hard pace and sharp boasts not getting the ball past 6’4” Liam’s long reach – as he continually closed down her boasts he took Mhairi’s game away from her. Mhairi tried to battle, pulling out a notably thunderous backhand drive-kill in game three, but Liam always had a response – specifically an ultra-tight backhand drop a few points later that matched the power-kill as a spectacular winner, and also generally as he came through 15-3, 15-9, 15-9.

Meanwhile Colm was trying to figure out the puzzle that is Julian next door without much help from teammates. Which was unfortunate as Julian is a longstanding competitor on the Herts Squash scene with a well-known and particular style. Forewarned would have been somewhat fore-armed, though there is only so much one can do against a player who can drop or kill-boast from seemingly anywhere! For three games Colm struggled away as he tried to figure out how to deal with Julian’s mix, digging in hard to win the second but losing the other two and generally not really enjoying the experience (few do against Julian!).
A chance to talk it through with teammates after game 3 finally added clarity (don’t go for ‘good’ shots, and don’t wrong-foot – simply play the ball away from where Julian is standing so he has to run) and from there Colm looked in command, cruising through game four 15-6 and then doing the same in the fifth, though Julian did help rather in this one with three unJulian-like backhand drop errors (the first was one he would make 99 times out of 100) that turned a potential 7-6 deficit for Colm into a comfortable 9-4 lead. He converted that well though, rounding off a 9-15, 15-9, 11-15, 15-6, 15-5 win.

After the game Colm commented he was “Delighted win the team's performance this evening, continuing the good run of form over the last few weeks. A special mention for Jan who competed so well against a top player in Alex.”

Melbourn 2 travelled away to play Ickleford 3.

Sean was first up at string 3 against Paul Etherington.

Early on in the first the match was rushed, and the pre-match jitters were being worked out between them. Sean made a string of errors mixed with some nice backhand drops from Paul. It was very much blow for blow but Paul's composure and excellent front court game saw him edge it 15:12.

In the second, Sean struggled to find line and length but when he did he played some lovely controlled squash. However, too many loose balls gave Paul opportunities to score easy points. Once again Paul controlled the rallies, killed off points at the front and comfortably saw out the second 15:6.

The third game saw a quick 3:0 start from Paul which was cancelled out by Sean with some wonderful controlled squash again, Sean played in phases rather than with consistency. Sean started to find his length but some wicked backhand slice drops from his opponent and Sean losing his radar at crucial moments saw a tight game go to the wire. Sean started to look a little tired and a lost footing saw him lose the game point 15:12 and the match. 3-0 in games seemed a little unfair considering the competitive nature of the match.

Next up at string 2, pitting Melbourn’s Liam Murphy against Rich Brown. A complete contrast in styles was quickly apparent between Liam’s classical approach to rally construction and Rich, who was looking to kill absolutely everything into the front corners with his fine hand skills - Liam’s ideal rally was probably around 11 shots long; for Rich, if it had got to 4 then something was going very wrong!

Most rallies boiled down to a handful of key questions… Could Liam keep the ball tight enough to prevent Rich going for a kill (or rather going for them anyway despite being way out position, and therefore missing)? If Rich did attempt a winner, could Liam’s excellent movement and lunging get to the short balls anyway? If Liam got a kill back, could he direct it away as Rich charged forward behind his drops?

The answers to these questions were varied enough that despite the two extremes in approach the match was very balanced. Liam’s method had him narrowly ahead for most of the first game which eventually turned into two game-balls at 12:14, but Rich saved these and then kept his momentum going to clinch the tie-break. A post-game adjustment away from the counter-drop of the short ball, opting for low drives or lobs instead, saw Liam putting work in for the long-term – such plays may (did) win rallies but also achieved a wider aim of putting extra work into Rich’s legs and forcing his court position ever deeper, the concept being to eventually open up the front court for Liam’s own kills. Instant success wasn’t really the point of the strategy but Liam made it work immediately anyway, constant pressure seeing him win the second game 12:15 to level things up (and get Melbourn’s first game on the board of the evening!). It was nothing like easy though – the remarkable stretch and lunge to pick up an(other) ultra-shot Rich drop at 12:14 and somehow dink it above the tin for a game winning counter epitomising how fine the margins remained.

Game three saw Liam’s previous work gradually paying dividends as he looked increasingly in control. That said the standout rally of the game was actually against the grain as rather than a front corner attack Rich had put one tight to the backwall. It appeared stuck, but somehow Liam’s throw-the-kitchen-skin-at-it boast carried enough momentum to just make it above the tin via both sidewalls… and Rich, surprised it had come back, tinned his drop shot in response. He promptly tried to argue Liam’s shot hadn’t been legal – nah, mate, clearly good and up and you just blew the kill! The general trend was different though, mostly that Rich was clearly blowing by this point – there were rallies towards the end of the third where he hit his drop and simply stood still, a (lack of) movement that is often indicative of drained batteries. Liam’s rapidity to the front corners was also causing the Ickleford player to attempt to put the ball extra super tight… not really possible when his standard shot is extra super tight. Going even lower simply meant tinning balls.

And yet, despite Liam now leading 1-2 and reigning in the front court as Rich hugged the back wall, Rich’s dogged competitiveness somehow kept things close through sheer willpower. Liam was always just in front in game four but couldn’t break free to cruise to victory. Instead things once again reached 12:14, and once again this wasn’t converted as Rich played two clutch rallies. In fact the home player appeared about to go 15-14 up, but one more lunge from Liam got him under a short ball for a backhand pick-up that was a counter-winner as soon as it clambered above the tin. Match ball number three was then converted with a tight length to the deep backhand corner forcing an attempted dig out from Rich that went too high to complete Liam’s 16:14, 12:15, 11:15, 14:16 win, Liam looking relived to close things out and Rich just looking for oxygen.

At string 1, Jan was playing Sean Barry in a winner takes all. While the earlier matches had been very competitive, Jan on this occasion dominated the match for the most part, winning three games in succession, despite a brief comeback from his opponent in the second.

It was a thoroughly entertaining match with a variety of innovative and creative rallies. There were some extended drive exchanges tight down the wall. But Jan's punishing mix of cross court drives and lethal drops proved too much for Sean.

Ickleford player Sean was lively around the court, using his fast movement to chase down balls and achieve some astonishing pick-ups and recovery boasts. But all too often Jan was able to finish the rally with a deep cross court to the back which passed Sean by at speed before dying in the back corners.

Sean came alive at the start of the second game. Jan, in one of only a few errors on the night, missed a crucial drop. Sean made it to 6:2 up (and then 9:6 and 10:8) and looked certain to level up the match. However, Jan, managed a late run of five points which took it to 10:13, before winning 12:15.

The third game was over quickly. Sean consistently missed opportunities to take the ball in the air, only scoring three points in total. Jan, who also enjoyed an evening of precision serves, was able to finish comfortably, ending the final game 3:15.

Captain for the night, Jan commented ‘Lots of close games, with great variety in the play made for an enjoyable evening’s squash’.

Melbourn welcomed Chantry for a home tie in the fourth round of the Herts summer league.

Will at string 3 was first up against a very experienced John Grieves. Will started superbly, playing accurate and long into the back corners, positioning himself very well to pick off the first two points. John however using his experience and deft touches to recover, and the game evened out. Both players used good variety between drives, drops and cross courts in a very entertaining match so far. As John got into his stride, Will was more than matching him and at 7:9 down, it was anyone's game. John however dug in and nicked a run of points in a row to take an unassailable lead, taking the game 9:15. The second game followed an almost identified path, very competitive until 8:9. John again was able to exert that little bit more pressure and using drops and boasts, picked off the remaining points to take it 8:15, the scoreline wasn’t a true reflection of how competitive the game had been. In the third, Will again in determined fashion piled the pressure on, playing some excellent squash, particularly moving John from side to side, forcing the errors. John’s experience told again however and he evened it up at 4:4 and was able to dominate with the variation in his game to take it 7:14 and the match. Well done to Will however, showing a lot of shots, energy and determination to compete very well against a strong experienced opponent.

Next up playing at string 2, Sean was against another power player in Rory McGurk. Contrasting styles were evident early on, Sean with accurate driving especially on the forehand while Rory’s power hitting and backhand volley drops were highly effective. Sean started well, taking and early lead but was pegged back and it was 4:4 in a very well contested game. Rory was taking chances and going for early winners and this paid dividends as he outscored Sean to take a 7:10 lead. Sean was getting good return from moving Rory from side to side and into the back corners but due to Rory’s power hitting he seemed reluctant to get forward, Rory was picking off winners with his obviously trademarked volley drops and took it 8:15. In the second Sean was determined to step forward and keep Rory to the corners. The momentum was swinging from one player to the other and evenly poised at 8:9. Rory however went a run of scoring, having upped the pace and taking many shots earlier than Sean was expecting. Sean was unable to counter and the game again went to Rory 8:15. Although the pace of the second was unsustainable, Sean came out fighting in the third, full of energy and dominating early on. Unfortunately, Sean got into a habit of serving out repeatedly and the lead was conceded a lot more easily than Sean would have liked. This seemed to energise Rory who pushed on to a 4:8 lead. Sean continue with unforced errors unfortunately, and was unable to recover to prevent a 7:15 game to Rory and match.

At string 3, Colm was up against Josh Beaumont. The first few points were vigorously contested, neither player will to take a step back, an edge was evident. The play was accurate and rallies were lengthy as Josh enjoyed pushing the ball to the back corners and Colm liked to hit the front corners occasionally. Colm was exerting a little more pressure and rewarded with a 6:2 lead, only for Josh to fight back and bring it to 7:6. Another run of scores by Colm, having moved Josh around and forced the errors, brought it to 11:6. But rather than see out the game, Colm allowed Josh to take the initiative, and recover to make it 13:13, the momentum and energy now with Josh and he took the game 13:15. Colm was feeling the pace and in the second fell behind 0:5. A change of tactics was needed with Colm varying his game a little, some lobs along with accurate drops, and brought himself back into the game to level it 6:6. Colm was feeling more confident in his game now and took the next 6 points in a row. He didn’t look back to take the game 15:10. Josh still appeared the fitter player with the energy however and reasserted himself in the third game. Colm was struggling physically, hanging on and lucky to have it at 7:7, and sucked into playing on Josh’s term. Josh was moving Colm around the court, hitting the corners and even when in difficulty, he was able to disguise his boasts and drops to dominate the rest of the game, taking it 9:15. Colm was visibly tiring, and at 4:9 in the fourth game, it looked ominous. He dug in however, served deeper and somehow managed to get it back to 7:10. Josh had been playing at a very high pace up to now and it was inevitable that he would not keep this up. Sure enough, Colm’s deeper drives were starting to force half court returns, and Colm was able to use his drops to take point after point and the game 15:12. The momentum now appeared with Colm, however Josh started the final game with determination and focus, taking an early 0:3 and upping the pace again. Colm was able to break Josh’s momentum, disguising drops and cross courts to make the game more of a scrap and it was 9:9, anyone’s match. Colm ground out a 12:10 lead taking some risks, but then overdid the drops, mainly due to tiredness, with Josh picking them off, and it was 13:12. One final push and Colm forced an error from Josh in the backhand corner, gratefully taking the game 15:13 and the match.

Team captain Colm was very happy with the performance of the team against tough opponents, ‘Special mention to Will who came up against an experienced and skilful player, making it competitive for long stages and impressing with some great shots and showing an ability to get around the courts so well. Will has improved immensely in the last few weeks and I look forward to seeing how he gets on for the remainder of the league’.

Melbourn 2 travelled to Allenburys knowing a tough  was on the agenda, with our winter league colleague Gareth Jones playing at string 3.

First up at string 3, Colm was playing a very familiar face in Gareth Jones, knowing their levels are almost on a par and so expecting a long hard match. The first game was tit for tat until at 9-9 Gareth took control to string together 4 points. Colm hit back with 3 of his own, but Gareth served out to 15-13.

It looked like being a closely fought match all through, however in the second game Gareth made numerous forced and unforced errors to hand the initiative to Colm, who gratefully took it and served out for a comfortable 4-15 win.

It appeared that momentum had shifted, Colm was playing well however Gareth was determined and composed himself early in the third, however the momentum shifted over and back with mistakes creeping in on both sides. At 7-7, like in the first, Gareth regained control and with a combination of deft touches and hard driving, took a 11-14 lead. Colm fought back to 13-14 but again a mistake handed the game to Gareth.

Colm was feeling the pressure early in the fourth and slipped behind, scrambling to be 4 points behind at 7-11. 4 points in a row brought the game level, however Gareth steadied himself and played some superb drops, sensing Colm tiring and saw the game out 11-15 and the match 1-3.

Next to play, at string 2, were Liam and Ian Collin. Watching the warm up, it became clear that here were two equally matched players, at least in terms of height. It transpired they played a similar style too.

The first game started in a very measured way by both players with neat, flowing squash, high accuracy and few errors. Liam had some unforced mistakes, but stayed level with some really tight squeezes that gave his opponent nothing to hit. Both players were doing a good job of staying in the game without taking too many risks and each had game points. Ian took one of his opportunities and the game 17-15.

Both players had a chance to show off impressive corner-to-corner speed as Liam pushed effectively in the second and play began to open up. This suited Liam well, and he quickly took a seven point lead before a run of errors and some inspired play by Ian brought it back to parity at 11 all. From then on, every rally was a full-tilt stretch for both players, with Liam recovering from sitting on the floor to win one point, but the game finally escaping him, again frustratingly for Liam, a narrow loss 15-13, and he was 2-0 down having played great squash.

Liam played attacking squash to pull out a lead on the fourth, his opponent unable to take control of a rally initially. However with both players appearing to tire after a mammoth effort in the first 2 games, both making mistakes and handing the initiative to the other, it was Ian who was able to use his experience to edge Liam and take the game 15-12 and the match.

Aidan at string 1 was up against Ben Griffith, a contrast in styles with Ben’s touch play and Aidan’s power, both with excellent movement and accuracy.

Aidan started with some powerful cross courts, out of reach of Ben and slipped into an early lead. Ben started to retrieve a bit more but Aidan kept the pressure on to take a 2:7 lead with a well disguised drop. Ben stopped Aidan’s momentum and they traded scores followed by a few mistakes and it was 8:10. Ben was started to find his rhythm but Aidan ramped up the pressure again to stride ahead only for Ben to haul him back again to 11:13. Another powerful cross court gave Aidan game ball but he couldn’t take the first one, but took the second in style.

The second game started in a similar vein. A disguised and accurate boast followed by a tight powerful drive and then a tidy unexpected drop gave Aidan a 1:4 lead. Ben however was determined, recovered and went on a run of 4 points taking advantage of Aidan’s unforced errors. They traded scores and then Aidan uncharacteristically missed a few relatively easy kills, then redeemed himself with some beautiful squash sending Ben around the court. But Ben was finding it easier to retrieve and held on, then started to dominate, applying pressure and scoring at will, it was 13:7 all of a sudden and the game was beyond Aidan, Ben taking it 15-8. Aside from the odd unforced error, it was high quality squash and great entertainment.

The third game started with some tricky tactical rallies and it was 2 all, Ben applying more pressure stretching Aidan and forcing the errors. Ben’s energy was up and it was 3:9. Both players traded mistakes before Ben again found the back corner and then a volley drop to go 4:12. The squash standard was rising, a very impressive showing by both players. Some hard fought rallies were edged by Ben and he had game ball which he duly took it 15-5 to go 2-1 up.

Aidan decided to revert to what had worked well in the first and started the fourth game applying power and pressure, Ben retrieving superbly but Aidan was not making the mistakes of games 2 and 3, rather it was Ben making them now. Aidan was up 3-6 after another disguised drop. They traded points and again Aidan stretched Ben to go 9:4 and looked like he had regained control. Some wonderful rallies followed by some glaring errors from both players as they tired, but Aidan was still ahead 9-12. Ben however had other ideas and somehow took back the initiative and forced the mistakes from Aidan to edge head and take the game 15-13 and the match 3-1.

Captain Colm was very happy with the team’s performance against a very strong Allenburys side ‘it was a great night of squash, each match was closely fought and perhaps we could have nicked a few more games but fair dues to Allenburys who deserved the win’.

Melbourn 2 hosted Berkhamsted 3 in the second round of the summer league. Unfortunately Berkhamsted could did not have a late replacement for one of their players and so it was 2 v 2.

Liam (at string 1) was first on against Grant Kleiner, a very experienced campaigner in the Herts Leagues over many years. Liam started strongly and soon built a significant lead by moving Grant around the court with good lengths and widths. Grant was unable to break into Liam’s game and Liam took the first game convincingly 15-8.

The second game followed a similar pattern and again the result was 15-8 in Liam’s favour. Grant fought back immediately in the third and moved ahead with a 7-0 lead. Liam had lost his grip on the game and allowed Grant to use his wide array of shots to put real pressure on him. Liam responded but Grant was firmly in control of the rallies and took the game 15-7.

The break saw Liam reset his game and return to his earlier very effective game of keeping Grant at bay and not allowing him into the game. Liam never lost control of the fourth game and he clinically finished the game 15-10 and took the match 3-1.

Talk about changes in momentum, this game has more shifts than nurses did working over COVID. Roger came up against Mike Cowan, who physically had the upper hand, but Roger's experience and tactical mindset enable him to take control!

The first game saw each player feel out how they were going to approach and then Mike figured out quickly if he could move Roger around enough, he'd run out of puff. However, despite Mike taking a 10-4 lead, Roger realised good length and width were key. This produced a storming comeback to lead 11-10, but then Roger conspired to stray away from what was working and lose the next 5 points to lose 15-11.

Second game Roger made a conscious effort to stick to what worked and walked it with 9 straight points from 6-3 up to take it 15-3, with a little help with some unforced errors from Mike.

The third began in similar fashion with Mike up 5-4, but then a mixture of Roger losing his length and Mike pushing himself and Roger around the court led to an 8 point run, where Mike won 15-5.

Mike went into the fourth 2-1 up and with momentum. The game started very tit for tat with Roger leading 7-5, then Mike took 5 straight points and it looked for all the tea in China that he would carry on through. However, Roger hit back with his own 5 point streak to edge ahead 12-10. Mike only managed to make one more point and gave away the last 3 to Roger, to see Roger take the fourth 15-11 and into a decider.

These two brave warriors had slogged it out all game and the fifth was no different. Momentum swang back and forth with neither player able to take real control, only taking one or two points at a time. Roger managed to edge his way to a 14-11 lead but then Mike dug deep and strained every sinew of his tall frame to draw level to 14-14. Roger dug deeper still to clinch the next 2 points to claim the fifth and the match. If there is a lesson in perseverance Roger most certainly knows how to teach it!

Team captain Colm, who joined the players afterwards commented, 'another good night of squash and victory for Melbourn 2, well done especially to Roger for going the distance in a hard fought win'.

Melbourn 2 opened their season with a home game against Ickleford 2

First up, playing at string 3, Moises Estrelles Navarro against an experienced Keith Hooton. Moises had been training hard in the previous month and was determined to let it all on the court. The first game was nip and tuck to 8:8 with contrasting styles making it a highly entertaining game. Keith’s touch play negated by Moises' ability to get around the court, reaching each time. Moises maintained his energy levels and tidied up his drives in particular to force the errors and strode ahead to take the game 15:11. Interestingly, the next game followed a very similar pattern, with both players neck and neck, 11:11 before Moises’ accuracy and determination to retrieve made the difference and he took the game 15:11. At this point, Moises knew he was playing well and had the match under control. In the third Moises' confidence in his shots increased and he dominated the game, despite some very clever winners play by Keith, and cruised to a 15:5 win, taking the match 3:1.

Next up at string 2 was Sean Hamilton against a strong player in William Van Den Aardweg. This was hard fought from the first point of the first game. Sean was driving well on both forehand and backhand, mixing in drops and boast while William was retrieving excellently and able to take the initiative when Sean seemed to be in control. At 11:11 it seems to be there for either player, however William had that little bit more, along with a touch of luck to take it 12:15. The second game was again a close affair, both players determined to give it their best and each playing high quality squash. William again was able to nudge ahead, varying his game to keep Sean at bay, and took the game 11:15. The third was again a story of Sean playing really well to stay in the game, but William demonstrated that he is playing at a slightly higher level to take it 9:15 and the match 0:3. Credit to Sean was putting up a great fight.

A winner takes all string 1 match beckoned with Liam Murphy against Kevin Waring. In the first game, Kevin was quick out of the blocks and forged ahead to lead 0:6. Liam wasn’t panicking however and knew he had the game to match Kevin. Liam got into his stride and began to dominate with his array of shots and ability to retrieve. Liam took the next 4 points in a row before Keith stopped the run, but this was only temporary, Liam again going on the scoring spree taking the next 5 points to lead 11:8. Keith stayed in touch but Liam was controlling from the T and managing to hold Keith off to take the game 16:14. In contrast to the first game, Liam took the initiative in the second, taking a 5:1 lead. Liam was playing with few errors and enjoyed the advantage, pushing Kevin around the court and picking off winners. Liam kept up the momentum to lead 13:6 and while Kevin pegged back 4 points in a row, Liam steadied to take the game 15:11. Similarly, the third game saw Liam take an early lead, however this time Kevin was to storm back, taking what seemed like a defining 11:12 lead, however again Liam showed his resilience and belief in his own game to calmly take the next 4 points to win the game 15:12 and the match 3:0

Team captain, Colm, who came along to support, ‘I’m delighted to see 3 competitive and entertaining matches, everyone playing really well and enjoying an evening of summer squash, special mention to Moises on his performance, having worked hard to improve his game over the last few months’.

Melbourn won 15-7

Melbourn 1sts late burst of form, winning three of their final five matches in the Cambridge Squash League Division 1 season, came too late as other results conspired to relegate them despite their final day 15-7 win over Hunts County 1sts.
Melbourn went into the Hunts match knowing they needed a minimum of 15 points to give themselves any chance of survival. They got that, but only just with Mark Oppen (5) and Matt Sampson (1) contributing 3-0 wins, Vinod Duraikan (3) winning 3-1 and Miles Jeanneret (4) notching a point in a 3-1 reverse. Chris Shaw (2) was beaten 3-0 in the other string by former Melbourn player Malik Bilen.
Having done their part Melbourn saw their hopes of sneaking up to a play-off dashed though by results elsewhere, leaving the local club bottom of the table and returning back to Division 2 once again.

Melbourn lost 7-18

Melbourn 1sts gave Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1 champions Cambridge Uni 1sts a run for their money last Wednesday… and kept their slim hopes of surviving in the county top flight alive as a consequence.
Melbourn were competitive in every string, particularly at #5 where skipper Mark Oppen picked up an excellent 3-0 success. Otherwise the matches all went the students way, but with every Melbourn player picking up at least a game, and therefore a league point, in defeat: Chris Shaw (2) falling 3-2 and each of Matt Sampson (1), Vinod Duraikan (3) and Miles Jeanneret (4) going down 3-1.
It all added up to 8 points from the evening for Melbourn, which leaves them 15 adrift of relegation rivals Stamford going into the final round of matches, where there will be a maximum of 20 points on the line for both teams.

Melbourn lost 9-18

Melbourn 1sts suffered a very significant blow in their battle to avoid relegation from Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1 after they were beaten 18-9 by the side one place above them, Cambridge 1sts.
Back-to-back wins had got Melbourn to within five points of their hosts at the start of play, and hopes were raised they could reverse that when skipper Mark Oppen claimed a remarkable 3-2 win at fifth string, the match going to a deciding game tie-break which saw both players have multiple match balls before Oppen won 17-15. Cambridge responded by winning the third and fourth strings, Vinod Duraikan and Mike Herd falling 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.
Melbourn struck back by taking another string that went the full distance, Chris Shaw (2) taking clinching a 13-11 success in another deciding game tie-break. The visitors couldn’t make it three 3-2 wins out of three though as Matt Sampson (1) was ground down and beaten by the same score.

Melbourn won 20-1

Melbourn 1sts required a comprehensive win over Stamford 1sts to retain any realistic prospect of survival in Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1. And they got it, racking up a 20-1 success.
The closest match of the evening was the first on, Melbourn skipper Mark Oppen (5) dropping the third game of his match to be pegged back to 2-1. However Oppen found that slowing things down worked really well as he closed the fourth out 11-2 to complete a 3-1 win. All the other Melbourn players won 3-0, Miles Jeannert (4) putting on a performance of increasing control, Vinod Duraikan (3) winning two close games, the second on a tie-break, before accelerating away, and Matt Sampson (1) and Chris Shaw (2) each winning in straight games with a degree of comfort.

Melbourn won 19-8

It took 14 goes, but Melbourn 1sts are finally off the mark for wins in this season’s Cambridgeshire Squash Leagues Division 1 following a 19-8 victory over March 1sts.
The victory was a battle as none of the five strings were won in straight games. The closest match of the evening was Miles Jeanneret’s 3-2 victory at fourth string – all three of the Melbourn player’s games won (which were the 1st, 2nd and 5th) coming after tie-breaks. Chris Shaw (2), Vinod Duraikan (3) and Mark Oppen (5) all wore their opponents down to win 3-1, in each case the fourth game being taken pretty comprehensively. The winning bonus for the evening was under Melbourn’s belts before Matt Sampson (1) took the court. Sampson has struggled with injuries this season, but was back to near his best in another close encounter. However he eventually ran out of gas and was beaten 3-2.
The victory gave Melbourn hope of Division 1 survival as they are now back in touch with the pack, having previously been adrift at the foot of the table. They face a big match against 8th-placed Stamford next.

Melbourn lost 4-20

A tough evening for a mix-and-match Melbourn 2nds side struggling with injuries and unavailability saw them beaten 20-4 at Comberton.

The visitors only points on the night came from Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and Jamie Ware (3) who both had leads they failed to convert. In Jan’s case the biggest bugbear was somehow contriving to throw his opening game away despite seeming in complete command when he raced into a 7-1 lead. This became 12-7, but somehow got turned around to 13-14 down. Jan saved the game-ball but not the next one as he lost it in a breaker 16-14. This would eventually come back to bite him as winning the next two only put him 2-1 up rather than claiming a straight games win. An aberration of a fourth took it to a decider which a now highly confident Alastair Maclean won to send Jan to a 14-16, 15-11, 15-13, 4-15, 11-15 defeat.

In Jamie’s case the issue was simply running out of gas – the Melbourn player fought tooth-and-nail for the first three games, winning two of them (1st and 3rd) on extended tie-breaks. The problem was when Jamie came off court after edging out a deeply nervous third 18-16 he was obviously blowing hard, something opponent Richard Anthony took advantage of by rattling through the fourth and fifth. The game scores were (Jamie first) 17-15, 6-15, 18-16, 3-15, 5-15.

The other three matches all saw Melbourn’s players fall to straight games defeats. Teenager Will Bradshaw (5) had no answer to the nous of exerpienced player (and qualified coach) Steve Swanton who beat him 4-15, 5-15, 3-15 and was clearly glad to get this one into the record books now as Will is only going to trend upwards over the coming years. Moises Estrelles Navarro (4) was also in somewhat over his head against Tom Snaith’s variety and ability to hold his shot. Moises did his usual tearing about the place to pick loads up, but it wasn’t enough and he was beaten 7-15, 7-15, 8-15. We had a somewhat similar game at a higher overall standard at second string as Colm O’Gorman found himself up against the subtle variations of Jez Cotton. Jez has left many players bemused over the years… Colm proved to be another as despite giving everything all he was left to show for it was a 7-15, 8-15, 9-15 reverse. Given that trend if Colm could have just drawn things out for another half-a-dozen games… 

Melbourn lost 4-18

Melbourn 1sts frustrating season in the Cambridgeshire Squash League Division 1 continued as they were beaten 18-4 by Swavesey 1sts.
Melbourn’s only win came at top string, and even this was somewhat underwhelming as injury saw Shaw complete the job – the Melbourn player was leading by two games to one when his opponent was forced to retire, though. The hosts only other point came at fifth string where Kate Bradshaw was beaten 3-1, whilst all of Vinod Duraikan (2), Miles Jeanneret (3) and Mark Oppen (4) went down 3-0. The lop-sided scoreline were somewhat undeserved in Jeanneret’s and particularly Duraikan’s case as the former lost one game on a tie break and the latter two.
Melbourn remain bottom of the Division 1 table, and are getting increasingly isolated in that position.

Melbourn lost 8-14

The final game of the season took the 2nds up the A1 to face Peterborough. The pressure was off as it was effectively certain we would finish fourth in Division 3, which is the team’s best ever position. Could we live up to it on the night, though?

First to try was Matt Walker, who took on a super fit young player Renzo Rozza Gonzalez at 5th string. The first two games saw Renzo chasing hard, and also defending with quality. When he had the chance to attack though Renzo didn’t really go for kills. Matt had success when he pushed up the court and tried to kill, less so when he stayed deeper and tried to out-rally the home player. Matt’s attack was decisive enough to get through a tight opening game, and then a some fraught second with some interaction between the players on court and the marker. Once again Matt battled through, this time in a breaker during which both players had game points, and that was decisive as Renzo’s head dropped in game three and his effort levels with it, Matt got control of the front wall and began to volley drop his opponent to death, Matt winning 15-13, 17-15, 15-6.

The other first match on was the third string, Gareth Jones taking Jose Carlos Corriera. This was a bizarre match when the players were apparently evenly matched based on very close game scores… except the points when it bursts. Very extended bursts. Game 1 was a prime example as Gareth built an 8-1 with consistent line and length play, but then got confident and felt he could try things. Cue seven points in a row for Jose as he got the chance to play his clever kills. Gareth refocused, built another lead (up to around 13-9), got expansive again and found himself game ball down at 14-13 but saved it and then won the breaker. This got no more sensible in the later games as this pattern of Gareth controlling for half-a-dozen rallies and then Jose doing likewise continued – what was weird was these were quite extended exchanges so it wasn’t like serve was dominating, even if the server was. Gareth once again did enough to edge each game though, wrapping up a 16-14, 15-12, 15-12 victory.

The fourth strings followed the thirds on to the court, with Sean Hamilton taking on Pierre Caruso. The first games saw Sean getting caught by Pierre’s high serves, which Sean was volleying but being dragged cross court (a function of his foot position waiting for the returns) which was allowing Pierre to pounce to kill. The first pair of games escaped on the back of this despite Sean fire-fighting as hard as possible. Game three brought a change of tactics from Sean, looking to exploit height to get the ball deep and force Pierre into the back corners. There was also an adjustment in the foot position, which meant Sean was now able to volley his returns down the wall, also turning his opponent. This changed the pattern, allowing Sean to sneak through the game. Optimism leaped… and was then crushed as Pierre adjusted in turn, taking more volleys to neutralise the high balls. This saw Sean go down 7-15, 9-15, 15-13, 8-15.

Next to start was the second strings, which pitted Colm O’Gorman against Justin Snart. Game one saw Colm produce his best Squash, which is hard running tenacious defence. This was forcing errors from Justin as he strove for extra tight kills that would get away from Colm’s racquet, Colm counterpunching his way to a narrow (and excellent) opening game. This was great against a player rated higher than Colm on Squashlevels, but sadly it the intensity and speed of movement needed was too much to maintain, and with Colm slowing down just a fraction Justin was able to get the extra little bit of space he needed to play his kills rather than over-forcing. The change in balance was very minor, but it was enough to turn the opening game win into a 15-13, 11-15, 9-15, 10-15 loss.

That sent the match to a deciding rubber at top string where Jan Brynjolffssen took on Tim Millington. Tim is known for his touch shots and creativity, with Jan getting worrying hints from acquaintances in the host club that “He is in good form at the moment”. Concerning, given the relative disparity in the players ratings - ~2900 for Tim to ~2100 for Jan. Give or take. Rounded up for the lower and down for the higher.
Jan started OK, trading points as he managed to cover Tim’s boasts into his front forehand corner. But as the game progressed Tim began to find his shots, including somehow wrong-footing Jan on drop shots when Tim was in front and had his eyes on the ball rather than his opponent. Pure witchcraft! That eventually saw a good, competitive but ultimately clearly won game go the home side’s way. Jan tried to battle in the second and even held a slight lead at the mid-stage as he straightened his lines out and did everything he could to keep the ball away from the centre of the court, but once again this was a cue for Tim to up his deception levels to build a 2-0 lead. The writing was on the wall at this point, though when Jan led 8-4 in the third he did have a brief hope of at least registering a point. No dice as Tim once again stepped things up. He was even confident enough to let a stroke go on match ball, instead playing a long, drawn out, utterly lungbusting rally that saw both players move to all four corners before Tim eventually sealed things. Jan lost 11-15, 10-15, 10-15.

And with that the 2nds season was over. It hadn’t quite been as successful overall as had once looked possible – the team was top of the Division at Christmas after a 7-2 opening half – but still it was an excellent showing with 10 wins from 18 fixtures, which was good for 229 points. This left the side fourth in the final table, 36 points off the promotion spots, 12 behind third, but a clear 25 ahead of the side in fifth.

Melbourn won 18-6

Having played and lost to Newmarket 1sts at home the previous week, the 2nds looked to do better against the Suffolk club’s 2nd team… though with nearly two weeks between the matches due to prefer days for home games (Monday in our case, Thursday for both Newmarket sides) the previous loss was more of a distant memory when fighting to find a car parking space at Newmarket Leisure Centre – 6:50pm is NOT the time to show up there, clearly! Or rather it is the time, and everyone within a 20 mile radius thinks that.

Having finally dumped all cars (on pavements, in bushes, standing on their nose, whatever tiny bit of space was available) the match got underway with Matt Walker (4) taking on Gary Last on the glass back and Roger Woodfield (5) facing off with Chris Talbot next door. Roger had a clear advantage in terms of touch and shotcraft, Chris was clearly the fitter player. The key was rally construction – who could force their opponents to attempt things beyond their capacity. For most of games 1 and 2 it was Roger who achieved this for a slender, but key proportion of the rallies as he got up court to put in his super tight drops. The start of the third saw Roger dropping too deep, nullifying his attacks and allowing Chris to control the front court and make Rog run (booo!). However a deep dig allowed Roger to find the energy to maintain a decent ‘t’ position, high enough often enough to turn the game around from 8-4 down or so and complete his 15-13, 15-12, 15-12 win.

Meanwhile Matt was struggling initially with Gary’s attacking style, Matt not getting the ball deep enough so he was often playing from behind his opponent. Not a great strategy against a player who wants to end the rally early. There was also a lack of sharpness in Matt’s movement as he gets himself back into the swing of team Squash. The second saw an improvement based on sheer bloody-mindedness/determination, Matt now getting the ball past Gary, forcing recovery shots from the Newmarket player that finally allowed Matt to get in his super volley drops. Mistakes crept back into Matt’s game at the start of the third, which became tighter than ideal. What Matt needed was motivation to focus on every rally – he derived it from some marking calls that surprised him, Matt using the frustration to cut any looseness from his game in the crucial rallies. How crucial this was was evident from the fourth as Matt was finally feeling confident and able to dominate the service line, get his volley drops in consistently to complete an 11-15, 15-8, 15-13, 15-8 win.

Matt was followed on the glass back by Gareth Jones (3), who took on Oliver Pynn. The first game can be summed up as Gareth-esque, as he started extremely well, built a lead but as soon as he did so began to feel comfortable which prompted him to experiment with varying his play to keep the thing from getting boring. Not a great idea as the initial pattern, conservative choices pumping the ball deep and tight, was the right method to win rallies against a player whose biggest strength is his fitness rather than his back corner retrieving. Despite letting Oliver back into the game (“I felt a sudden haemorrhaging of points” G. Jones) but a return to ‘less fancy stuff’ in the tie-break saw Gareth get through. Rinse, shake and repeat in game two, with drop shot errors seeing Gareth’s early lead evaporate, only for a reversion to line-and-length recovering the situation once again.
This sort of turn around didn’t prove possibly in games three and four though as in these ones Gareth attempted to affect the comeback with power kills on the run. Somewhat fitness driven, but tactically unsound as Oliver was waiting in position on the service line with sufficiently quick reactions to counter-drop the low balls for winners (if they even got over the tin in the first place). Advice from teammates before the decider was to lift balls to service line height in those situations to start getting depth again. This worked a charm as Gareth built a lead, only to squander it with unforced errors. However the early running proved enough in the end as Oliver was equally generous in turn with some crucial mistakes right at the death as Gareth saw out a 16-14, 15-13, 11-15, 11-15, 15-11 success.

The second string pitted Colm O’Gorman against Wayne Bamforth. Wayne was rapid in his lateral movement and had great touch at the front of the court, with Colm attempting his scrambling game in response. This led to Wayne rather dictating the first game play, Colm haring about the place as effectively as he could but having to work through some interference to try and do so. Game two saw Colm turn things around as he found ways to get the ball past Wayne into the back corners (width, variety and lobs working wonders) which meant he was now the player asking the movement questions, which weren’t successfully answered. Unfortunately Colm was not able to maintain this in the third and fourth as Wayne was able to hold the service line once again and bring his accurate drops and boasts into play, the outcome being a 13-15, 15-9, 11-15, 10-15 for the Melbourn player.

The top string pitted Jan Brynjolffssen (1) against Paul Bragg. This was a repeat of a clash earlier in the season at Melbourn that Paul had won 17-15 in the fifth… Jan did remember that he had lost that encounter but had successfully blanked how close it had been! What was recalled though was Paul’s style, which includes lots of boasts and drops – he has lovely touch. Jan’s task was to keep the ball away from Paul on the service line and make him play up-and-down the walls, but this was not easily done against a player for whom cutting it out was key. However Jan managed to be tight enough in his lengths and quick enough in his movement chasing down the short balls to edge out the first and then take the second a bit more comfortably.
The third saw Paul find his range at the start and build a lead. From 12-9 down Jan dug in, making the rallies as physical as he could; this worked a charm as a 12-9 deficit became a 13-12 lead. The next rally was the vital as Paul played a really tight drop that Jan chased and lunged for, but more in a performative “you’ve got to try” sense than in any real belief he was going to get it. Except he did get his racquet to the ball just before the second bounce with an absolutely as powerful as possible swipe… which got just enough on the ball to creep it a millimetre over the tin for a stone dead counter-drop! A mistake from Paul on the next rally completed things, Jan taking a 15-12, 15-9, 15-12 victory to wrap up a 18-6 win for the team.

Melbourn lost 8-17

Back in the autumn the 2nds had picked up our best win of the opening half of the campaign when we won 15-7 at Newmarket 1sts. That had pushed us clear at the top of the table, where we remained at Christmas with Newmarket among the sides chasing hard. A few months down the line though things had changed as Newmarket had gone on a run of wins to take over at the top, benefitting in part from the 2nds simultaneous run of losses. There was much to play for when the sides meet again, then.

The first match to get underway would prove to be the most dramatic of the evening as Gareth (4) took on Mark Price. Gareth started well, hitting to depth and finding lengths with Mark – a notoriously dogged player – looking completely out of sorts with himself, the court and his body. Gareth was getting lots of joy in the back corners as Mark struggled to dig balls out, leading to a 15-9 first game claim. The second was even more one sided as Gareth pounded Mark back and Mark seemed disinterested in fighting. 15-4.
When Gareth built a 12-8 lead in game three a 3-0 win seemed on the cards, but a key error at that point proved costly as Mark at last woke up and began to play the sort of tenacious Squash he is known for. Six straight rallies got the Newmarket player to game points and though Gareth saved one he couldn’t claw back the game. The fourth also went the visiting players way with a late burst, and when Gareth fell 7-0 down to start game five, he and his cause seemed lost. That became 11-2 and eventually 14-8, but behind the 8-ball Gareth suddenly began to exploit Mark’s lack of mobility (he could barely move, in fact!) and saved one, two, three match balls. That became all of them, and not only that Gareth got a match ball of his own at 15-14. However, having found the pattern of push Mark back and then cut the ball short Gareth unaccountably turned down a simple drop on this point but rather started to smack the ball to the back of the court… where Mark was standing. Presumably tension, but this was Gareth’s undoing as he eventually lost the game 19-17 and was left contemplating how he had fallen 15-9, 15-4, 13-15, 11-15, 17-19.

Next door the first match on pitted Colm (3) against Matt Pearson, who has been getting some eye-catching results this season. However Colm’s game is rather made for playing against Matt, who is a high class shot-maker but not necessarily the best mover on the court; perfect for Colm’s retriever style to counter.
The first game was close throughout, with the lead changing hands numerous times. Again, the sort of battle that Colm relishes and one he won 15-13. And that set the pattern for the match as Colm was able to chase down enough of Matt’s kills and play successful counters. Matt kept pushing the play where he could, having the better of the final phase of the third game but Colm had his teeth truly in to this one and claimed a superb win 15-13, 12-15, 15-10, 15-12.

Following Colm on Court 1 was Sean (5), who took on Charlie Crisp. Sean hasn’t played all that much recently but was in decent form in the opener, particularly during a run of six straight rallies won in the mid-game which turned an 8-4 opening deficit into a 10-8 lead. After that things were nip and tuck, Charlie getting to game ball first at 14-13, but Sean saving it and then making the most of that by closing out the tie-break. This, however, proved something of a false dawn as Sean’s lack of recent court time gradually came to the fore as he tired and was unable to retrieve quite as effectively as he had. The difference was fractions of a second in speed over the deck, but that is enough to change the games from absolutely level pegging to tipped slightly but decisively in Charlie’s favour. Games scores were 16-14, 12-15, 8-15, 5-15.

Over on Court 2 Jan (2) was taking on Santiago Uribe Lewis. Jan was coming in with high confidence after a great win the previous week… but was swiftly wondering where this had gone as Santi powered into a 12-3 game one lead. What Jan was trying was simply not causing his opponent any discomfort, and despite grinding some rallies late in the game to get a few more points the first was gone. Game 2 was better from the Melbourn player’s perspective as he was able to move his opponent more, drawing errors particularly when he got the ball deep into the backhand corner. Jan even led this game 13-12, but paid for a key error at 13-all as the game escaped 15-13.  And that was that really as Santiago pushed himself back up to his first game level to close out the third comfortably and leave Jan deflated after a 7-15, 13-15, 8-15 loss.

Jan’s loss meant the match was over as a contest before Mike (1) began against Hamish Jogee. The opening game of this one had Hamish’s stamp all over it, i.e. utterly bizarre. The Newmarket player is well known on the circuit for both his skill and his wild inconsistency in applying it, with spectators breath regularly drawn in after he hits the ball – but as often as not for a extraordinary error as a spectacular winner. Mike got thrown by this and never found his usual rhythm in the shorter-than-expected rallies. However he did dig in and improve the tightness of his shots late in the game, dragging the game back to a tie-break. This started with a game ball to Hamish that he could have called a probable stroke on, but didn’t and then tinned his drop shot instead. D’Oh! And another pattern was set as the tie-break went on, and on, and on. In the end it was close to a whole extra game before it finally broke Hamish’s way 24-22.
Game two saw Hamish up the winners and reduce the errors which took it off Mike’s racquet and left him needing to win the third. This seemed in the bag when Mike raced into an 8-0 lead with some solid player that offered Hamish few chances for winners but lots of opportunity to make errors… except this was then followed by a hot spell from the Newmarket player as he won 8 of the next 9 rallies to drag the game back to 9-8! Mike managed to play the remainder of the game on his terms to claim it, but this proved a false dawn as the fourth again saw Hamish as the key player on court, which resulted in a 22-24, 7-15, 15-12, 7-15 defeat for Mike, a rare reverse for him in what has been a very impressive campaign.

After the match Melbourn skipper Jan commented “We gave it our best, but they are a strong side who will probably be champions of our Division this season, and were too strong here.”

Melbourn won 17-5

The Seconds came into this match on the back of a four match losing run, but also having put in a much improved performance the previous week at Spalding (in fact only four days prior as our home night is Mondays and Spalding’s is Thursdays). With another close to full strength team there was decent hope we could get back to winning ways despite Hunts always being tough opposition.

The evening started with a bit of confusion as 7:20pm there were enough players to play… but insufficient of us and too many of them. Once Hunts communication issues had been sorted and our stragglers had shown up, we got the first two strings on – Matt Walker taking on Billy Bremner at #5 and Gareth Jones up against a new face to us, Tom Jugg, at #4.

Your correspondent didn’t see much at all of Matt’s game, so I’m mostly going off hearsay here… but the reports are that Matt was in good form and just that bit too sharp and too tight for Billy. Especially in the second game. The other two were hard fought, Matt pulling away towards the end – in the second he managed that from the start and never relented. It all added up to a 15-12, 15-3, 15-10 victory for Matt… his first for the team since March 2020 (though to be fair he had only played three times in the intervening three years thanks to a mixture of COVID and injury).

Next door Gareth started well against Tom, who was making his Hunts debut but not his team Squash one – the records show Tom has played regularly at a good level in the Lincolnshire Leagues. The initial signs looked good for Gareth as he had control of the early rallies, but having been playing patient, well-constructed Squash in the first half of the first game the Melbourn player then got a little complacent and started going for stuff too early, which let his advantage wither away. The end of the game was especially irritating as a 12-10 lead morphed into a 13-15 reverse. This seemed to both inspire Tom and get under Gareth’s skin as game 2 was over moreorless before it had started as the away player stormed into a 9-3 lead with nice some shot-making. Gareth dug in later in the game but was still two down. Game three saw Tom pushing early as he sought to make sure it was 3-0, but then ease off in an attempt to cruise to the line. Cue Gareth rattling off five straight rallies to recover from 13-8 to 13-all. However, just when it seemed a turnaround was happening a crucial mistake gifted Tom match ball, which he took to his evident relief. Gareth was left forlorn and beaten 13-15, 9-15, 13-15.

The third string encounter pitted Aidan Hird against Rick Watson. And what to say about this? Well, it was the usual fare Aidan serves up in team matches – all shuddering power, not a great deal of the controlled rally construction we see in practice and friendly matches internally at Melbourn. The thing is Aidan’s power is so thunderous it can be effective, as Rick was left flinging himself at balls racing away from him towards the back corners. Aidan won the first two fairly comfortably, got a bit tighter in the third and added some more unforced to the mix but edged himself through 3-0 (15-7, 15-8, 15-13). Played three, won two for Aidan so far this season… maybe the belief will start to grow that he can do this Team Squash thing, and with it less nerves and more of the play we know within the team he can produce?

Aidan and Matt’s wins had us 2-1 up as Jan Brynjolffssen (2) took the court against Matt van den Bos. Jan started with their last meeting at Hunts last spring in mind, when Matt had willed himself to a 3-1 victory by claiming game four on a breaker 17-15 when seemingly out on his feet. The game plan, then – make it physical, extend the rallies. Teammate advice at the end of game one, which Matt won, was Jan was maybe taking this too far as Matt was hanging very deep and simply getting the ball hit back to him. Maybe go for the occasional drop as well? Sound tactics as it turned out as Jan rattled through game two in double quick time.
The third saw Matt get back on it after letting the end of the second go, the Hunts player building himself a lead mid-game to get 13-7 up. However Jan wouldn’t stop being tenacious and reasoned if he could make Matt have to work particularly hard to complete the game he would likely benefit in the long run. Some tough, extended rallies dragged things out, Matt took the game, but Jan did indeed feel the benefit as he once again raced through the next with a degree of comfort.
Matt evoked memories of the previous season’s match with some gutsy rallies at the start of the fifth, which had him 6-4 up at one stage and celebrating hard after point claims. Will power alone wasn’t going to be enough this time as the Hunts players feet were clearly not moving at the same speed as before, which Jan took advantage of with shots into the open court to wrap up an 11-15, 15-4, 10-15, 15-7, 15-9 victory.

That finished not long after Mike Herd and Sean Brodrick had taken to the court. Both came in with strong personal records this season, Mike on 5-2 and Sean having put together an impressive 11-3 analysis. On that basis, what followed was probably Mike’s best performance of the season as he made Sean, a very strong player, feel like he was up against someone he wasn’t going to get the better of. Mike was consistency itself, lunging well to pick balls up and keep the play on the stretch very tight. About the only point in the evening when anything other than a 3-0 home win looked possible was the first half of the third – which Sean led 6-3 and 9-5 – but having let the plateau dropped every so slightly Mike raised it up again in the latter stages of the game (don’t want to play a fourth, thanks!) to pick up a might impressive 15-8, 15-5, 15-11 win.

 Jan, who was skippering on the evening due to regular captain Colm swanning around the USofA (work), remarked “Aidan and Matt cruised through theirs. My game and Mike’s were the key ones. I’ve come close to beating my guy before, but this time he was just completely out-of-gas. Mike played superbly to not just beat a very good opponent but do so by a distance.”

The 2nds have struggled since Christmas, in part because of a slew of injuries business trips and the like disrupting us from the consistent side we managed to roll out in the autumn. However we were back close to full strength for this one… which was handy as it was second vs third, Spalding having taken advantage of our recent run of reverses to move above in the table. A potentially good, tight match was in prospect.

The first games on pitted Roger (5) against Daniel Deprez and Matt (4) against Jason Hadland. Roger had his hands full with Daniel, who is fairly new to Squash but brought considerable fitness and determination from his previous sporting experience to the party. This went alongside a “don’t die wondering” attitude that saw Daniel go for winners from the very get go of rallies. This wasn’t ideal for Roger, who took a while to adjust to Daniel’s dynamism, seeing the first game go fairly quickly. Games two and three were tighter, but Roger struggled to get up to speed at the start of each and this left too big a mountain to climb. Despite moving Daniel about the court more as the games progressed, Roger lost 6-15, 10-15, 10-15.

Meanwhile Matt got to grace Spalding’s glass back as he makes his way back into team Squash after a bunch of injuries stopped him playing for much of the past three years (other issues limited playing time for everyone over that period as well of course… but even if we could have played all the way through Matt’s elbow and back would have stopped him doing so!). Things initially looked good for Matt as he moved into around a 10-6 lead, but at this point Jason began to find a pattern that challenged Matt’s anticipation and movement at this point of his comeback. This saw game one slip away, and game two join it.
Game three seemed to be escaping fairly tamely as Matt dropped 8-2 down, but at this point he suddenly found his mojo and won 6 straight rallies to level things up. Matt was doing this as he had found his game, stepping up the court to cut out volley drops. The rate of rallies wins slowed up a little from 8-8 but Matt stayed strong in the clutch and edged the game on a breaker. Could this be an inflection point? No, not as it turned out as game four saw Jason keep the ball far enough away from Matt’s deadly volleys to draw away and send the Melbourn player to a 11-15, 11-15, 16-14, 10-15 defeat.

Second on the glassback was Colm (3) against Martin Pettitt. The first game saw Colm making hay when he pushed Martin back, particularly deep into the backhand corner, leading to a 15-12 claim despite a mid-game wobble when Colm came briefly away from his strategy. However the Spalding player struck back as Colm dropped deep himself allowing Martin to command the service line and play his kills. The third produced another upswing for Melbourn as Colm reasserted his position and once again got Martin digging out of the back corners, which was still productive (this may class as a momentous discovery in Squash tactical circles! 😉).
The switchback continued though as game four saw Colm looking tired, his footwork slowing up leading to skewed balls which once again allow Martin to control the mid-court. There was also a suspicion that Colm semi-deliberately let it go given that 9-5 rapidly turned into 15-5! We were therefore into a decider, which didn’t initially look promising for Colm as he fell a number of points behind but then a key error from Martin gave a point away he should have won, and that woke the dog inside Colm (you can take the boy out of Limerick…). Things got really tense, with especially when Colm was 11-9 down and twice rallies ended with let/stroke decisions for Martin that went for the former when either could have been the latter. Colm built on this let off to level up and get ahead to be the first to match ball at 14-13. This was saved as Colm got passive, hoping for a mistake. But it came at 14-all rather than match ball, Martin tinning a boast that was a probable winner. Rinse, shake and repeat at 15-14, this time the mistake at 15-all on a drop shot. And this time around Colm managed to be more dynamic in the rally, eventually getting the mistake to win the match in… yep, you’ve guessed it, the deep backhand corner! Game scores were 15-12, 7-15, 15-12, 5-15, 17-15.

Whilst all this was going on Jan (2) was taking on Spalding skipper Gary Slator. This was a match up that also occurred in the reverse fixture, Jan winning 3-0 on that evening as Gary never found his game. The home player was in better touch this time, whilst Jan initially struggled to have complete command of his length on unfamiliar courts, but even so the essential pattern from the first clash of Gary going for early kills, which Jan anticipates and chases down for a counter-drop still held. There were wobbles towards the end of each game, with the one in the second that saw it come all the way back to 14-13 looking potentially a turning point, but Jan held firm to win that 15-13 and also put a poor missed drop at 13-8 in the fifth behind him (eventually) with a good depth to the backhand corner and one final backhand drop shot to complete a 15-12, 15-13, 15-12 success.

Mike (1) took the court against Scott Chuter before Colm’s match had finished, so not knowing if he was playing for an overall win or merely consolation points. The first game saw Scott have slightly the upper hand with his nice movement and shots, edging out Mike 15-11. However there is a large risk-reward element to Scott’s play and this went the other way in game two as a string of errors saw him fall behind, which both embolden Mike and pushed Scott to go for ever more. This led to the Melbourn player rapidly running away with things to level up at 1-1.
By this point Colm’s match had finished and everyone knew this was now the decider of the evening. The game that followed was suitably tight for the situation, with never more than a couple of points between the players. In the end-game Mike edged ahead at 14-13 after a consistent, solid rally, but then didn’t quite find the killer touch on game ball as two forehand drop shot chances went begging to be pegged back. Scott then got to game ball instead… and converted it to go 2-1 up. That appeared to inspire the home player who took his game up a level in the fourth. Mike played well, but still fell 15-10 for an overall 11-15, 15-5, 14-16, 10-15 reverse.

Melbourn skipper Colm commented afterwards “The team put in a mammoth effort and fought for every point, just coming up short against a strong Spalding team who have their sights firmly on promotion. It’s great to see players like Matt coming back from injury and competing so well”

Another week, another loss for the 1sts as this time the side went down at Saints 1sts (Huntingdon).

Despite the name of the opposition the match was played at the Saints other venue, St. Neots, as the Hunts courts were out of action. Which was probably a good thing as the St. Neots ones are better (warmer) according to the home side. We (Miles) did manage to take a chunk out of a side wall during a knock-up though, and not by doing anything particularly extreme – if just feel out. Re-plastering time might only be slightly around the corner… here’s hoping OneLeisure will stump for it for the Saints sake (they have already lost their best venue in St. Ives, converted to a sad and mostly empty gym).

First on was wall-destroyer Miles (3) who took on Marco Pita. Marco is extremely fast and fit, but overall quite a defensive player. This should have produced a pretty grinding match with Miles who is a bit similar – he has more to his attacking game, but still basis his approach on his silky movement. However on this night Miles head seemingly wasn’t there, as he kept to trying to attack the player looking to counter punch. Not a recipe for success, Miles losing 5-11, 7-11, 5-11 and generally looking all-at-sea and rather deflated by the experience.

Things were rather tighter next door. Much tighter in fact as Mark (4) matched himself up against the power hitting of Grant Mankee. These two have met many times before and it has always been tight – this one was no excepton. Mark had the better of the majority of the opening game, but having got himself to 10-8 up he was clearly struggling for air and looking for a rapid exit from the game. This lead to over-striving, which gave away the two game balls and saw him lose the breaker instead. Dang. However Mark responded with a superbly controlled second where he maintained his play to the death, and then edged Grant out in an extremely nervy third that went to another break. A bit of a let off followed, Grant taking full advantage to level, but Mark upped his intensity in the last to come through an epic 11-13, 11-8, 12-10, 7-11, 11-8.

As this was going on Chris (1) took the court against former Melbourn player Mumin Bilen… who Chris has also coached. It’s now a few years since Mumin featured for us at fifth string in Division 1 (that was pre-pandemic) and those matter given he was in his early teens back then. Now into his later teens Mumin has moved up to play at 2 or 1, and is doing well there generally. However Chris still had his number in this one, keep things tight and look to ask Mumin to make the play. This worked to draw errors, giving Chris the first game reasonably comfortably. Mumin attempted to dig in for the second, but whilst this was closer Chris again pulled away at the death and with that Mumin’s head went down a little for the third. Chris won 11-6, 11-8, 11-4.

Mark’s game was so long that Jan (5) took to the other court to face Johnny Nelmes, as the two matches on that were completed before the one next door concluded. Jan and Johnny had met a couple of times before, both pre-pandemic, with the head-to-head at 1-1… but the first time Johnny was rusty after a spell away from the sport and clash two had seen the Saints player win handily. Johnny was definitely the favourite, but Jan battled well in the opening game to keep things close. However Johnny still got to 10-8 up, only to hand Jan a lifeline with two unforced errors… that Jan handed straight back with two of his own. D’Oh! 12-10. Unfortunately for Jan this lead to a let down in game 2, which he lost rapidly. The legacy of that (and the previous meeting) was carried into game three, along with Johnny’s extra speed and sharpness of shot. The margins were still relatively fine, but overall it was too much for Jan who lost 10-12, 3-11, 8-11.

That meant the evening went to the second string game, which pitted Vinod against John Dewis. Unfortunately Vinod arrived at it carrying an Achilles injury suffered at a recent Masters tournament, which meant he had to adapt his game to try and cover for mobility which declined as the match progressed (and the injury worsened again). John initially appeared a bit tight, making some atypical mistakes, but from ~5-5 in game one the Saints player clued in that Vinod was operating at under full throttle and that he should be able to come through. This relaxed John in turn and led to Vinod going down 6-11, 3-11, 5-11.

Hereward Cup Quarter-Final

Melbourn lost 1-4

An oddity of the fixture list meant the 2nds and Comberton played for the second time in six days, this match a Cup QF after the previous week’s 20-4 defeat for Melbourn in Division 3.

Both teams showed only a handful of changes from the League encounter – for us Colm was not available, with Roger coming in at #3 and Jamie moving up to #2. Comberton had the same top 3 as the league match, but gave a run out to a pair of teenagers at #4 and #5 in the Cup clash.

The fifth string featured two kids as Melbourn’s Will Bradshaw took on Connor Harmer, the players knowing each other from the Cambs Junior scene. Connor has a few years and a few mph on his shots over Will, and he used this well to pin the Melbourn player deep in the court. Will was left between the devil and the deep blue sea – dropping back wasn’t helping at all as he simply got stuck behind Connor, boasting out of deep corners, but when he did try and push forward Will often found himself rushed for time through the pace of Connor’s hitting. Will did construct some nice rallies to win points, but there weren’t enough of them overall and he lost 6-15, 7-15, 3-15.

The fourth string also featured a Comberton kid, though in this case Isaac Broughton was up against an adult in Melbourn’s Moises Estrelles Navarro. Both had great movement, but Isaac had more control than Moises. That meant that when Isaac went in short this was a potential winner, but when Moises did… not so much. A game plan hatched after a one sided opener by Moises and his teammates to not drop at all, ever, worked to an extent… the extent that Moises was able to stick to it, basically! He did for the first stages of games 2 and 3, the second sitting at 6-7 at one stage and the third at 3-5, but as the game progressed and air in the lungs got less Moises felt he desperately needed a way of shortening rallies, so began to look again for the kills. He was right in a way – this DID bring the rallies to quick conclusions… in Isaac’s favour! Oops. 3-0, with game scores 3-15, 6-15, 5-15.

The third string clash pitted Roger Woodfield against Richard Anthony, who had edged out Jamie 3-2 at Comberton the previous week. Roger presents and entirely different challenge from Jamie, and at the start this worked really well for Melbourn as he got his deadly cut-out drop shots into build a 12-5 opening game lead. This was whittled away by Richard but not enough to deny Roger the opener. The second was closer, the players exchanging points as one went ahead and then the other. Roger had his teeth into things now though, and like a good guard dog he won’t unclamp once his jaws are locked. That saw him grind it out to take a 2-0 lead. The problem was doing that drained the tanks rather, and once Richard had figure out Roger was hanging pretty deep he was in charge. The third saw Richard race into a 10-2 lead, which resulted in a comfortable claim and though Roger was closer in the next two he was never really on terms and eventually fell 15-12, 15-13, 6-15, 7-15, 9-15.

The extended nature of Roger and Richard’s clash meant Jamie Ware and Jez Cotton went on with the match still live. This was not a good match up from Melbourn’s point of view though sa Jex is a decidedly awkward customer to play – he had already beaten both Jan and Colm 3-0 in the league this season, and both of these players feature above Jamie in our ranking order. So a big challenge then… but one Jamie rose to as he played some of his best Squash for a while (that he is playing regularly at the moment surely helps). In face Jamie got himself 13-10 up in the opener… only for Jez to take a run of five straight rallies to turn it around. The second saw Jamie ahead in the early stages, but this time things reversed from mid-game. 2-0. The third was nip-and-tuck until 9-all when Jez won a batch of points to power to four match balls at 14-10. But Jamie was not done, saving one after another to drag himself into a breaker. Could this be the start of something? Er, no, because the effort to get back left nothing to play the next two rallies and Jez came through in the breaker. Game scores were 13-15, 9-15, 14-16, which as stated above is closer than either of the players higher in our order have got to Jez this season.

The final match saw Jan Brynjolffssen (1) take on Alistair Maclean. The pair had meet at top string in the league the week before, a match that Jan felt he had thrown away by letting an opening game he led 7-1 and 12-7 somehow slip away. Lots more Squash was played subsequently, but that rankled after the eventual 3-2 loss. Well, this match was a chance for revenge and after it Alistair is almost certainly the player cursing one that got away. Why? Well, one specific point… but that was match ball at 14-13 in the third after the Comberton player had won the opening two reasonably comfortably. On that match ball Jan hit a loose shot down the middle, and pinned himself to the near wall to try and get out of the way. Potential stroke, but Alistair went for the big finish instead… but put his attempted volley nick into the tin. Four rallies later Jan had the game on a breaker, and this time the match changed in his favour as from there on he improved the accuracy and pace of his hitting and kept Alistair deep enough to stop the wrong-footing happening as frequently. It all added up to a 8-15, 10-15, 17-15, 15-7, 15-10 win for Jan.

Melbourn lost 8-15

The 2nds didn’t lose many matches in the opening half of the campaign, which made the 20-3 reverse at Swavesey stand out. Nothing went right that day, starting from players getting lost on their way to the venue and rolling on from there. There was a determination in the team to try and put on a better performance on our nicely familiar courts.

The first match on was also a significant one as 14 year-old Will Bradshaw (5) made his long awaited Melbourn debut. Will show his usual nice rally construction, and did well when he managed to get the ball past opponent Henry Spelman and into the back corners. However he also tired as each of the opening two games progressed, and also found himself pinned down by Henry’s serving especially in the later stages of games. After both the first two were close at the mid-point Will saw each race away from him. His head was on his chin from the start of the third where we didn’t see the real Will as he lost 8-15, 7-15, 1-15.

Next door it was Roger Woodfield (4) who was the experienced head as he took on Henry Miller. This match was pretty tight as Roger’s deadly drop shots were put up against the younger player’s speed and movement. The opening game was the key – maybe if Roger had taken it to establish a 1-0 lead what followed might have been different. But he didn’t, Henry won the tie break instead and thereafter was able to keep his nose in front as Roger lost 15-17, 11-15, 10-15.

The third string clashed paired Gareth Jones with Adil Rivzi. Adil had proved to be an oddly effective player back in the first clash of the teams, beating Colm 3-1 and leaving the Melbourn player extremely frustrated as his game just hadn’t been there. It looked initially like Adil’s somewhat idiosyncratic approach to Squash was going to leave Gareth seemingly unbalanced, but having lost the first the Melbourn player was able to amp things up, give more length to the ball and draw Adil into the sort of up-and-down-the-walls rallies that were clearly to Gareth’s advantage. This worked to the extent that Gareth came roaring back to win 11-15, 15-9, 15-13, 15-9.

This seemed like it had put Melbourn into a strong position as whilst Gareth was turning things around Jan Brynjolffssen (2) was building a 2-0 lead over Marcus Tsui. He had managed this despite giving away a slew of strokes in the opening game as he struggled with his hitting lines, but managed to grind out enough points to recover a deficit to level at 13-all and then win the next two points to claim the game 15-13. Jan was cleaner in the second, which he won comfortably, and then relaxed hoping to see out a 3-0. Too much, as game three started with a string of low energy rallies that gave Marcus a foothold back in the match. The visiting player took the third despite Jan attempting to battle back, and then claimed the fourth as he confidence in his high, loopy game grew (“horrid, pace-less balls” to quote Jan afterwards). Four straight tins late in game four were also costly. The decider was nip-and-tuck until the mid-game, but from there Marcus refused to make another mistake and claim a comeback win as Jan went down 15-13, 15-6, 12-15, 12-15, 11-15.

Jan’s defeat was said because it ended whilst Mike Herd (1) was putting on arguably his performance of the season against Simon Hudson.
Simon is a strong player at Division 3 level, and came into the match having won 9 out of 10 encounters this season. Mike was in excellent form though, digging Simon’s attacking shots out, lunging well to keep the ball going and showing great control when he was forced into this stretches. Most notable was a pair of backhands in game one, the first a full length reach that Mike somehow control into a perfect lob down the wall the took Simon out of the attacking position and made him lift the ball from the back wall… straight into Mike pushing up to play a cut-out volley drop that rolled out of the nick. Awesome. With play like that it was little wonder that Mike complied a 15-10, 15-9, 15-12 win that he ought to be really proud of. If he can play better than that… well it would be great to see it! 😊

Melbourn’s skipper on the evening was Jan, who commented “We won a number of close ones in the opening half of the season, so maybe that luck had to turn in the end. My match turned out to be the key one, and I thought I had it under control at two-nil. But Marcus played very accurate Squash thereafter. It wasn’t to be.”

Melbourn lost 7-16

The 2nds had stayed top of Division 3 after winning our first match of the new year against Stamford the previous week, but staying there was going to be a challenge as a somewhat new look side headed to Churchill College to take on a Cambridge team who sat in upper mid-table.

The first matches on were two of the less familiar faces as Matt Walker (4) played his first team  match since pre-pandemic (the gap being due to injury) when he took on Sanjay Poria and Moises Estrelles Navarro made his second appearance for the Melbourn winter teams against Toni Coppolaro.
In each case the home player had significant experience in the County Leagues, and made use of it well. Particularly Toni against Moises. Moises obviously had a significant edge in fitness and movement, whilst Toni was much more clued up about creating an opening for a winner and accurate with his shots when he had those gaps. As a for instance, one rally in game 1 saw Toni attempt to play four winners, Moises pinballing around the court picking them up until he had the chance to attack himself to win the point. Which was great… but simply made the score 1-7! And that was the issue. The start of rallies was immensely important: if Moises return was loose or an attempt to force a winner out which gifted Toni the front wall, then the outcome was pretty certain – point to Toni. If Moises got his lines right and got Toni into a back corner, then he had a chance. But that didn’t happen anything like often enough, resulting in a heavy 4-15, 7-15, 6-15 defeat an a very frustrated visiting player.

It wasn’t quite the same thing between Matt and Sanjay as Matt was rather cleaner in his approach than Moises. He was just rusty. And Sanjay was not about to let him get away with that. There were flashes of the old Walker with some nice volley drop kills, but there were also some tins and perhaps more importantly Matt wasn’t yet up-to-speed of a team match with his fitness and movement so was caught out repeatedly by Sanjay putting in counter-boasts. This all led to a 7-15, 10-15, 8-15 reverse. Disappointing, but also a stepping stone towards a fully fit and firing Walker some time in the near future.

Next on was Aidan Hird (3) against Neil Middleton. It was quickly apparent that this match was on Aidan’s racquet, as many are. If he could keep his nerves and error rate in some sort of check, he would win. If not, he could allow Neil to snatch it. As is often the case when Aidan is feeling uncomfortable (i.e. he is playing a team match!) the ball took the brunt of it – the hitting was thunderous rather than the more judicious mix of pace with control that Aidan produces in internal matches at Melbourn. He edged game 1 though, and calmed down a bit to show the Squash he is capable of in second. As the finishing line approached however Aidan got tight again and once more the ball was abused, but he got through it to claim a 15-13, 15-6, 15-12 success.

On the other side Jan Brynjolffssen (2) was taking on James Buckley. Jan got off to a good start, moving nicely despite the dodgy footing (the Churchill courts were somewhat slippery) and finding some good early drop shots. This built an initial 6-1 lead that Jan was just about able to hang on to as James got going to win the opening game 15-13. However, the fact that James was closing the gap was indicative of what was to come as from 6-1 on in the first James’ lines and also his knowledge of the walls and traction of his home court were winning around three points to every two Jan picked up. This saw the match level, and then go 2-1 to the Cambridge player. Jan was back in the contest in the fourth, but a couple of key errors with the score at 12-11, and then again on Match Ball (the WORST possible time!) saw him fall 3-1. The game scores (Jan first) were 15-13, 10-15, 9-15, 12-15.

The top string match had started prior to Jan finishing, which meant Mike Herd (1) didn’t know whether his game against Keith Mabey would be decisive or not. This proved important as the encounter was lung-busting, and that extra motivation was crucial to keep Mike pushing through for the short balls. Keith, who came into the match with an impressive record of just one defeat all season, was playing nice Squash, particularly when the ball was up high. Mike was also operating at an extremely high standard. Keith’s play was a bit flashier, with lovely touch on the kills, Mike was steadier and holding the ‘t’ slightly more than half the time as a result. The resulting contest was extremely even, Mike claiming the first on a tie break and then the second narrowly.
Game three saw Keith come back into it as Mike’s steadiness deserted him briefly. He had still lost his way at the start of the fourth, rapidly falling 7-1 down. However Keith was clearly breathing heavily by this stage and importantly Mike did not allow him to cruise through to claim a game he was obviously in complete command of but instead challenged Keith to work his socks off to complete the deal. That was vital for the decider that followed as now Keith’s feet were not moving as accurately, leading to him fishing for the high volleys and missing rather than killing. Mike was still moving well, one impressive chase to the front backhand corner followed by a tight straight drive and that backed up by a volley drop kill showing he was still fresh enough to play superb shots. Such play allow Mike to move steadily away through the game to claim the string 3-2. Game scores were 18-16, 15-13, 11-15, 11-15, 15-8.

Melbourn lost 5-19

The 1sts made the trip up the A1 to Peterborough hoping this might be the venue for our first win of the season.

First on court were Mark Oppen (4) against Courtney Blake and Jan Brynjolffssen (5) taking on Sean Michelson.

Mark and Courtney have played a few times before, so knew what to expect of each other – Mark moving the ball around and sometimes off-boasting, Courtney chasing for absolutely everything and pulling out some spectacular kills on his forehand. The match went the way many others had done, with very little in it but Mark gradually having the breath drawn out of him by his opponents relentlessness. All three games were close, but they were only three of them as Mark lost 9-11, 10-12, 9-11.

Meanwhile next door Jan had started OK against Sean and was right in the game up until a perplexing error on what should have been a straightforward forehand drop shot at 7-8 appeared to undermine him. The next five minutes effectively decided the match as Jan brooded on the error, lost the next two rallies and then was unable to execute the gameplan in game 2 and lost that in rapid succession. The third was more competitive but by now Sean was comfortable and in control and won 3-0, the game scores (Jan first) 7-11, 4-11, 8-11.

Miles Jeannert (3) and Paul Watson were next on, but didn’t know what they were in for when they took to the court. In bare terms it was a best-of-five that involved enough squash for six full games as Miles won the opener 11-9 and then the next four all went to tie-breaks. In bare terms the game scores were (Miles first) 11-9, 11-13, 13-11, 10-12, 13-15… but that selection of numbers doesn’t fully convey how close and exciting the match was.
Rallies were extended with Miles producing his trademark languid-and-deceptively-rapid movement to dig out Paul’s tight drops and counter-punch his way to points. Paul, meanwhile, was taking more of the aggressor role, looking to work the openings for the first attack. As the game scores show these two approaches proved incredibly evenly matched. It was anyone’s guess who was going to win, but on this occasion Paul did. Eventually. After almost as close a match as one could imagine. Almost.

And if you think that was close… the match between Vinod Duraikan (2) and teenager Aiden Fillmore was even tighter. Aiden had the better of the early stages of the game as he moved Vinod around and then found some nice kill shots to exit rallies, but as the game progressed Vinod dug it and began to retrieve the tight balls, which in turn caused Aiden to back off his attacks a bit, resulting the Vinod coming back on the scoreboard as the games progressed. Despite this the home player won the game on an extended tie-break and then took the next to move two games up. However games three and four saw Vinod turning things around as Aiden got increasingly frustrated at his inability to finish the match off, which resulted in some surprising errors from the kids racquet.
Vinod took the third and fourth each 11-9 to force the decider, and this time the Melbourn player got off to a strong start – this was the first all evening when he was up midway through a game? A sign that Vinod would cruise to the line? Not at all as Aiden, back-to-the-wall, produced some high intensity scrambling to keep sharing points. Vinod got to match ball first, but Aiden saved it. Then it was Aiden’s turn at 11-10. He made an opening… but unaccountably tinned what should have been the finishing shot. And that set the pattern – one player gets ahead, the other responds. There were some let and stroke calls in the tie-break that perplexed both players (in fact there had been a number through the match, but the marker employed a consistent standard throughout demanding a higher degree of effort to go and get the ball than either player expected (how the marker himself plays, basically 😉)). The match ebbed too and fore until Vinod finally got over the line 20-18 after drawing an error from a stretching Aiden in the front backhand corner. The game scores were 12-14, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9, 20-18.

With the overall win decided in Peterborough’s favour after the first three strings Chris Shaw (1) was playing Callum McGurk (another youngster) for pride and whatever extra points he could dredge up for the team. Chris definitely had his moments in the match, and was leading by a handful of points towards the end of the second game, but he was grounded down by Callum’s apparent ability to get absolutely everything back. This told in the end with the third game going rapidly against the Melbourn player as he went down 7-11, 9-11, 5-11.

Melbourn I lost 8-19

Mark Oppen at string 5 had a somewhat up and down match as he struggled with his fitness on the night but thankfully his touch to the ball and shot selection helped him out as he levelled the match 2-2. With a big push in the deciding 5th game, Mark won the game 11-7 and his match 3-2 (11-8, 5-11, 11-5, 4-11, 11-7).  

Vinod Duraikan at string 2 had a close and testing (aka...epic!) opening game that thankfully saw Vinod win it convincingly 14-12! The second and third games were close but unfortunately Vinod lost these to a very close 10-12 & 9-11. The fourth game was looking to be a turnaround in levels as Vinod took control of play, executing some great lengths and injecting his excellent short shots into the game that gave him the fourth an impressive 11-2! The deciding fifth game was close again between the two players. Vinod's shots were not as tight as from the fourth game and his opponent was now adding pressure by extending out the rallies. It really could have gone either way but alas Vinod had to accept the 8-11 loss in the fifth and so his match 2-3 (14-12, 10-12, 9-11, 11-2, 8-11) 

Miles Jeanneret at string 3 was up against an experienced player whose solid play gave Miles a tough opening game but thankfully the result went 12-10 to the Melbourn player. The second game was close again and Miles had game ball a couple of times but his opponent kept the ball tight that turned the game ball advantage around and Miles unfortunately lost in the second 11-13. With the games level pegging going into the third, the Melbourn supporters were keeping everything crossed the third game was won quickly - fitness was looking to be a match decider for Miles. Indeed, it was clear from the third game Miles was struggling with his match fitness as the game points were gradually being consumed by his opponent and he lost the third game 5-11. The fourth and what would be final game of Miles' match was close as he kept going but all the willing from the crowd couldn't change the 1-3 match result as Miles lost out from staying in his match (12-10, 11-13, 5-11, 9-11) 

Mike Herd playing at string 4 had an excellent opening game, winning it 11-7 after playing tight length and by adding some of his trademark boast shots to vary play. The second game saw his opponent keeping more in the rallies, creating closer, nip-and-tuck points and although Mike had game ball his opponents’ tenacious retrievals kept Mike from converting. It was looking like Mike could have kept the game alive but it was not to be the case as his opponent gained game point and the second game was lost 10-12. The third game was very similar to the second, not much in it but Mike was looking the favourite (obviously!) and although another game ball chance for Mike, he wasn't able to convert and lost the third 11-13. The fourth and what would be final game of the match was not as close as the previous games and unfortunately Mike lost the fourth game 5-11 and his match 1-3 (11-7, 10-12, 11-13, 5-11)

Last to play was Melbourn's first seeded player, Chris Shaw. The opening game was high pace as both players worked hard to play accurate squash. Chris played well and thankfully won the first game 13-11. The second game was a good level but Chris' opponent was making less errors and Chris' length was not as effective and so the second game was lost 7-11. The third game saw Chris working hard to stay in control but some errors from his racket gave his opponent the advantage and then the game 5-11. Chris worked hard in the fourth game to keep his match alive and it was certainly a close fought game at it went to 10-10. Unfortunately, Chris wasn't able to convert this to a win and so he lost in the fourth 10-12 and the match 1-3 (13-11, 7-11, 5-11, 10-12)

Skipper Mark Oppen commented: It really was a close result, especially from Vinod's match and along with the game ball advantages Mike and Miles had the teams overall result could have been quite different.  

Melbourn won 19-4

The first half of the season had started really well for the 2nds, with a 20-0 win away at Stamford 3rds. It ended on a slightly more downbeat note with a second defeat of the campaign in the final week of fixtures before Christmas but given the rest of the results (and the tone set by the Stamford game) this wasn’t enough to stop Melbourn sitting pretty at the top of the tree over the holidays. But what would the New Year bring? Well, once again a start against Stamford, but at home this time. And an early one as despite the long travel the visitors were at the club and warming up ahead of the scheduled start time, which consequently made for a prompt start.

Things kicked off with the third and fifth strings, Moises Estrelles Navarro taking on Adam Brown in the later and Colm O’Gorman facing Ian Bell in the former. Moises was making his league debut for the side (though he has played for the club in the Herts Summer League previously), with his opponent almost as inexperienced in Cambs League terms. What followed was an exceedingly close and extremely enthusiastic game as both players proved to be fast, highly willing retrievers of seemingly lost causes. There was next to nothing between them in the first two games, but Moises ended them 2-0 down after the second game went against him on a tie-break. It would have been easy for the home player to be disappointed after that, but rather than folding to lose 3-0 Moises dug in impressively to claw it back to 2-2. Now he was in the ascendency… only to start game 5 slowly, falling 8-3 down. Though Moises stabilised after that the early deficit proved unrecoverable and he lost 11-15, 14-16, 

Meanwhile Colm and Ian were not only battling each other, but also trying to cope with the walls on Court 1 having gone totally unresponsive as a result of the sub-zero temperatures outside… and one of the two heaters being out of action. Oh, and extra external walls. All told, any balls not absolutely muscled were having the life sucked out of them on contact with a surface, meaning clipped shot became floating ones but also any ball muscled enough to get into a back corner dropped it’s rucksack and set up camp there in a manner that conveyed “Here will do – and I’m never leaving!” Both players found the conditions tough, but for two games Colm had Ian guessing enough to run through them comfortably. The third saw Colm lose his way and allow Ian to start dictating play, which resulted in one against the head but by the fourth Colm was back in the swing, getting the ball deep enough often enough to wrap up a 15-9, 15-7, 9-15, 15-8 success.

Jan (2) followed Colm into the icy wastes of Court 1, ready to take on David Harris who was playing his last game before zooming off to Portugal for the latest leg of the European Masters Series (David would finished 8th of 20 in that). Perhaps David’s game was already in warm weather mode but he never seemed to adapt to the deadness of the court in the same way that Jan managed, the Melbourn player deliberately wildly overhitting the ball to get enough oomph on to fly it past David and deep into the back corners where the ball felt very comfortable and extremely loathe to ever leave. This resulted in David deep in the court whilst Jan was able to hug the service line as his opponents shots had all the bite drawn out of them by the cold walls instead sitting up to be put away. It was essentially one way traffic, Jan winning 15-5, 15-7, 15-9.

Something similar was happening next door where Gareth (4) was taking on Tim Collins. Even though Court 2 was quite as arctic the back corners were still pretty lifeless and Gareth was finding that balls he powered into them were going to stay there. This was manna from heaven for the Melbourn player – tell Gareth to hit the ball *very hard* and that is the strategy and he is a happy man. That is a real “Can do, mate!” moment. Add in Gareth’s recent development of a well disguised jabby little drop shot and you had an overall package brilliantly suited to the court conditions. As the match went on Gareth got more and more confident and Tim further down, resulting in a cruise to a 15-8, 15-9, 15-6 victory.

The numbers 1, Mike for Melbourn and Neal Cooke of Stamford, waited out Gareth’s match so they could go on the warmer less cold court, no. 2. Mike started well, racing into a 7-1 lead in the opening game with Neal oddly giving up on chasing some balls – one drop shot of Mike’s in particular which wasn’t all that tight became a clean winner it didn’t really deserve to be. At that point there seemed to be a certain amount of the league position and overall match score playing a part in proceedings, with Neal subconsciously expecting to be overwhelmed when the gap between him and Mike was nowhere near as large as that. This could also explain why the games scores got gradually tighter as the match progressed and Neal got more confident that he wasn’t in over his head. But even if Mike wasn’t massively the better player he was still also reasonably obviously the stronger of the two, and his eventual 15-7, 15-7, 15-9 success came as little surprise.

Melbourn lose 9-14

Our winning run came to an end, however it was close and could easily have been another win.

First up at string 5, Roger against the pacy Uruguayan Renzo Rozza Gonzalez. It was a fascinating encounter with Roger’s experience and ability to run his opponent, contrasting with Renzo’s ability to retrieve from almost any position on the court. Renzo was quick out of the blocks, racing into a 0-4 lead but Roger found his rhythm and had the game evenly poised at 8-8 and again at 13-13. Renzo got the break and took the game 13-15. In the second game, both players started well, however Renzo piled on the pressure and went on a scoring run to take the game 8-15. Roger was playing well and knew that if he could apply some pressure, he could make it interesting. Sure enough, Roger found himself dominating, sending Renzo to the corners and using his trademark drops to stay ahead. However a mis-hit drop to the tin halted his momentum and gave Renzo the chance to bring the game to 11-11 and, with his speed and accuracy, was able to close out the game 12-15 and the match 0-3.

At string 4, Jamie was playing Pierre Caruso. Jamie had played less squash in recent weeks than he would have liked and it showed in the early stages as Pierre was at the pitch of the match quickly and had all the answers for what Jamie was throwing at him. Pierre comfortably took the game. In the second, Jamie was showing signs of returning to his usual level and kept it close until 7-10, however Pierre was playing with conviction and took the game 11-15. Jamie was now at the pitch also and was starting to really compete. The third game was a marathon with Jamie digging in and determined to make his mark on the match, fighting all the way to 17-17 and ground out the win with the next two points. Jamie’s dander was up and he cruised through the fourth game  (15-6) to level the match and set up a decider. Jamie had put a monumental effort to this point and was tiring a little. Pierre was also determined to fight to the end. The game toed and froed with both players giving it everything they had. Pierre reached game point at 12-14, and hung on for a 13-15 win and the match 2-3. Credit to both players for a huge effort.

Sean who was bringing really good form, was playing at string 3 for the first time and wasn’t in any way intimidated by it, playing Carlos Correia, also left handed. The first game was hard fought and at 10-10 it was difficult to pick a victor. Both players were enjoying the forehand driving, waiting for the other to blink first. This was often followed by drops and boasts, and returning to forehand drives again, high quality squash. Carlos managed to somehow get a run of scores to take it 11-15. Sean was competing very well however and was able to just about stay ahead all through the game and took it 15-12. The pendulum swung back in Carlos’ favour in the third, staying ahead throughout to take it 9-15. Sean was up for the challenge and they traded points throughout the fourth taking it to 14-14. An unfortunate spin on the ball put it just out of Sean’s reach and while he felt the point could have been replayed due to Carlos’ positioning, it was not given and Carlos had match point. Carlos played the point strongly hitting the corners and put it beyond Sean. Another high quality and close match ending in Peterborough’s favour.

Meanwhile on court 1, Colm was playing a very experienced and powerful hitter in Alec Sarkissian. The players had contrasting styles, Colm playing a combination of drives and drops, while Alec was hitting corners, driving low and boasting accurately. The rallies were shortened by both players going for the winners. The first game was evenly poised at 10-10, however Colm kept his nerve and the ball deep to negate Alec’s ability to attack, winning 5 of the next 6 points to take the game 15-11. Colm continued with the same approach and this paid dividends, leading the second game from early on to comfortably take the second game. Alec changed it up for the third, recognising where there may be some vulnerability in Colm’s play and this meant a much closer game. Alec went ahead at what looked like the opportune time to lead 11-13. Colm however was up for the battle and took the next 5 points to take the game and the match 3-0.

While Peterborough had by now settled the match, Melbourn were racking up points and Miles had a chance to secure 3 more. He was up against Tim Millington. Tim was aiming to upset the odds and he fought tooth and nail for every ball. However as the first game wore on, Miles was establishing his authority and confidently closed out the game 15-9. Miles continued with a strong start to the second game and took a 5-0 lead, however Tim was playing well and displayed great accuracy and speed at the front of the court to make the game closer. Miles was feeling the pressure being applied and responded with positive aggression to dominate the remainder of the game and managed to grind out a 15-12 win. In the third Tim upped the ante again and surged ahead. He had subtly changed tactics with more touch play and trickery. Miles responded and showed fantastic retrieval skills to counter Tim, forcing the errors. Miles took point after point to take an unassailable lead and the game 15-8.

Team captain Colm explained ‘we were missing 4 of our regulars tonight and depended on squad depth. I’m delighted to see Roger, Jamie and Sean play so well against very strong players. It’s been a really good first half of the season for us and we look forward to the second half starting in the new year’.

Melbourn won 19-3

Having gone top of the table after the previous round against Newmarket’s first team, Melbourn were keen to follow it up with a win over Newmarket’s second team. Interestingly, Newmarket’s second team had put in a good performance against their first team a few weeks previously, nearly winning on the night so it wasn't a foregone conclusion that Melbourn would win it.

First up was Sean at string 5 against Matt Harber. Sean has been playing really well, and needed to be on on his game to match Matt’s energy and skill levels. This was nip and tuck from the start but Sean continued his good form and was playing well, fighting for every point, driving well and also bringing more drops into his game. Sean was moving his opponent around the court very well and was able to hold off the challenge in the first and second games with his consistency and shot selection, each game following an almost identical pattern. Sean took both 15-12. The third was an even closer affair, but Sean's confidence in his game probably made the difference and took the game 16-14 and the match a creditable 3-0 against a tough opponent.

Gareth, playing at string 4 was next up. Gareth has been on a run of 4 wins from 4, and 6 wins from 7 in the season so far. He was up against Graham Clark. Gareth surged ahead early in the first game and into a commanding lead. However, a series of unforced errors along with good attacking play from Graham brought the scores closer before Gareth steadied himself to take the game 15-12. In the second game, again Gareth took an early lead, this time however he maintained his concentration and with tidier drives, more energy and bringing some variety to his shot selection, he maintained the lead to win it 15-7. The third game was similar with Gareth again going ahead early and he didn’t let up, finishing the game 15-6 and taking the match 3-0.

Colm was playing at string 3, against Oliver Pynn who he had played previously on a number of occasions, usually closely fought but Oliver always edging it. At 9-9 in the first it was close again. Ominously, Oliver took a 2 point lead at game point but let it slip and Colm nicked the game 16-14. The second game was 12-12 and again nothing between the players. A touch of luck and determined play by Colm gave him game ball, which he took to lead the match 2-0. The 2-game cushion seemed to enable Colm to play with a bit more freedom and in the third he went on a run of points to take an 11-5 lead and wasn’t going to lose from there. Colm took the match 3-0.

Playing at string 2, Jan had Paul Bragg to deal with. Paul had recently beaten their first team string 1 player and was really up for this match, so Jan had his hands full. The first game was hard fought to 11-11, when Jan found an extra gear and with some accurate play, deep drives and clever drops, he took the game 15-11 with a late surge. Back roared Paul who dominated the second game, getting Jan to do a lot of retrieving and then picking off winners. Paul took it 8-15. Jan was struggling a little to come to terms with Paul tactics and the third went Paul’s way also, this time 6-15 with a run of points early the game doing the damage. Jan changed it up a little, played smarter, lengthened the rallies to find better court positioning, basically playing to his strengths, and managed to deservedly grind out the game to win it 15-13. Going into the fifth game, the momentum was marginally with Jan, but Paul started strongly. Jan dug in to keep it close and brought it to 12-12. At this point, it was anybody’s, and Jan appeared to have the fitness and shots to apply the necessary pressure. Unlucky to hit the tin and then handing Paul an opportunity to get to match point, Jan still hung in and dragged it back to 14-14. Both players played bravely, and really went for it. It was a lottery at this point, and Paul was able to eek out a second match point, and taking the game 15-17 to win the match.

Miles, unbeaten so far in the season in Div 3, played Tony Archer at string 1. Tony was quick out of the blocks in the first game, playing on the edge, going for winners and getting them most of the time. Miles wasn’t phased and knew he had the squash level and fitness to bring the game back in his favour. At 11-11, Tony again took his opportunities to win the next 2 points and put Miles under pressure. However Miles was able to take 5 of the next 6 points and the game 16-14. Tony had put in a big effort to stay with Miles in the first game. Miles knew by increasing the pace and lengthening the rallies, it would be to his advantage and so it proved. Miles dominated the second game to take it easily 15-4. Back came Tony in the third to make a real fight of it, but it was a step too far and Miles again with his accuracy and excellent retrieving took control of the game, winning it 15-10 and the match 3-0.

Team captain Colm noted ‘While on paper we were expected to win this match easily, we knew Newmarket 2 were strong and would put up a big challenge. The team responded really positively and this was demonstrated by Jan’s determination in bringing his match down to the wire, even though he knew Melbourn had already won the match overall’.

Melbourn won 15-7

A top of the table clash at Newmarket was made more of a challenge for Melbourn when unfortunately, our string 5 player was unavailable at the last minute. Playing with 4 players reduced the margin of error for Melbourn.

First up at string 4 was Colm against an experienced player in Charlie Crisp. The first game was hard fought, both players struggling to find their rhythm early on. As the game progressed however, Colm managed to get a hold of the game and see it out 15-9. The second game was more closely fought with Charlie digging in the stay in touch all through. Colm was fighting hard in every rally and was rewarded by taking the game narrowly 15-13. Colm knew he needed to up the pace and increase the energy in the third game which turned out to be more one-sided, having done the hard work in the first two. Colm took the game 15-8 and the match 3-1.

Over on the other court Jan, playing at string 3, was up against a very classy Mark Price. Jan was exerting pressure on his opponent with accurate and deep shots, picking off winners while forcing Mark into errors. Jan took the game 15-11 playing well and confidently started the second game. However, Mark’s experience and style was starting to come into it more, and he was able to shift the momentum. A series of well executed winners combined with some uncharacteristic errors by Jan contributed to Mark taking the game 9-15. Jan had the energy, skill and know-how to compete with Mark, and the thrid games was very closely fought, it could have gone either way. Mark was able to somehow get ahead at the right time, take the game and lead in the match. In the fourth, again closely contested, Jan appeared to have seized the initiative and pushed hard to take the game, but with some with some bad luck and pressure applied by his opponent, he seemed to snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, unfortunately handing Mark the opportunity to win the match, which he duly did 1-3.

Mike was up next at string 2 knowing he had to win to keep Melbourn in the match. His opponent, Matt Pearson, had been playing superbly over the previous weeks and so was bringing top form. Mike was up for this however and dominated immediately, moving the Newmarket player around the court and picking off winners at will. Mike took the first game in a commanding manner. In the second, Matt tidied up his game quite dramatically and kept the game competitive throughout. In truth, it could have gone either way, but Mike was able to take the opportunity when it presented itself at 14-14 and nicked the game. Matt appeared to be encouraged by his ability to compete with Mike and again played excellently to take the third game by the scruff of the neck and deservedly took it 15-12. Faced with the challenge, Mike responded admirably and was able to halt Matt’s momentum, retrieving well and bringing some more clever deceptive shots to wrong-foot his opponent a number of times. Mike wrestled back control of the match, winning the fourth game 15-13 and the match 3-1.

Playing at string 1, Miles was facing an agile, quick, skillful and unpredictable Hamish Jogee. Contrasting styles would hopefully made for a highly entertaining game. While Miles was the better player, Hamish was able to retrieve and find shots out of nowhere to keep it close. Miles, probably feeling a little relieved, managed to take the first game 15-13. The second game followed a similar pattern, however it was noticeable that Miles was gaining more control, and while the scoreline of 15-12 was again close, there was a clear gap forming, and it would be interesting to see how the third game would go. Miles, with the cushion of being 2 games up, applied more pressure and pace from the start of the third and surged ahead, dominating with a variety of short and long, drops and lobs, taking the game 15-5 and the match 3-1. Miles had one shot of pure class in particular than needs mentioning, it will be referred to throughout the rest of the season, a deceptive-back-handed-boast-come-lob-with-spin which was unplayable for this opponent, this is not doing the shot justice. It did illustrate his potential to complete in higher divisions.

Team captain Colm commented ‘the team were up against it tonight, with Gareth who has been playing brilliantly, unfortunately not making it, and we responded with a big performance to again take the match and continue our good form’.

Melbourn won 14-8

This match pitted third against second in the Cambs Division 3 table, and it was a suitably strong affair for two high flying teams – previous Hunts vs Melbourn matches have seen Jan play Andy Budd (Buddy) at top string; today Jan was at 3 for Melbourn and Buddy at 4 for the home side!

Some high quality Squash, worthy of Hunts’ show court, was anticipated of the evening once the teams were written up on the big board on the stand (yup, Hunts County have a court which can hold a proper audience)… and we got to see it immediately as the first strings, Miles for Melbourn and Sean Broderick for Hunts, decided as they were both there, changed and ready and no-one else was that they might as well go on first [well, the no.1s don’t normally get a chance to hit the bar post match, do they…?]. The match proved worthy of its billing as the players battled it out with very little between them. Miles initially had the upper hand in game 1, but saw his lead whittled away to a tie-break. He won this, and admitted after the match that it had been crucial to the final outcome. Which was a 3-1 win for Melbourn as Miles took the second comfortably, saw Sean come back hard to take the third, but having a 2-0 lead Miles was able to conserve some energy in the latter stages of this ready to hit the fourth, which he did effectively to seal a 16-14, 15-9, 11-15, 15-11 win.

Meanwhile Gareth (5) was on the glass back next door against Ian Gabriel. Gareth started well, building a lead in the first part of the first game and then doing enough to hold it through the rest of the game. The second also saw Gareth on top, even with letting a few points go begging as Ian rope-a-doped him, standing still at the back having hit the ball short which led to Gareth racing forward with eyes on the ball and not aware where his opponent was, so pumped it deep… right back to where Ian was standing. Sneaky. Despite this Gareth saw out the game and then did likewise in the third as his length and hitting was causing Ian to chase too much. Gareth won 15-12, 15-10, 15-11.

Jan (3) followed Gareth on, taking on Paul Goodwin. Recent matches have seen Jan have problems starting both matches and individual games, and unfortunately this was another – Paul was rapidly 6-0 up in the opener as he found dying lengths that Jan was unable to dig out of the back corners. Teammates advice was clear after game 1 – “don’t fall 6-0 down!” Jan obliged – he was just 6-1 behind in the second. D’Oh! A comeback in the mid-game closed this lead down to 10-8, but a key missed (tinned) drop shot at that point was a killer, Jan losing the game 15-11. That set Paul back in charge as he once again raced into an early lead (6-2 this time) and then held on comfortably as Jan was beaten 7-15, 11-15, 6-15.

Back over on the show court, Liam (4) was up against the running and hitting of Buddy. The first game was very close, but went against Liam on a tie-break despite the Melbourn player feeling he was playing the better Squash. However Buddy’s scrambles and counter-punching were proving annoyingly effective in turning around rallies that Liam had been dictating, and that was clearly getting under the Melbourn player’s skin. Which was a distraction he didn’t need, and contributed to a 14-16, 10-15, 9-15 defeat… and a snapped racquet. Frustrating.

So we were now at two strings all ahead of the final match, which pitted Mike (2) against Matt Vandenboss. Everything looked bright for Melbourn in the opening game as Mike utterly dominated, moving beautifully to get on the ball early, allowing him to hold his shots causing Matt to guess… and the ball to go the other way. Matt was also nowhere near his best in the opener but improved in the second, at the same time as Mike lost focus and made a string of mistakes. This game went wrong rapidly, from a 6-4 lead to a 12-6 deficit, and somehow it was a game all. Game on? Well, not quite as having lost his focus Mike then refound it and kept it. Games three and four were closer than the first now Matt was playing better, but Mike’s movement was back and his holds, particularly for down-the-wall shots out of the front backhand corner, were proving extremely effective. Matt was also going redder and redder from the work his was having to put it – if he had got it to the fifth it was questionable whether he would even be able to stand! Fortunately it didn’t come to that as Mike wrapped up a 15-4, 6-15, 15-8, 15-10 success.

Mike’s win meant Melbourn had triumphed on the night 3-2, 14-8 overall. Which keeps us second in the table, and now within 7 points of leaders Newmarket 1sts after they suffered a surprise first defeat of the season. Melbourn are at Newmarket next as well…

Jan was skipper for the night. He commented “This was a very high quality match for Division 3 – both teams were basically at full strength. Miles was challenged for the first time this season, but came through it well, and Gareth was impressively clinical. Then it all fell on Mikey, and he got the job done nicely.”

Melbourn won 20:1

Anticipating a big challenge, the team were at the club early warming up and getting into the right frame of mind for the matches.

First up was Gareth Jones at string 5. Gareth built his way to an ultimately comfortable win against Charlie Farrow. Gareth actually trailed for much of the first game, but gained long-term benefit from his relentless hitting in this period as Charlie's court position dropped deep to cover it, opening the front of the court for Gareth to kill into. That set up work allowed Gareth make a late turn around in the opener, winning it 15-13, and then race into a 9-3 lead in the second. The point for 9-3 was a perfect execution of the game plan, a number of crisp shots pushing Charlie every further into his deep backhand corner, allowing a simple drop volley into the front forehand one to claim the point. This all seemed so straightforward that Gareth appeared to lose his focus and, despite still working to the template, he proceeded to tin what ought to have been easy finishes in the next five straight rallies! 9-8. Hmm. Momentum appeared to be shifting until Charlie produced an equally glaring unforced error of his own in the very next rally to gift Gareth a 10-8 lead. That seemed to re-settle the Melbourn player, allowing him to cut the error rate back down to sensible proportions. With his game back under control the rest of the match was only ever going Gareth's way - he was winning two points to every one Charlie did, allowing Gareth to close out a 15-13, 15-10, 15-7 win.

Next up was Colm O'Gorman at string 4 against Philip Blake. Colm raced into a 5:1 lead but it was clear that this was not going to be a one-sided with both players very evenly matched and both prepared to lengthen the rallies in the early stages. Sure enough Philip brought it back to 6:6 and each player went point for point. It could have gone either way, Philip missing the opportunity to convert game point. Colm stayed in it to take it 17:15. The second game followed a similar pattern with Colm going ahead in the early stages, Philip coming back and going ahead at what looked like the right time, but Colm dug in again and with a little luck 'ok maybe more than a little' on his side, took the game narrowly 16:14. Colm was starting to feel a bit leggy (as usual) and Philip knew that if he could take the 3rd game, he still had a great chance of winning the match. On this occasion it was Philip who forged ahead. However Colm made it into a bit of a dog fight and took advantage of a few more lucky shots to bring the game to 13:12 even though Philip was piling on the pressure. A hard-fought rally gave Colm match point at 14:13, and then rather fortuitously to say the least, after some very strange shots, the ball popped up nicely at half court and gave Colm the opportunity to put it away taking the closest 3-0 match he can remember ever playing.

Liam Murphy faced an extremely fit and agile 18 year old in Josh Ford at string 3. Liam had the experience and game to deal with it, but it wasn't going to be easy. The first game went as expected with Liam playing solidly and at 10:10 exerted a little more pressure to drive for home and settled it 15:11. Josh was up for the fight and gave the 2nd game everything he had, retrieving really well and dropping when the opportunity arose. This was frustrating for Liam and it went down to the wire with Josh nicking it 14:16. Liam however steadied himself and evolved his tactics to suit his game and he persisted, making less errors and putting Josh under a little more pressure. Liam patience paid dividends towards the end of the game and he took it 15:11. Josh had put up a very impressive fight and this was likely taking a toll on energy levels, while Liam continued to perform at a high level. Liam was able to control the 4th game, dominating throughout to take it 15:4 and the match 3:1.

Last up at string 1 was Miles Jeanneret against an excellent player in Scott Chuter, who had won 3 and lost narrowly in the other match of the division to date. The match started at a terrific pace with long rallies, both players very accurate with their shots and retrieving with ease. The game was evenly contested until the half-way stage, when Miles' superior ability enabled him to turn the screw enough, winning the big moments and in the end comfortably took the game 15:8. The second game was a much tighter affair. Scott managed to get into a lead and kept a narrow lead up to 11:13. Again however, Miles was able to apply the pressure forcing Scott back and out of position, then placing the ball perfectly and out of reach of Scott, and roaring back to take 4 points in a row and the game 15:13. Miles' confidence was evident and playing well he was able to manage the third game up to 10:10, then as expected, he applied the pressure to a tiring Scott, taking the next 5 points in style to win the game 15:10 and the match 3:0.

Team captain Colm felt the team played to their potential and was very proud of an excellent performance against a strong team in Spalding, 'everyone came to this match in confident mood that we would perform regardless of the result, and it was a really great reward to take 20 points against such a capable team'.

Melbourn lost 8-17

Melbourn's 1st team had a great opportunity after Matt S won his opening match 3-1 and then skipper, Mark O came back from being 2-1 down and 8-2 down in the fourth to battle out a 3-2 win. Vinod D unfortunately lost his match at third string 3-0 just as Mark started his match, which left us looking for Chris S and Miles J for at least a win between them.
However, Miles had a tough and close match at string 4 but managed to pick up one point for the team. The overall team result came down to Chris S' match against John D. Chris had not lost his last five matches to John and the opening game saw Chris win it convincingly. John however started to play better and with more consistency in the following games and his backhand volley drops were extremely effective at disrupting the pace of play. John won the 2nd and 3rd games and although Chris worked hard to stay in the rallies in the fourth game, his match was unfortunately lost 1-3 and so the overall team result on the night was set at 8-17.

Skipper Mark commented: it was our closest match result to date against one of the higher positioned teams in the league. We are now looking forward to our match after half-term against March 

Melbourn won 17-6

The Seconds returned to action against Comberton determined to get back to winning ways following a sobering first defeat of the season last week at Swavesey (in fact only four days prior to this match due to the away game being on a Thursday and the home one on a Monday).

First on were Gareth Jones (4) and Sean Hamilton (5), who were both up against handy teenagers in the shape of Isaac Broughton and Connor Harmer respectively.

Connor was making his debut in the adult county leagues but showed few signs of nerves about this as he proved a tenacious opponent for Sean. The Melbourn player kept opening slight leads, but each time he expected Connor to fade the kid instead came roaring back. It didn’t help Sean that his natural style of pacy hitting was rather to Connor’s liking – Sean had much joy with lobbed up balls, particularly on the serve, but was patently never entirely comfortable doing this as he didn’t trust his accuracy on such shots! However experience is a handy tool and Sean was able to grind out the opening two games narrowly. He seemed to be on course to do the same in the third, getting to a 10-7 lead, but then started to push for the finishing line… which was allowed Connor to use his pace to counterpunch winners. This proved to be the high watermark for the Comberton player though as his lateral movement began to slow in game four, which, even if this was only from highly impressive to merely very decent was just enough to see Sean’s crosscourt widths start to turn Connor around. And that was enough for Sean to run away with it, completing a very hard-fought 15-12, 15-13, 10-15, 15-8 victory.

Things were just as nail-biting next door as Gareth had his work cut out dealing with Isaac’s solidly consistent game and fleetness of foot around the court. Whilst Isaac exuded consistency Gareth’s form was typically a bit more fluctuating, with the old pattern of winner, winner, winner, error, error, error back in frustrating evidence. In part this was Isaac’s doing as Gareth couldn’t just rally with the kid as however fit he is (and his fitness is decent) he was never going to outlast the Duracell bunny that was his 16 year-old foe. Going for winners made a decent amount of sense, especially when it was working as it did for extended spells… but the same approach also left Gareth’s teammates shaking their heads when it absolutely didn’t (tin “Don’t do that!” tin “stop doing that!” tin “don’t do that again” tin… D’Oh!). The first two games were traded, and the next two were just as close, but in the end experience did out, just, Gareth winning 15-10, 9-15, 15-13, 15-13. And looking very relieved to have got out of it 3-1 as well.

Liam Murphy (3) followed Gareth on to Court 1 as he took on Richard Anthony. Liam won the first game by outpacing his opponent who wanted quick and done rallies. However Liam's concentration slipped with some stunning finishes by Richard in the second and he took it. The third and fourth games saw Liam slow the game down, draw out the rallies and tire out his opponent. This approach delivered an easy win for Liam and saw out the match, winning the games to 6 and 8, closing out a 3-1 winner.

Meanwhile next door Jan Brynjolffssen (2) was struggling against a familiar opponent, Jeremy Cotton (known all over the Cambs Leagues as Jez). Jan had started the first game last week by falling 9-0 down – this week was 33% better as he was only 6-0 behind by the time he got a point on the board. The cause was different this week – it was Jez’s racquet skills, particularly his straight backhand drop. Jan never really got a handle on that in the first game, which he dropped heavily but started to figure out that he simply couldn’t allow Jez a half-court ball from the second on. Easier said than done on a consistent enough basis to prevent it ever happening – Jez getting to attack on at least every other rally, and his confidence was soaring so he wasn’t missing. Jan fought as hard as he could, but ultimately just couldn’t deal with the short stuff and lost 6-15, 12-15, 11-15.

The final match of the evening pitted Miles Jeanneret against Alistair Maclean… and it was apparent after about two rallies that this was a complete mismatch. Miles was dictating the rallies to Alistair, who simply didn’t have the fitness to constantly defend this and hope to gradually turn rallies around. Instead the Comberton player was forced into going for kill shots from unlikely positions on the court, often whilst off-balance. Even when these went up, and they often didn’t, Miles’ speed of movement was such that he could retrieve the kills anyway. It was extremely hard for Alistair to win a rally; him taking a game was never even a remote possibility as Miles cantered to a 15-4, 15-2, 15-4 win.

Skipper for the night Jan said “The team all played well. OK, most of us did. But it was good to get a win again after the shock last week. Three wins out of four prior to the half-term break is a very encouraging start to the season.”

Melbourn lost 20-3

Melbourn lost 3-20

The Seconds made the trip to Swavesey aware that the Firsts had undertaken the same journey the evening before and lost 20-3 to the fenland club’s 1sts. However the Seconds were hopeful we could do better – after all, we were top of Division 3 after winning both our opening fixtures whilst newly promoted Swavesey were in mid-table with a win and a loss.
Things started to go wrong before we even got to the venue as personal life issues meant that our what was meant to be our second car-load to arrive got there before the first one! Despite the delays skipper Colm (4) rushed on to court to take on Adil Rizvi… as he had to hare straight off again to pick up his kids. Unsurprisingly Colm’s focus just wasn’t there, as he looked lethargic, making uncharacteristic errors to fall two-love down. Some of the usual battling grit was in evidence in game three as the real Colm finally made it to the venue, but having got himself two behind a few errors at key times in the fourth cost him that game, which meant the match on the basis of the opening pair of games rather handed away. Colm lost 9-15, 10-15, 15-11, 9-15.
Things went no better next door for Gareth (5) who was up against a hard-running youngster, Henry Miller. Gareth had started on top, but made something of a mental error when ahead when he caught the ball after Henry’s serve had gone smack into the middle of the out line… but that hadn’t been spotted, or critically called as such, by the marker. Never unilaterally stop the rally, always wait for the call even if it seems screamingly obvious – as rather than a point to Gareth (as it should have been) it was one against. Nevertheless he was still 10-8 up after this, but the marking error got under his skin and Gareth lost the game from a strong position. He then proceeded to lose the second from an even stronger one, going away from the play that had got him 7-1 up, holding a high ‘t' position and pushing Henry into the back corners, dropping deep instead and dropping the game as a result. The third saw Gareth dig in, but then get tight and negative towards the later portion. He had game points, but didn’t take them and eventually lost this one on a tie-break and the overall match 11-15, 11-15, 15-17. A very frustrating defeat.
Next on were Jan (2) against Simon Hudson and Liam (3) against Kamrun Patel. That these were the opponents was a sign that Swavesey had a strong side out, as Simon and Kamrun had been #1 and #2 in the previous two weeks. We will skip politely past the first game of the third string match as Liam warmed up because after that the Melbourn player definitely had his chances against an opponent who retrieved well but didn’t offer that much threat on the attack. Liam claimed the second, dropped the third, and was right in it towards the end of the fourth. However two mishits from Kamrun in quick succession that sneaked over the tin for fortunate winners at the denouement of the game, condemning Liam to a 4-15, 15-13, 11-15, 13-15 loss.
Meanwhile next door Jan lost the opening point against Simon as the Swavesey player attacked the return with a thumping kill on the wall. And the second point the same way. And the third… Ooookay, this is a bad pattern. Part of the problem for Jan was Simon was hitting with some extreme cut spin that meant despite the kills being pounded they also somehow second-bounced shorter than expected. Jan did eventually get out of the pattern, but was still at a loss for how to win a rally himself and was soon 9-0 down in the game. He finally got on the board by getting a drop shot to cling to the side wall and despite the opener having obviously gone managed to get some points to at least establish a platform. Now to start game two better. Well, only going 0-6 down this time counts as a 33% improvement doesn’t it? Once again the remainder was about just being in the fight ready for game three. But once again Simon upped his level and intensity, this time going 7-0 up. Jan finally won a rally at this stage, but it took a repeated backhand straight drop, backhand deep cross-court pattern repeated three times before it finally got far away enough for Simon’s dives to cease getting the ball back. He was clearly gunning for a bagel game! Jan had avoided that, but this time Simon didn’t ease up but instead pushed towards the conclusion, sending the Melbourn player to a 9-15, 8-15, 4-15 loss.
The final match of the evening was a first appearance of the season for Mike (1), who was up against Arran Smith who was also debuting in Div.3 for the season… but had played and beaten Ed at #5 in the 1sts encounter the evening before. This was an intense match with very little between the players – indeed the opening two games both finished 15-13 with each claiming one of them, Mike taking the opener as he got on the attack first slightly more often than Arran and then seeing things level up as this pattern reversed. Arran edged the third showing some creative shot-making, but the fourth went to a breaker. However once again this went the Swavesey players way, Mike losing a very high quality match 15-13, 13-15, 11-15, 14-16.

Melbourn won 16-7

Following a great start to the league campaign at Stamford last week, this was always going to be a tougher assignment and so it proved.

First up was Colm at string 4 against Sanjay. Colm was quick out of the blocks and carved out an early league which settled him and while Sanjay fought back, Colm was able to stay a few points ahead and took the game comfortably 15-9. An experienced player like Sanjay was not going to be a pushover and in the second, he forced Colm to retrieve more than he liked, forcing errors and Sanjay cruised to a 8-15 win. The third game was neck and neck all the way to 9-9, and then Colm found an extra bit of energy, stepping forward to pick up the drops and was rewarded with a series of points to take the game 15-10. Colm kept up the pressure in the fourth, working hard to get into a 7-1 lead. Sanjay piled on the pressure to recover the situation but the gap was too much and Colm took the game 15-9 and the match.

Aidan kindly stepping in as string 2 for Jan who was unavailable, played a very fit and experienced player in James. Aidan's power and accuracy put James in a lot of difficulty in the first game and dominated, leading throughout to win it 15-11. It looked as though Aidan has the measure of his opponent and on course to win the match, however a slight back tweak all of sudden and Aidan was hampered, restricting his game. Bravely he battled through the second forcing it to 14-14, but couldn't stop James taking the game 15-17. It was becoming more difficult for Aidan, and James was energised from winning the second game. The result became inevitable but credit to Aidan for playing in the circumstances. James took the match 1-3.

Gareth was next up at string 5 and against a new player for Cambridge, Jamie. The first game was of a very high standard and very entertaining with lots of long rallies including driving, dropping and retrieving. Gareth was able to stay in the rallies, playing accurately and confidently, making almost no errors and managed to get a 12-1 lead with his opponent having played quite well. Gareth took the game 15-5. Gareth kept the pressure up in the second game, and although Jamie managing to stay in it for the first half of the game, Gareth was playing too accurately and assertively, and took the game convincingly 15-8. The third followed a similar pattern, Gareth playing extremely well again to take the game 15-6 and the match.

Miles playing at string 1 against his previous club was good for his motivation and taking on his old pal Ben, he immediately got the pitch of it, getting to 9-1 very quickly in the first game. Miles cruised to a 15-5 win. Ben started the second game like an express train, dragging Miles into a game of touch squash at the front and made the most of it to get to 1-7 up. Miles knew his tactics needed to change and once he varied his game he managed to win point after point (winning 12 points in a row!!) and very impressively took the game 15-9. While Ben also started the third game strongly, Miles was ready for it and again once he found his rhythm, he cruised to a 15-6 win and the match.

Last up, playing at string 3, Liam was up against Keith, again another new player for Cambridge and as it turned out a very strong player who could easily compete in the higher divisions. Liam made a great fight of it however. In the first game, aside from a burst of points in the middle of the game, Liam competed excellently showing his capability to match Keith's level for periods. Keith took it 7-15 but the scoreline was a little unfair to Liam. The second game was a little more in Keith's favour but again Liam was showing that he could mix it. This game was 9-15 to Keith. In the third game, Liam went for it and was rewarded. He dominated from the T and forced Keith to the corners, and played accurate and determined squash to take the game 15-7. Liam took this form into the fourth game and led early on, however Keith was somehow able to find a way to get Liam back under pressure and took a series of points in a row to eek out a 5-10 lead which he didn't give up, the game ending 7-15 and the match going to Keith.

Skipper Colm noted 'this was a very satisfying evening with the team competing very well against a strong Cambridge team, special mention to Gareth who played superbly, a thanks to Aidan for filling in last minute, to Liam for having the toughest match (a bit like all of last season) and well done Miles for overcoming the emotion of playing against your previous team mates and winning convincingly again'.

Melbourn won 20-0

The Seconds opening match of the 2022/23 Cambs Winter Leagues was one of our longest away trips of the season as we headed up the A1 to Stamford.

Most of the journey up went OK… up until we got within a couple of hundred meters away. Then one player who will remain nameless (let’s call him J*n) confidently stated “I’ve been here loads of times before, I know the way. It’s up there” Ten minutes of random circling of the back streets of Stamford later we finally stumbled across the right turning, so instead of having a few minutes to stretch the journey from their legs no.s 4 & 5 Gareth Jones and Jamie Ware had to get rapidly changed and rush on to court. D'Oh! [Colm – see what happens when you delegate… 😉]

Fortunately this didn’t seem to affect Jamie as he swiftly took command against Jai Nairn. Jamie was to dictated the play through the match, with Jai attempting to scramble to stay in rallies. This proved to be rather effective though as Jai’s retrieves were coming back in unexpected places, catching Jamie in a kind of Schrödinger’s cat-like state of being both absolutely in position (standing where most would have predicted the ball would go) and completely out of it (…but not where it actually went!) at the same time. This resulted in some hard chases and lunging movements, of varying effectiveness, to close the thing down. In Jamie’s own words what this resulted in was “certainly not pretty, but it got the job done” as he won 3-0.

A different challenge was presented to Gareth on the other court as he came up against an athletic looking teenager, Chase Burgess. The Melbourn player was the one more likely to do the unpredictable in this match as Chase looked to have a very well-constructed game. Indeed the Stamford youngster built himself a 12-6 lead in the first as Gareth struggled to find a pattern of play that hurt his opponent. Part of the problem was Gareth was positioning himself rather deep, worried (excessively as it turned out) by a couple of early winners Chase had hit past him… which simply had the effect of giving Chase the front wall to kill it! When Gareth forced himself higher up the court the pattern immediately changed, five straight rallies clawing it back to 11-12… only for two rather horrid unforced errors to see Chase to three game balls. Rope-a-dope? Nope, just dopey, but the soft nature of these give-aways focused Gareth’s mind and the next three rallies were clean as a whistle as he saved all the chances. That set up a very nervous tie-break, with both players having opportunities to close things out before Gareth got one to cling to the backhand wall to claim an opening game he had seemed twice-over unlikely to win.
This appeared to settle the Melbourn player, who started the second game in control, leading through most of it. However things would get tight once again as Gareth still had in mind some first game drops that Chase had cruised swiftly up to retrieve, which lead to him repeatedly eschewing drop shot chances and instead hitting back to the teenager who by this stage was hanging very deep on the court and gasping for breath.* These choices saw Gareth contrive to fall game-balls down again (14-12)… but then, just like the first, he found a way to get out of the hole he had dug for himself to once again claim the game on a breaker. This was a spirit-crusher for Chase, especially after Gareth had brought himself to believe his teammates advice that drop shots were the route to victory. The third was consequently one-sided with Gareth finally making the most of the openings he had created to win 3-0.
* - Those who know Chase will be very surprised by this happening after only one-and-a-half games. Perhaps, just maybe, his pre-match prep of two full matches and a gym session was a touch on the heavy side… 

Drama was less evident when Liam Murphy (3) took on Tim Collins. Tim’s game appeared to be based on taking the ball in short and doing so early in the rallies. Not at all to Liam’s taste as he never got a rhythm going, but something he was able to deal with adequately well thanks to his long frame and good control on the lunging stretch. Tim kept searching for holes, but even time one appeared Liam soon found a way of plugging it as he kept his nose in front throughout to secure another 3-0 for Melbourn.

A very similar pattern held for Jan Brynjolffssen’s match at second string against Ian Bell. Jan was finding himself in front of his opponent for most of the opening game, both in position in the rallies and in terms of the scoreline, but he was never able to shake Ian off as every time he opened up a few points lead the Stamford player found a couple of tricksy angles to close things back up again. Jan got to game ball first though, and despite seeing one chance go by at 14-12 was able to convert at 14-13 when a held drive got too deep for Ian to dig back. The second was much the same, Jan coming through this one 15-12, and that was moreorless that as by the third Ian’s movement was beginning to slow up, Jan rounding things off in reasonable comfort.

The final match of the evening saw Miles Jeanneret (1) make his first appearance for Melbourn in the Cambs League as he took on home skipper David Harris. The first rally saw Miles move David around and force him deep, killing it off with a tight straight backhand drop. The second rally was the same, some penetrating depths creating the space for a straight backhand drop winner. And the third. And the fourth. And the fifth! Was every rally in this match going to finish the same way?!? No, because whilst the sixth rally also ended with a very tight backhand drop, this time it was David playing it! In fact it turned out the Stamford man’s drop shots were exceptionally tight, he just wasn’t getting a chance to play them as Miles pinned him into the back third of the court. The second and third games were both closer as David dragged his position forward to where he needed to be, on the service line. That gave him a chance to play his shots but was also risky as it allowed space behind that, if Miles could find it, would force David to turn and try and retrieve from tight spaces in the back corners. Whilst this pattern was better for the Stamford man than the one that had held in the opening game, and the pair produced a good number of watchable rallies from their exchanges, it wasn’t quite better by a good enough margin – Miles was still picking up four points for every three conceded, which was enough of a differential to secure the 3-0 win and see Melbourn home for the 20-0 overall success.

Fill-in skipper Jan commented “It was a bit of a curious match, really. Stamford are new to our Division so we were not sure exactly what to expect. It turned out to be a series of players with effective but unconventional styles of play that were a bit frustrating to counter. But we all found a way to get the wins. Winning 5-0 away without dropping a game is a great start to the season”

He then proceeded to give just as bad directions on the way home as he had on the way up, contributing to a post-midnight return home for the side (the A1 and A1260 being closed also didn’t help). Stamford to Cambridge is via Kettering, isn’t it???

Melbourn won 9-5

The 1sts last game of the 2022 Herts Summer League was our shortest away trip of the season as we made the short nip along the A505 to take on Letchworth.

The first game on pitted Kate Bradshaw (2) against Greg Milhouse. This was a repeat of a meeting earlier in the season at Melbourn that Greg had won 3-1 after four extremely close games. However on this evening Kate’s focus was hurt by off-the-court stuff, and she found herself unable to break out of pattern of front corner attacks that Greg was expecting and dealing with comfortably. It all led to a 12-15, 6-15, 8-15 loss for Kate.

Next up was Jan Brynjolffssen (3), who started rapidly against Jason Tinsey, racing into a 7-0 opening game lead. This fast beginning faded, but Jan was still 12-7 up late in the game and seemingly on course to claiming it… when he lost his way totally. Two horror misses on what should have been straightforward backhand dropshots at 8-12 and 9-12 took a psychological toll, Jan somehow contriving to lose a game he had complete control of 15-13! The second saw a more focused performance from Jan, who forced himself to maintain a higher court position to cope with Jason’s boasts and short power kills. This worked decently, Jan controlling the front wall again to level up.
Jason responded though, claiming the third 15-9 as Jan once again lost track of the correct pattern of play and kept hitting it back to his opponent! Teammates advice to hit into the open spaces rather than trying to wrong foot, and that allied with unexpected errors from the home players racquet saw Jan level things up again with a straightforward fourth, and then move into a 5-2 lead early in the fifth.
If Jan had managed to put away another simple backhand drop chance at 5-2 he might have built a considerable lead again, but having missed that and got fixated on it (again!) he found himself dragged into a battle once more. Jason soon had it at 5-all, and after that there was never more than a point or two between the players after that. The match got to 13-all when controversy struck – Jason put a tight drop in that Jan, up near the front wall, was convinced had clipped the top of the tin on its way back in to play after initially striking the front wall cleanly. Whatever had happened though he shouldn’t have stopped playing to appeal for this, and was somewhat fortunate to get a let out of the rally as marker Greg felt unsighted on the front wall ball. An event like that is a rare… except it happened in the very next rally as well as Greg called “stop” to the play after a shot of Jan’s did exactly the same thing he was claiming Jason’s had in the first iteration – clipped the top of the tin and popped up a bit. This seemed a fair call as, even if neither player saw it down (both were playing on), it certainly sounded like this had happened and those on the balcony had seen the trajectory change.
So match point to Jason after all, then. But now Jan really focused [should it have taken that long?!?] and saved it with a hold on a short backhand ball, going crosscourt when he felt Jason moving up to cover the straight drop. Jan then got his own chance on matchball after a loose return from Jason gifted a straightforward forehand volley drop kill… and Jan converted the opportunity as he found one of the very few dodgy floorboard on Letchworth’s very recently refurbished and otherwise generally excellent courts. For future reference of other Melbourn players, that board is deep in right-handers forehand corner… and apparently there is a similarly iffy one in mirror-image on the backhand side wall. Jan won 13-15, 15-11, 9-15, 15-7, 16-14. *phew*

That meant Matt Sampson (1) was taking on Matt Egginton with the evening on the line. Matt E (home Matt) had won all his previously matches this season… apart from the one at Melbourn when Chris beat him 3-0. He was clearly not encouraged pre-game when, as part of a general chat, Matt S noted that he had never lost to Chris, even if Matt had caveated this with “But he has been playing all summer and I’ve been out for months, so he might win if we played right now”. We will see – these guys need to do a challenge match to sort the order for the upcoming winter season (anyone want to sell tickets to that??), but Matt S’s chances of keeping his perfect lifetime record are improving as he plays more and his game reanimates itself, which there was ample evidence of to come on this particular evening.
Matt was definitely a notch or three up on where he had been seven days prior against Haileybury in this one, which was an excellent quality match from start to finish. Matt E contributed significantly to the game with his fleet footed and lung busting movement, but he was generally the play reacting rather than dictating, even when he kept the games close as he did in the first. Part of this was down to Matt S holding his shot to see which way Matt E was going… and then hitting it to a different corner, prompting an exasperated home Matt to exclaim “Stop hitting the wrong shots!”
Some of the rallies and retrieving were jaw dropping quality, with one court sprint that took Matt S from the deep forehand to the front backhand corners and saw him pick up an apparent dead nick dropshot from Matt E probably causing the most bemused amazement on the balcony. To be fair to home Matt he fought valiantly to the end, saving two or three match balls. But eventually the relentless pressure told and Matt S won 15-12, 15-4, 15-10.

Melbourn skipper Jan remarked “It all turned on my game. I made a bit of a meal of it but got there in the end. It was great to see evidence that Matt is working his way back to his previous standards.”

Melbourn lost 4-9

Melbourn 2nds played this match at Haileybury College on a very warm court despite the cool external temperature.
Roger Woodfield (3) played first against Adam Gourpinar. Roger made a slow start and struggled to combat a series of very measured boasts. With the first game lost, Roger fought back and generated some pressure and mistakes from his opponent. But this comeback was too little and too late and the match was lost 0-3.
Miles Jeanneret (2) was next against Graham Dial. A similar pattern of play initially in that Miles started slowly and Graham put pressure on with effective boasts. The difference in this match was that Miles soon picked up the pace and forced errors with more aggressive play. It was at times scrappy but Miles took the first game. After that, Miles took full control and steadily demolished his opponent’s game, a pattern often seen during this summer. Miles won 3-0.
The closest match was Mark Oppen (1) against Alistair Lee. Once again the home player made the running and controlled the first game. Mark competed well in the second game but was unable to prevent Alistair winning it 15-13. Mark responded strongly with great resolve, forcing errors and making winners to take the third game. It looked as though the fourth game would also go to Mark who had built a solid 14-10 lead. However, Alistair replied with excellent match play to win it 16-14 and the match 3-1.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “This developed into a very close match with the result turning on the outcome of the first string match. Despite a great comeback, Mark just failed to stop Alistair winning”

Melbourn won 9-3

The 1sts last home game of the summer saw us playing host to a Haileybury side one spot above in the Herts Division 2 table – they were third to our fourth.

The first match on was the second strings, which pitted Jan Brynjolffssen against Adam Long. Adam is a talented shot maker… but this was his first appearance of the summer and indeed since the pandemic for Haileybury. Not ideal for him on a warm night where the ball was sitting up – leading to him noting remarking to the world at large that “It’s impossible to kill the ball!” That came about a third of the way through the opening game, which Jan lead in the early stages. Adam did find his range towards the end of the game, getting a lead and to 14 first. However Jan saved both game points and then went straight through to take the opener on the breaker. The second saw the home player start in scratchy fashion, falling 9-4 behind, only for Adam to repay the favour with a string of errors that saw Jan win 13 of the next 16 points to go two up. The third was better, with fewer errors from both players. Jan was the one with the lead this time, getting 11-8 up. Adam clawed that back to 13-all, but having saved one game point he wasn’t able to do so at 15-14 as Jan found an attacking cross court backhand to seal a hard fought win 16-14, 15-12, 16-14.

Next on was Matt Sampson against David Gandolfo. Like Adam L, Matt was making his seasonal debut for the summer and though he started well he began to lose his way as David, who often seems to start game 1 slowly, got his scurrying and retrieving game going. In fact from 12-4 up Matt only won on of the next 11 rallies to find himself facing game ball at 13-14 down. This focused Matt’s mind, the game ball was saved and one of his own earned… which he won when a down-the-middle serve hit Dave in the back! It turned out that was the Haileybury player’s chance gone as from then on Matt, despite clearly having to work harder than he would ideally have liked, always had control. Commanding leads were built in games two and three, with holds and then surprise boasts a particularly effect combination, to set up a 16-14, 15-6, 15-9 win.

That meant Melbourn had won before Liam Murphy hit the court to take on Rob Gibson. Liam’s form and playing standard continues to be well above where it was last winter, and once again he was stretching and defending well, using his long frame very effectively. However Rob was a hot potato to deal with, moving very well and picking everything up. The visiting player ate away at Liam’s four point mid-game advantage, but even so it was Liam who got to game point first. This was saved though, the first going into an extended tie-break… that eventually went Rob’s way 18-16. Gutting. The opener escaping seemed to throw Liam for the first half of game two, which this time he trailed in throughout. He found some form in the last knockings though to give hope for the third, particularly when a run of six straight points saw him recover from 6-3 down to lead 9-6. This wasn’t to be the only extended run of points though as from 10-8 to Liam it was Rob’s turn to string 7 on the bounce together, many of them stone dead kills played from seemingly not attacking positions on the court. The final game scores were 16-18, 9-15, 10-15.

Skipper Jan commented “It is great that both Matt and Liam are back in action now. It was a useful run out for all of us… and the win means any lingering threat of relegation has gone. We can use our final match next week as preparation for the next winter season.”

Melbourn won 10-5

First up was Moises against a very experienced player in Tony Dean. Moises dramatic improvement in just a short few months was evident as he dominated to win the first game 15:7 with excellent retrieving and good shot selection. Moises was applying a lot of energy and this continued through the second game and led comfortably before some fatigue set in, giving Tony an opportunity to come back, which he did and ground out the second game eventually 16:18, Moises a little unlucky not to have hung on.
Moises was feeling the tiredness and the match was evenly poised; however Tony’s experience tipped the balance and the 3rd and 4th games in his favour, 13:15 and 12:15. Despite losing, this was an impressive performance by Moises and as he continues to improve, he will learn how to close out these matches.

Colm played Neil Miller at string 2. Two evenly matched players again made for an exciting and close match. In the first, Colm was able to get on top, owning the front of the court, and won it 15:10. Neil managed to put Colm under a lot more pressure in the second, reflecting in the 5:15 score line. Again Neil kept up the pressure in the third and took it 11:15, but Colm was starting to find some traction and changed his tactics. This paid off in the fourth game as Colm found much more width and length to win it 15:11. Both players were tiring but the fifth game was hard fought, Colm continued to edge it and took the game 15:10 and the match.

Miles played Callum Brock at string 1. The first game demonstrated the ability of each player with some excellent long rallies. Callum put himself in position to win it, however Miles was determined not to let his few errors early in the game be costly and dug out a 15:13 win. Miles’ determination continued through the second game and his consistently string play combined with less errors gave him a more comfortable 15:8 win. In the third, Miles kept up the pressure and this was rewarded with a 15:5 win for a well-deserved match against a really good player.

Skipper Colm commented “It was a good win. Really a special mention to Moises, who showed great improvement and determination.”

Melbourn lost 2-12

Melbourn 1sts were hoping to bounce back from a heavy defeat the previous week when they travelled to take on Berkhamsted 2. The result of the first meeting of the teams this season, a 9-4 home win, suggested this was possible, but a closer examination led to a more cautious note – Mike, who had played #3 for Melbourn in that win was at #1 on this one… whilst Berko had gone the other way, their #1 and #2 from the first meeting playing at #2 and #3 in the return. Both teams apparently stronger at home – weird, huh?

First on court for Melbourn was Liam Murphy (3), who was also making his summer league debut after re-finding his form (and enthusiasm) recently in the internal box leagues, which saw him reverse an earlier call to sit out team squash this summer. If anyone wasn’t aware this was Liam’s appearance in Herts Summer Div.2 would have figured it out when he paused at 7-all in the first to ask the marker “Er, what are we playing up to??”. The question was indicative of more than just an unfamiliarity with the format of this league – Liam had been playing very well up to this point, producing clean, considered, classical Squash, but the sub-text was this was all a bit more draining than internal box leagues, and by 7-all he was blowing and looking for a break to recover his breath! Following the enquiry five straight points slipped away, which was the deciding factor in the opener. Game 2 followed the same pattern, Liam playing very well and competitively up to 7-all but then running on empty for the remainder to fall two down. Encouragingly Liam’s lungs and legs kept going all the way through game three, which was nip-and-tuck up to 13-all. Hopes were raised that he might sneak a game, and therefore a point for the team, only for Keith to find a great backhand length and then follow it up with another forced error to seal the 3-0 win. The game scores (Liam first) were 9-15, 8-15, 13-15.

Next on was Jan Brynjolffssen (2) against Kevin Hall. This was a nice, pacy game from the outset as the ball sat up on the warm courts, making kills difficult. Kevin was true to his shot-making style and doing most of the attacking, whilst Jan stretched and chased to retrieve and then tried to counter-punch. All well and good, but the home player was always that little fraction stronger on this pattern and therefore went 1-0 up. Game 2 followed went similarly, with Jan trying to focus on not giving up the front wall but getting drawn into doing on a handful of occasions – not many in number but of decisive effect as the game went away 15-11. Jan had found himself 6-2 down in both the first two games, but then bucked this trend in game 3 as he took advantage of a brief drop in levels from Kevin… and also got some really helpful bounces particularly out of the deep backhand corner. Jan clung to this advantage having established it, rebuilding the cushion each time Kevin threaten to close it up to pull a game back. Now on the board, it was Jan’s turn to lose concentration at the start of game four. He found himself 6-2 down once again. Groundhog Day. When this got to about 10-4 the situation looked rough, but from that point Jan played his best and most consistent Squash of the evening, gradually clawing back the deficit to draw level at 13-all and then take the next two points to level up. This was great… but swiftly proved to by pyrrhic as the effort involved left the Melbourn player drained at the start of Game 5. Kevin pounced to build a significant advantage… not 6-2 this time but instead 11-1! Oops. That was really unrecoverable, though Jan was trying as he saved three match balls from 14-4 down. Serving out on the fourth one was not a clever tactic, though. Hard fought, but still a loss overall with the scores 10-15, 11-15, 15-11, 15-13, 7-15.

Jan’s result meant Melbourn had lost before Mike Herd (1) was able to get on court against Richard Carr. But there were still bonus points to play for, and Mike started very well in pursuit of one of them pulling off some lovely drop shots as he kept the opener level pegging despite Richard catching him out a few times with unexpected boasts. Towards the end of the game the ratio of Mike’s drop winners to Richard’s boast ones changed and did so in the Berkhamsted player’s favour. That got the opener, a similar pattern holding through most of the second as Mike found himself two games down. However like Liam and Jan before him, Mike put on his best showing in the third, producing some lovely retrieving and also stepping up the court to kill when the opportunity presented itself. That saw him to 14 first. When the first of these game ball chances was well saved there was an “Uh-oh” feeling as Richard had already proved how relentless he can be when he needs it. Which is exactly what he was. Having seen mumble opportunities come and go Mike earned himself chance mumble plus one at 15-14. This time he served directly into the back nick… but Richard not only clawed the ball out, he hit it tight enough that Mike was forced to lunge to dig it up himself, which led to something the Berko player could put away. Another pair of deadly boasts did the rest as Mike fell 10-15, 6-15, 15-17.

Melbourn skipper Jan commented “I knew we were in for a tough night when I saw the team orders. Berkho had the stronger player in each match and clearly deserved their 3-0 win. But we can be proud of making them work hard for it, and particularly that all three of us refused to give up but instead made things more difficult for the home side as we got further behind!”

Melbourn lost 0-12

Hmm. What to say about this match then? Well, for starters, concern about the hot weather (a Met Office amber weather warning on extreme heat was just coming in to force) lead all the games to start at 4-4, making them effectively PAR-11 encounters. That way we could have some hope that the match [checks notes] would overrun. Hmm. Turned out not to be necessary, that…
OK, to the games. First on were the second strings, Jan taking on Neal Woodburn. After some early sparring, Neal opened a lead of a few points in the first. His ability to add unexpected pace was catching Jan out. And this was the pattern for the rest of the match, really. Jan got closer in games 2 and 3 (a poor serve at 13-all in the second is still a vivid memory), but Neal always had a bit extra and never looked particularly worried. Game scores were 9-15, 13-15, 12-15.
Next on were Aidan (3) and Nick Henderson. Aidan started OK, looking a bit tense but mostly playing his shots. However midway through the opening game he went over on his ankle and appeared to hurt it. Whilst he was able to carry on his movement was clearly affected with hard pushes off that foot now avoided. This, in turn, amped up Aidan’s tension about the match which led to some mistakes. Nick’s style was also not to his liking, as rather than clean up and down the walls stuff the Radlett player was cutting the game up, asking questions of Aidan’s movement. Something he never got comfortable with as he lost 11-15, 10-15, 11-15.
That meant Kate (1) was playing for pride and hopefully a point or two against James Ockwell. The two players appeared to know each other well from the Masters Tour, and as might be expected of that produced lots of clean, classical, easy-on-the-eye Squash. The first game was nip-and-tuck through most of it, indeed for long periods it appeared no server would win a point, but at the denouement James pulled clear. Game 2 was clearly Kate’s chance to get Melbourn on the board as she built a 13-9 lead with some rallies that perfectly balanced patience with snapping on genuine chances as soon as they appeared. However having got to the brink of the game Kate then began to go for things too early and 13-9 became 13-14. She saved that game ball and then had a number of her own across an extended tie-break, but when this went against her 19-17 it was a significant blow. Game three was still good stuff, but a little bit of belief had fled Kate and James was that extra touch more sure of himself. That was enough to secure things as Kate went down 12-15, 17-19, 8-15.
Melbourn skipper Jan remarked “Yes, they were better than us and 9 times out of 10 would have won. But getting nothing from the night was a bit disappointing.”

Melbourn won 9-3

The 1sts travelled to St. Albans on Wednesday to play a re-arranged game. Re-arranged, it turns out, to the evening of the Squash medal matches at the Commonwealth Games (congratulations to champions Paul Coll and Gina Kennedy) – oops.
That cost Melbourn the third string as the offer of a ticket to watch the action in Birmingham proved too alluring, and no suitable replacements willing to travel at (only somewhat…) short notice. This meant Jan Brynjolffssen (2) took the court against Nick Medcraft with the pressure on to win or bust. Fortunately Jan started well, and putting together a run of points from mid-game to build a commanding 13-5 lead. He then got complacent/showy, stopping doing what he had been in creating the opportunities to kill and instead looking for the out-shot too early. Nick was too good to take such liberties with and came roaring back to 13-14… but then tinned one to let Jan off the hook. Relieved, the Melbourn player put together a cleaner second game, with a neater conclusion, only allowing three game balls to go by this time (14-8 to 14-11) before converting the fourth. Dead-eyed. By the third Nick was clearly blowing, having done a lot of retrieving on a very warm evening. This time Jan not only cruised through the first three-quarters of the game but instead sustained it all the way to the end, closing out a 15-13, 15-11, 15-3 victory.
That meant the match stood at one string all when Mike Herd (1) and Douglas Hudson took to the court. The play quickly settled into a pattern of Mike controlling the ‘t’ and working Doug around, but the home player running hard and getting the ball back in sometimes unexpected places that occasionally caught Mike on the hop. That led to some unforced errors from Mike’s racquet, but a tight focus in the later stages of the game cut those out, turning a 8-10 deficit around into a 15-11 opening game. The second looked to be going the same way… except when this got to 10-all it was Douglas who produced a string of clean rallies to earn himself four consecutive game points. On the point of losing the game Mike started to swing free, saving the first three with well-constructed rallies and then benefitting from an over-ambitious kill attempt on a half chance to level up. Mike then had a game ball of his own, but now it was Douglas’ turn to play solidly, saving it well. By now it was anyone’s guess who would take the game – Douglas had two more chances at 16-15 and 17-16, followed by Mike at 18-17 and 19-18. But still we went on. Mike also had the game ball at 20-19, and this rally ended strangely when Mike played an unexpected and tight backhand drive, unexpected as his balance didn’t seem to allow that shot… which it didn’t because after hitting the ball he lost his footing! Mike was grounded in front of where the ball went, but Doug had to change direction to get it. The questions abounded – winning shot and no let? Playable straight in response and stroke?. All options were available to marker Nick, and the crowd (1 person – your author) agreed with his call of “Yes let” and his explanation of the only shot Douglas had was a boast, which Mike was not in line of. So Mike got a reprise of game ball… except he was slow to get up from the tumble and clearly testing an injury (Achilles) sustained in the fall. Eventually he decided he was good to go and proved this was right by moving fine in a longish that ended with Douglas making an error to end the breaker at 21-19. Come game three the open question for game three was which pain would matter more – the physical one in Mike’s ankle or the emotional hit Douglas had suffered by going two down rather than back to level pegging. It proved to be the latter as the home player abandoned the game plan that had been working for him (defend and counter-punch) and tried to make the play instead… which just handed Mike court position and the initiative. As with the second string game 3 was one-sided – the same score as Jan vs Nick in fact as Mike wrapped up a 15-11, 21-19, 15-3 victory.
Jan remarked “Whilst it was a shame we couldn’t get three out and give Scott a run at third string, the two of us who did travel did enough to win the night. We each made it a bit more exciting than was strictly necessary as well!”

Melbourn lost 3-10

Fortunately the heat wave earlier in the week had subsided and this match was played in more typical July temperatures.
First up was Roger Woodfield (3) playing Ben Franks. Roger started well and soon established a meaningful 11-7 lead which was suddenly swept away by a flurry of powerful shots which left Roger wondering why he had just lost the first game 11-15. Perceptive comments from team mate Colm saw Roger tighten up his squash in the second game with much deeper and wider drives with less use of the drop shot on a very warm court. Ben’s 6-1 lead was turned round and at 13-13 Roger was able to exert more pressure to win 15-13. Roger continued the tactics into the third game and a run of 9 points put Roger into a strong position at 14-10. But Ben was not done and fought back hard to make the score 14-14. The momentum shifted again and Roger took the game 16-14 with some well chosen shots. This effectively was the match decider with Roger controlling the fourth game, winning it 15-8 and the match 3-1.
Meanwhile, on the other court, Sean Hamilton (2) was having a very hard time with Matt McGill who was dominating the rallies with his exceptional reach and accuracy. Sean lost the first game 6-15. The second game continued in the same vein with Sean losing 12 points in one run of play. Then we saw Sean fight back and play with his usual tenacity and doggedness. However, a run of 5 points was too little too late and the game was lost. The third game was much more competitive but Matt continued his firm grip on the game and Sean lost the match 0-3.
Colm O’Gorman (1) faced Scot Adam, a powerful player with excellent racket skills. The first game was neck and neck until Colm pulled ahead to 14-12. But Scot competed fiercely and took the game 16-14. The second game went the same way but this time Scot kept just ahead all the way and took many of the very long rallies which made for great viewing. Come the third game, Colm started to run out of steam and he could not withstand the torrent of powerful shots from Scot. The match was lost 0-3.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “It was a very lively match played in a competitive but friendly fashion. On the day, we were beaten by a better team who were able to dominate 2 of the 3 strings”

Melbourn lost 4-10

An international clash opened up this evening. Spain had initially success, before England gradually figured out their opponents style and took over, ending the game as comfortable winners. There were some parallels between the Women’s Euro 2022 QF (which was on the Berko clubhouse TV) and the clash between Melbourn debutant Moises Estrella Navarro (3) and James Barron, though also key differences – though Moises did have his best spell in the early going, this merely achieved parity for most of the opening game, up to 11-all or so, rather than the lead his countrywoman held until the closing minutes. And James didn’t have to produce the equivalent of Stanway’s stunner (headline credit – basically every news organisation in England) to seal the victory – standard play got him there comfortably enough. No-one could accuse Moises of not trying, and there were a number of archetypal rallies that saw him cannonballing around the court, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to prevent defeat as James had too much power and consistency, especially on his forehand. Moises lost 11-15, 3-15, 7-15.
Next on court was Jan Brynjolffssen (2) against Anthony Chudleigh. This was cleaner, more considered Squash, albeit still high intensity (and high bounce and high sweat on a very warm and humid evening). Game one was close all the way through, until Anthony pulled clear late on to take it. Game two saw Jan straightening his lines up and trying to be more proactive in his shot choices – this worked to level things up at a game-all as Jan established an early lead and then clung on to it. Anthony tightened things up in turn in the next and seemed on course to take a 2-1 lead as he gave himself four game points at 14-10. However an error going for a spectacular kill on the first was followed by some determined defence from Jan that gradually chipped these points away. That got it to 14-all… where Jan immediately made a mistake! Having saved that fifth Game Ball and then a sixth at 16-15, Jan got his own first chance at 17-16, and took it for a big psychological blow. Game Four saw Jan in the lead from early on, as he worked his way to a 14-11 advantage – three Match Balls. He showed he wasn’t learning from his opponents errors as he frittered these away to find himself 15-14 down. A nerveless drop saved that, followed by a trickle boast that was JUST up gave him a fourth chance, and this time he converted when a good backhand length didn’t come back. Jan won 12-15, 15-12, 18-16, 17-15.
That set up Mike Herd (1) and Ryan Perry to play the decider. Mike didn’t look himself in the opener, making a string of uncharacteristic errors, mainly on drop shots, to lose the game quickly and by a distance. Unforced errors from Mike’s racquet considerably outnumbered kills from Ryan’s in this game. Mike steadied himself with some conservative rallies at the start of the second, finding his groove from this. That allowed him to get up the court and start to dictate, leading him to winning the second by a margin nearly as considerable as the gap had been in the first.  Now the momentum appeared to be with Mike… expect Ryan was also refocusing after finding the opener was an aberration and he would have to work harder than that to win games now Mike was underway. Ryan’s tactic turned out to be volley-kills, and highly impressive ones at that, particularly those dragged down from high on the backhand into the front forehand corner/nick. He pulled this off too often for it to be luck; these were shots Ryan was in control of. Mike’s focus for game four was keeping the ball tighter on drive, either by width or power, to deny Ryan the chance for more spectacular kills. This was only effective so far as despite all Mike’s efforts Ryan kept going for and making his overheads, including on match point with a ball he seemed to need a step-ladder to reach but this stretched up for and killed down stone dead. Mike lost 6-15, 15-8, 6-15, 9-15.
Skipper Jan commented “Thanks to Moises for his flexibility in stepping in at the last moment and ensuring we had three. He gave his opponent a proper work-out, which was impressive when thrown in at the deep end. Mine and Mike’s games were battles which could have gone either way. Whilst it was disappointing to lose, it was a good evening of Squash”.

Melbourn lost 3-9

This match was played in Broxbourne on a particularly hot summer’s evening which was great for watching the club cricket match but not so pleasant for squash!
Roger Woodfield (3) played first against Warren Pickering. Roger started well enough but was soon under pressure from Warren’s very accurate boasts. His opponent showed patience and waited for the opportunities to gain points. The first game was competitive but Roger lost it 10-15. As the contest and the heat developed, Warren took full advantage and gradually took control to win the next 2 games. So the match was lost 0-3.
Sean Hamilton (2) was pitched against Peter Iszatt, a particularly experienced and tricky match player who has won most of his matches in this summer league. The first game was close but Sean could not quite press home what looked like a winning streak and lost it 12-15. Once again, the Broxbourne player gradually took control of the game with steady squash and few mistakes. Sean battled hard but could not break down his opponent’s game. He lost the next 2 games and the match 0-3.
Miles Jeanneret (1) played Shola Bello, a somewhat mercurial character, capable of some really exciting and magical squash. The first game was tight and could have gone either way. As is standard with Miles, he chased everything and consequently put his opponent under unrelenting pressure. A couple of forced errors saw Miles take the first game 17-15. Shola started to show frustration at not being able to put the ball away on what was now an incredibly hot court. He tried to end the long rallies with some switch hits and drops, most of which were unsuccessful. Shola then resorted to hit the ball even harder which didn’t work either. Miles comfortably took the next 2 games by playing controlled squash and making far fewer mistakes than his opponent. Miles won 3-0.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said ‘This was a fair result with our second and third strings well beaten. Once again, Miles put in a great performance and dominated his opponent with some excellent match squash’

Melbourn won 12-3

It was a sunny and bloomin’ hot night, with flies buzzing around irritatingly… no, this doesn’t work, does it?
Anyway, yes, a very, very warm evening. Very. As was evident in the opening rally between Jan Brynjolffssen (3) and Jon Noonan, which was genuinely pushing 100 shots and lasted at least a minute if not more. Fine for the pros to do stuff like that, but for us amateurs rallies like that really test the fitness (and muscles). Hearing the score called as only “one-love” at the end of it was rather deflating. Fortunately the rallies that followed in game one were not as long, and their outcomes were more fluctuating – Jan having the better of the opening, Jon taking over in the mid-game but Jan fighting back (aided by a couple of key unforced errors from Jon’s racquet in the latter stages) to recover form 13-9 down and win the game. Errors continued to leak from the Gosling player’s racquet in game two, but he tightened things up in the third and fourth, and crucially also began not only to reach Jan’s drops but counter-drop them for winners of his own. That took us the distance, with Jan digging in to produce a more concentrated, and the key, a more assertive performance, taking more risks on his shots rather than simply hanging in the rallies and letting Jon have the first attacking shot. That said Jan’s best point of the final game was a counter-punch, racing forward to try and pick up an expected drop shot, but Jon had hit it deeper… only for Jan to conjured a top-spun half-volley counter-drop a centimetre above the tin for a winner. Doubly impactful as that made the score 13-9, Jan going on to win 15-13, 15-5, 11-15, 9-15, 15-9.
Mike Herd (2) was next on, up against the skilful and powerful Scot Adam. This made for a contrast in styles as Mike employed his long frame, his stretch and his tenacity to grind Scot down, forcing the Gosling player to play another ball, and another, and another when what he was after were kills (or tins, but rally over here and now either way!). The first two games were initially nip-and-tuck, but as they progressed Mike gradually pulled away to win both comfortable. Game three was a bit of a mess from the Melbourn player’s perspective as three early unforced errors (drops that should have been simple winners going into the tin) left him trailing. It wasn’t really a night for huge effort turning deficits around so Mike somewhat let that game go and chose instead to focus on the fourth. And this time he wasn’t hamstrung by early errors, coming through 15-10, 15-8, 7-15, 15-7.
The final match on court pitted Chris vs Chris, Shaw of Melbourn taking on Ginn of Gosling. Some early sparring and lunging saw the first ten or so points shared reasonably evenly – Chris S was a couple up after it – but as the game progressed Melbourn-Chris’ ability to absorb everything and then when he got a sniff of a chance to press in and push ultra-tight drop shots taken early was causing Gosling-Chris no end of problems. In fact from around 8-5 in the first this ceased to be much of a contest as Chris S cruised through for the loss of only a handful of points – establishing 7-0 leads in both the second and third games was pretty killer. Chris Shaw won 15-5, 15-4, 15-2.
Melbourn skipper Jan remarked “We might not all have had to dig to the same depth for our wins, but we all got there in the end. Maximum points from the evening keeps us pushing the top two in Div.2 nicely.”

Melbourn won 10-3

Melbourn 1sts took on Letchworth this week, subjecting the Division 2 leaders to their first beating of the season.
Aidan Hird went on first against third string Jason Tinsey. In warm conditions and with a sticky new ball, both found the court unforgiving of inaccuracy, the back corners proving elusive. This was to Aidan’s benefit as the less mobile player, and he was frequently able to confine his opponent to the back half of the court using excessive power that might have been disastrous on a different day. Jason didn’t make it easy, hitting back with his signature opportunistic boasts, a promising approach which left Aidan resorting to risky cut kills to close out a tight third on increasingly wobbly legs, giving Melbourn the early lead.
The second-string match saw Kate Bradshaw take on Greg Millhouse, two well-drilled players producing some neat-looking rallies. Kate took a close first game, looking confident. As in the third string match, the grippy ball repeatedly exaggerated any inaccuracy in hitting up the walls and things began to become less tidy. This looseness played to Kate’s characteristic precision short game, but Greg worked to counter this and the second and third gradually crept his way. In spite of a better last game, the fourth also escaped Kate, leaving the fixture tied.
Finally, Chris Shaw took to the court with Matt Egginton. As perhaps foreshadowed by friendly pre-match discussion of the players’ SquashLevels ratings, the outcome of this never seemed in doubt. Chris adopted a high-energy approach, arriving on every ball early and releasing a relentless barrage of accurate and well-selected shots to allow very little time for recovery during rallies, with his deceptive fast cross-court from the front left being notably difficult to handle. Spectators were treated to several long, high-quality rallies before Chris walked off the victor in three.
Kate, skippering Melbourn for the evening, said of the game “It was another great team performance. Aidan played with excellent control against an opponent who often draws others into his style of play, while Chris offered up another textbook win, beating one of the strongest players in the league with his speed, stamina and shot execution.”

Melbourn won 9-4

Roger Woodfield (3) played first against Stuart Pyper. Roger made a slow start which gave Stuart the upper hand to exert steady pressure with generally well constructed rallies. Roger didn’t make up the lost ground and lost the first game 11-15. In many ways the next 2 games followed the same pattern. Too many errors put Roger into a last ditch position from which he couldn’t recover and he lost those games and the match 0-3.
Thomas Higginson (2) was pitched against Russell Bennett in what turned out to be a one-sided contest. Thomas played fast aggressive, attacking squash which Russell struggled with. In truth, some of the rallies were randomly constructed but, such was the power and intensity, that it had the desired effect. Thomas took the first game 15-7. Russell attempted to respond but was never able to gain any serious momentum. Thomas took the second and third games 15-9 to secure a comfortable 3-0 win.
Miles Jeanneret (1) faced stronger opposition in Jon Miles. A strong racket player, Jon exerted considerable pressure on Miles with both deft touches and powerful drives. Miles was up to the challenge and battled hard to win the first game 15-13. It looked as though the second game would go the same way but Jon put in a very determined effort and forced a 15-12 win. Miles then upped the pace and covered the court extremely well cutting out any cross-court returns with clinical precision. This unrelenting pressure started to show with Jon tiring and getting frustrated with being unable to reach many of Miles’ testing shots. It became inevitable that Miles would come out on top and he efficiently wrapped up the next 2 games to win 3-1.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “After a slow start we made very good progress with strong performances from Thomas and Miles. In the end , it was a very convincing 9-4 win”

Melbourn lost 11-5

The youngest Melbourn 1sts side for some considerable time, featuring two out of three players in their 20s (whatever next?!?) went down to an equally spritely in spite of being slightly more experienced (*ahem*) Haileybury team in an engrossing match.
Haileybury’s courts are at the public school, though the sports centre is not as palatial as the stuff outside. Once in the walls of the place a sports centre is a sports centre, really. And the players were all Hertford area local rather than pupils… who will all be doing their exams at the moment anyway. That meant Melbourn’s Tom Higginson (3) was holding up the banner for youth (aged 20) against long standing Herts county leagues player Karl Pyle. It was soon clear the match was going to be feature many extended rallies, with the ball hard to kill. This fitted into Tom’s retrieving style and allowed his great movement to show up as he made it hard to Karl to kill the ball. That gave Tom the opener, before Karl got on a run of inch perfect shots to level up. Game three saw Tom back in charge, forcing errors from Karl as he went for his winners, but then the fourth was a bit or a ‘mare for Tom as out of nowhere he lost his rhythm. Or was he saving his energies for the decider? Maybe that was it because Tom was back on it from the outset, though the most notable period was a string of perfect points from around 8-8 to build a 13-8 lead. This was enough to see Tom home for a hard-fought and impressive 15-12, 13-15, 15-9, 4-15, 15-9 success.
Melbourn’s own greybeard Jan Brynjolffssen (2) was next on but pleased to find himself pitted against the similarly aged Andrew Humphries (within months as few found out in the bar later). Shorter rallies were guaranteed, because that was what both players wanted. By unspoken agreement shot 20 was the final one of any rally, whatever the circumstances! Not that many rallies in game 1 got close to that far as Andrew produced a string of unexpected errors to hand a slightly bemused Jan the game. The home player came back in the second and was right on it in the third, which he won comfortably as his superior shot-making came to the fore. Jan battled back, working hard to extend rallies (no, really) and from that was able to grind out the fourth. The Melbourn player was looking the fitter of the two ahead of the decider, but Andrew always had the greater touch. And that proved to be decisive as the errors of the opener were replaced again by clean killing that left Jan disappointed but not really believing he could have done more. Jan lost 15-12, 11-15, 6-15, 15-9, 5-15.
This set up Miles Jeanneret (1) to take on David Gandolfo with the match on the line. Miles started very well, moving sweetly around the court. As was remarked he never looks like he is working super hard, he just gets to where he needs to be really fast – a clever trick if you can pull it off (it’s called accurate footwork!). Steady shot making back this up to produce a good lead in the early stages… but then home player David began to get his own game going. If Miles is fast, David is lightning around the court, and this began to get under the Melbourn players skin as shots that are winners against almost anyone else were coming back. However after losing points in bunches in the rest of the first Miles steeled himself to the need to play four stone-cold kills to win each point. This lead to a very close second game that was only decided by the smallest possible margin when a sharply hit shot at him forced Miles to put a potential kill down. The third was also as close as it can get, though that was down to David digging in as Miles had led the game 12-7 at one stage. A comeback to 12-all made for an epic ending, with some extraordinary retrieving from both players – these last few rallies were clearly the highest quality ones of the evening. Sadly for Miles and Melbourn three of the four went David’s way – the fist-pump when he killed the ball at 14-13 was entirely justified. The game scores were (Miles first) 8-15, 13-15, 13-15.
Melbourn skipper Jan remarked “This was an excellent night of Squash, that Haileybury probably just about shaded. But we gave them a real run for their money.”

Melbourn won 9-4

Kate Bradshaw (2) was the first match on against the wiley drop-shot master Keith Farnham. The first game started with both players trying to suss out each other’s game plan resulting in a nip and tuck game that took us to 14-14 all. Unfortunately for the home team, Keith managed to nick the next two points and the first game. The second game started much the same before both players started to use their deft attacking drop shots to greater use. Kate, in particular, hitting some lovely cross court winners and giving herself two game points. Unfortunately, that’s when Keith started living up to his nickname giving him the second 17-15. The third went the same way as the first two with both players hitting some fantastic winners and a very close game went all the way to the wire again. Unluckily the third was snatched by Keith 15-13, giving Berko a very close 3-0 win in the opening tie. 
Next on was Chris Shaw (1) making his first appearance for Melbourn this summer and what a debut performance it was to be. Chris started the match against his opponent Kevin Hall at a high pace, setting the tone for the rest of the match, with the first rally being no less than 40 shots. The tempo stayed high for the remainder of the first game with Chris moving his opponent around with ease; taking the game 15-4. The second game started as the first finished with Chris keeping his opponent at the back of the court and ensuring Kevin always had to play one shot more than he wanted. The second game went the same as the first, finishing with Chris taking it 15-4. With the high tempo of the first two games and warm court temperature, the crowd thought the third game would be a slower affair with more attacking shots. How wrong they were. The third carried on in the same vain as the first two with Chris looking to close out an emphatic 3-0 win by keeping his opponent on the back foot throughout and claiming the third 15-4. 
With the match poised delicately at 1-1, it was time for Mike Herd (3) to enter the heat (quite literally) of battle against the imposing Roger Greenfield. The first game started with both players probing away and building rallies before attacking. It was also noted by all watching that neither player seemed to want to ask the marker to make any decisions, with both players deciding to play through any interference. Mike managed to take a 3 point lead at 8-5, which he held onto for the rest of the game; winning 15-12. The second was a scrappy affair with both players losing their line and length and making too many mistakes. Mike, having saved three game points, succumbed to the fourth; losing 17-15. With the match tied at 1-1, the third game was an important one to win. Fortunately for Melbourn, Mike found his line and length in the third and managed to move his taller opponent around the court, building a significant lead which he converted to a 15-5 win. The fourth was a closer affair with the Berko player hitting more winners than he had managed in the previous game. With both players continuing to play through any interference, the fourth was equally as close as the first two. Mike with a 14-13 lead was sent to the back forehand corner. Roger knew the only shot available to Mike was a boast and Roger positioned himself to receive it early at the front of the court…Fortunately for Mike the boast rolled out of the nick winning the game 15-13 and clinching the match 2-1 for Melbourn.

Melbourn lost 4-12

The 1sts got back on the horse after a two week break due to a bye and a withdrawal from the league with a trip inside the M25 to take on Radlett 2nds.
Mike Herd (2) was the first match on against Neal Woodburn. The first game started with both players probing away at each other until Neal suddenly lost his aim and made a string of errors, tinning attempted kill after attempted kill. Mike did what he needed, stay steady, to win the opening game by a distance. The second remained on Neal’s racquet, but to Mike’s detrminent this time as he cut the error rate down (not to zero, but low enough) to even things up. Neal was observed to be flexing his leg in the second and appeared to have an injury… between points! During them he was moving well enough, and took the third as Mike struggled to re-establish the control he had had in the first. The fourth went the same way as Mike fell 15-6, 10-15, 12-15, 9-15.
Next on was Jan Brynjolffssen (3) against Jordan Clements, who had recently visited Melbourn with Radlett 3rds to play Tom H (Jordan won that one 3-2). Jan had been on the gallery then, so should have had some insight into Jordan's playing style. Unfortunately this only consisted of “nice player, no obvious weaknesses, maybe could drop more, very fit”. Not a lot to go on there. The first game was good clean squash with the ball being worked up and down the walls by both players. The key point came at 13-all as Jan found a dying length in the backhand corner… or so he thought. With no space at all Jordan somehow managed to boast the ball back, and Jan, caught unprepared at having to play another shot, clumped the next shot into the tin. Oops… The game finished 15-13, with Jordan taking the second much more comfortably, despite at one point barely clearing the tin with a serve! Jordan was also up in the third and seemed on course for a 3-0 win until he made a number of out-of-character unforced errors (striving for the finishing line?) to hand the game away. That gave Jan a second wind as he produced his best game of the night, getting a higher court position and taking the ball early on the volley to level things up at 2-2. On to the decider, which was nip-and-tuck as Jordan (who had looked shot physically at the end of the fourth) dug deep into his reserves. The key passage of play came from 8-8 as the Radlett player produced 6 straight really clean rallies. Jan attempted to save the 6 match balls, managed 2 and then gave away a stroke to fall 13-15, 8-15, 15-11, 15-12, 10-15.
The final match on pitted Kate Bradshaw (1) against Ben Bradly. Kate started the match with a stone-cold return volley kill, and that set a pattern of very short rallies. Ben cleared adopted an approach of lob and kill, possibly reasoning that if he didn’t get his kill shot in immediately then Kate would beat him to the punch. This made for a staccato game, with Kate making key errors in shot choice at the later stages as she looked for the even earlier than normal kill. Game two started with a more patient approach from Kate, who produced a succession of cleanly constructed rallies, forcing Ben deep and only then cutting the ball off to get herself 8-2 up. At this point Ben patently gave up on the game to concentrate on the next two, which did nothing to add rhythm to the already chopped up style of play. A good choice on his part as a solid start built him a substantial lead in game three, and though Kate came back towards the end of it this proved sufficient. By now Kate’s head was dropping a bit, game four going much the same way as game three but without the near comeback. It finished 3-1 against Kate, or 11-15, 15-5, 11-15, 6-15 to be precise.
Melbourn skipper Jan commented “On another evening we might have won any of these strings, but overall Radlett clearly deserved their win. Everyone contributed at least a point to the team’s league position though, which is nice. Despite the outcome it was a very pleasant and enjoyable evening of Squash – we look forward to playing Radlett again in the second half… and maybe there will be a different outcome to the evening?”

Melbourn lost 5-9

Another strong Melbourn 2nds selection had high hopes of springing an upset on Division 3 leaders Radlett 3, who had picked up 35 out of a possible 36 points this season prior to this clash.
Thomas Higginson (2) was first up against Jordan Clements in what turned out to be the most entertaining contest and also the decisive one of the evening. Thomas started confidently and soon built a convincing lead in the opener with strong attacking shots and impressive defence. He took the game 15-11. Jordan responded in kind and piled pressure on Thomas to take the second 15-7. The momentum shifted again in the third and at 8-8 Thomas surged ahead to take it 15-9. Jordan was not done and fought back hard and forced a strong finish at 15-4. In the fifth Thomas was just about keeping up with Jordan but at 8-9 Jordan pulled away impressively to win the game 15-8 and the match 3-2.
Roger Woodfield (3) struggled to impose his game on John Batten who developed strong winning positions often with some well-judged attacking boasts which put Roger out of position. Having lost the first game, Roger relieved some of this pressure by lifting the ball to the back of the court but John maintained his grip and took the second game 15-10. In the third Roger started to fight back but his 6-5 lead was quickly snuffed out by a run of lost points. At 7-13 it was too late for a comeback and the game was lost 10-15 and the match 0-3.
Miles Jeanneret (1) faced Tony Stewart and steadily built a solid lead in the first game. Tony pulled the score back to 12-14 but Miles efficiently took the game 15-12. The second game was neck and neck until 10-10 when Miles pulled away to win 15-11. The reality was that Miles played controlled squash with few unforced errors while Tony was not as consistent and his mistakes were more in number than his winning shots. As the game progressed Tony visibly tired while Miles had sufficient reserves to win the game. It was the same pattern in the third and so Miles won that (also 15-11) and the match 3-0.

Skipper Roger Woodfield said “The result turned on the second-string match which was fast entertaining squash with many long exhausting rallies. The momentum swung back and forth and Thomas was unlucky to lose the match 2-3. As always Thomas played very good squash and gave his all. Although we lost the match we did pick up 5 valuable points”

Melbourn won 12-1

Melbourn's second team travelled to Gosling Squash Centre this week and with their strongest side to date.
First to play was Thomas Higginson at string 3 and his nights squash got off to a very good start winning his opening game convincingly. The second game was almost 15-0 to Tom but his opponent (Ben Franks) managed to save himself from a bagel by one point! The result was never really in any doubt as Tom cruised through his games, winning his match by an impressive 3-0! (15-4, 15-1, 15-7)
Next on was Miles Jeanneret playing second seed. The opening game saw Miles playing very well although his opponent, Matt McGill, did make efforts to tighten his game which put Miles under a bit more pressure. However, Miles' tenacious game play kicked in, by not letting up on the rallies that rewarded him with his opening game. The second and third games were closer but Miles always looked the better player and so it was great to see Miles win his match by an excellent 3-0. (15-8, 15-12, 15-12)
Finishing the evening squash off saw Mark Oppen playing first seed. Mark played well in his opening game and it looked like if this play could be continued the match was in the bag. However, the second game looked tighter as Mark struggled maintaining his pace and opponent Scot Adam won the second game to bring the scores level. The third game was close but Mark won this and it was a relief the fourth game was straight-forward squash that gave Melbourn a 3-1 win and a point for the opponents...not so impressive as Miles' and Tom's score lines! Game scores were 15-8, 5-15, 16-14, 15-6
Stand in Skipper Mark Oppen said “A fantastic evening of squash from the team with only the one game dropped...but that's a skipper's prerogative! Gosling were great hosts, held at a super little pub up the road - the IPA Neck Oil went down a treat and the sausage and mash was-a-smash!!”

Melbourn won 12-4

First on was Jan Brynjolffssen (3) vs James Barron. Jan won the spin for serve, headed for the right service box and was ready (all very standard)… expect marker Kate was asking “Er… who is serving?” – the confusion was that Jim had positioned himself in the left service box with his back tight to the wall – very unconventional and conveying a clear intent to avoid playing backhand returns. Tactic 1 in response to this was for Jan to serve high on the wall above Jim’s head. Nope, didn’t work – Jim just arched his back to forehand volley those served with deadly accuracy. Cue tactic 2 – try and hit the side wall waist high where Jim had positioned himself. Theory – tuck him up. Practice – his hands were too good for this and Jim was able to kill serves directed here stone dead. Hmm. Unable to win rallies on his own serve, Jan was at least taking most on return as the scored stayed nip-and-tuck through most of the game. As it reached it’s conclusion however Jan got drawn into trying to outhit Jim, the ball pinging around the court crazily as a result. And the game escaping.
The message from teammates after the game was to slow things down, use the drop shot… oh and (tactic 3) – serve down the middle from the right box, keeping it away from Jim (this was an already Jan had already hit upon himself late in game 1). This unusual variation gradually worked in games 2 and 3 Jan getting rallies started on his own serve ay last (somewhat fundamental to winning them!) and as a consequence being able to move Jim around enough for Jim’s foot speed to begin to slow a little. The down-the-middle serves were proving particularly effective as Jim’s stretching returns were trying to go in behind Jan’s forehand… but Jan was already standing there and able to intercept these shots, putting the ball deep into the forehand corner in response, forcing Jim into court sprints. Now thoroughly in charge, Jan built a 2-1 lead.
Game 3 saw a new return idea from Jim (maybe his own, or possibly thought up by a teammate?) – kill into the front backhand corner, with the off-boast as a variation. Both shots took advantage of Jan having to stay wide to keep out of the way of his down-the-middle serves. Hence tactic 4 – still directed down-the-middle, but now intended to bounce square of the service box to leave Jim with the options of a half-volley or letting it bounce and play the off-boast from the back, which would have enough hang time to Jan to reach them. Jim would probably have found yet another counter-move to this latest change up in time. But he didn’t have that, Jan winning 11-15, 15-8, 15-4, 15-11.

Next on was Mike Herd (2) against a very talented teenager Natalie Main… who was out for the evening despite being midway through her GCSEs (exam the following day!). Only ~16 and already playing at the level of string 2 in Division 2 – Natalie is definitely a name to remember as the chances of her popping up on the PSA Tour in a few years are high.
Game 1 of this started pretty evenly, with points exchanged up to 8-all. Natalie was mixing stinging power (indicative of sweet timing given her lightweight frame) with nice touch, holding her short shots to catch Mike out on his movement. This is no mean feat as he is both fast and very stretchy. Mike’s counter-play to this was classic stuff – force Natalie to run the corners, getting her gradually out of position until Mike could close her out and drop to finish off the rally. Natalie also tired as the game progressed, Mike winning 7 straight points from that 8-all position to claim the opener.
Natalie put together a stronger finish to game 2, digging in to take things to 13-all, then producing a good backhand squeeze and a power backhand cross-court kill to win the game. This turned out to be her high point though as Mike settling back in to claim the next two in similar fashion to the first, draining Natalie’s energy and belief as the game progressed to run dominate the late game rallies and  wrap up the match. Mike won 15-8, 13-15, 15-8, 15-11.

The first two strings each going to four games was making it look a long evening, prompting Kate Bradshaw (1) and Anthony Chudleigh to start their match on court 1 in parallel with the ongoing Mike-Nat encounter. That meant Kate and Anthony went on with the match still live (we were only one string up at that point)… but also unfortunately with no spectators. Or a marker! Therefore we only have Kate’s own description of what happened in the opening game “I was up, but then changed away from what was working!” – it turns out Kate had got to 11 first, but ended up 1-0 down.
The crowd had moved across for game 2… and saw a similar pattern unfold, Kate once again to 11 first but losing it 15-12. If she could just reprise the first two-thirds in the key rallies. And what was that exactly? Well, superb movement, good hitting but especially cutting out Anthony’s attempted cross-courts at the service line and when doing so winning the points with wrong-footing volley-drops. This game-plan once again established an 11-5 lead in the third, something that it appeared Kate might allow to slip again as Anthony came back to 11-9. However a refocus to go back to basic and stop striving for the finishing line of the game (a pretty conscious effort it seemed) worked wonders as she was this time able to convert that mid-point advantage into a game.
Now the pressure was on Anthony – could he shift the narrative back? Not in game four, which went the same way as game 3, Kate reaching 11 first, wobbling briefly going for drops early in rallies when deep behind her opponent (but for fewer rallies this time: 10-6 to 10-8), but then steeling herself to work the points and wait for the right attacking opportunity, just as she would with the score 5-5 and consequently levelling matters.
The final game saw Kate in command as all the running and twisting that Anthony was doing had drained his batteries. Not that Kate hadn’t been flying about the court herself, doing her fair share of  pivoting and direction changes, but all that fitness work for the Masters Internationals was there to fall back on and she was clearly the fresher of the two on court. The mind was also completely locked in now, with no let up at all this time as 11-6 was converted into 15-8 and a 12-15, 12-15, 15-11, 15-12, 15-8 victory.

Skipper Jan commented “This was three lung-busting games, and each of us was asked tough questions by the Berko guys and girls. But we all figured out the answers in the end to claim a good win.”

Melbourn II lost 2-12

Playing for Melbourn for the first time, Miles Jeanneret (1) was first up against Tremaine Fry. From the off, this looked like it was going to be a hard-fought close match. And so it proved to be with both players making steady progress. At 8-8 Miles pulled ahead with probing shots which forced some errors. He hung onto this advantage and won the first game 15-10. Tremaine responded purposefully, chasing everything and developing his own brand of pressure with fast aggressive drives which put him 10-6 ahead. Nonetheless, Miles showed his mettle and fought back to 11-11. Then more pressure from Tremaine saw him take the game 15-11. The third game proved to be the decisive one with both players initially notching up a good run of points. At 9-9 neither player could secure a telling lead and the score moved to 14-14. Fantastic play ensued with both players having several games points, eventually Tremaine won an amazing game 21-19. By now Miles looked tired and an early lead of 7-4 was reversed by Tremaine who then powered his way to win the game 15-10 and the match 3-1.
Sean Hamilton (2) faced a tough opponent at no2 string in Shola Bello – who showed moments of great power and accuracy, tempered only by a few mistakes, to win 3-0. Shola started very strong and won the first match 15-7. However, the Melbourn player returned to court determined to try and claw back. Sean raised the tempo and chased down everything he could. Under a little more pressure, Shola started hitting some balls down and threw away too many points. The game went all the way to 18-16, with Sean reaching ‘game point’. Unfortunately for the home side, Shola held his nerve and took the second game. Sean started well in the third but was showing signs of fatigue towards the end – ultimately losing 9-15.
Roger Woodfield (3) started well against Peter Iszatt and crafted several winning rallies. Peter responded and edged ahead 11-10 when Roger seized the opportunity and pushed hard to win 15-11. Peter then established control with well worked winning rallies. Despite a late rally from Roger, Peter took the game 15-11. After that Roger was unable to break down his opponent’s game. Peter then dominated proceedings and won the next 2 games and the match 3-1.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said "It was disappointing to take just 2 points from this match. Undoubtedly, the highlight for us was Miles’ debut. He gave his all and played some excellent squash in a thoroughly entertaining match"

Melbourn won 10-4

Melbourn and Gosling ‘1sts’ convened in Welwyn for the second week of the Herts Summer League Division 2 season, though injuries and unavailability meant neither line-up bore much resemblance to the sides either club thought they were going to be sending out as their strongest team this summer.
What was essentially a Division 3 match masquerading as a Division 2 one got underway with Tom Higginson taking on Jon Noonan at third string. Tom’s fleetness of foot, a combination of balance, strength and speed (aka youth!) has undermined many opponents this season. But Jon swiftly came upon a method: holding his shots, waiting for Tom to move and then wrong-footing. This was leading to lots of false movements from Tom, and rallies staying short which was not in his interests. He was also getting trapped behind rather often as he lost the first game. The second was a battle of wills – could Tom wait long enough for Jon to be forced to play, and then chase the ball down? Often enough yes, he could and the match was reset to one-all. However Jon responded by breaking up the game even more, edging a narrow third and then building a lead early in the fourth as Tom got frustrated and dispirited. He eventually found the method right at the end – keep it very basic, make no mistakes, force Jon to make the play. However this only came when seven match balls down at 14-7. Four were excellently saved, but on the fifth Jon got a nice squeeze on the backhand wall and the match was over. Tom went down 10-15, 15-7, 13-15, 11-15.
Meanwhile the second strings, Aidan Hird and home player Mike Byrne, had started next door. Aidan started like a house on fire, his power play forcing Mike very deep which in turn led to atypical errors from the Gosling player’s racquet. The second game threatened to get close as Aidan lost his way for a spell in the middle after a promising start, but then cleaning things up with some good controlled play down the walls saw him stretch away from 10-7 to make it 2-0 pretty comprehensively. The third was nervy however as Mike began to find holes in Aidan’s movement and shot choices. It all got a bit tight and scrappy, which was also how it ended as two unforced errors from Mike’s racquet saw Aidan home from 13-all for a 15-4, 15-8, 15-13 success.
That sent it all to the first strings, where Jan Brynjolffssen took on Scot Adam. It was quickly apparent that Scot had plenty of shots, but if Jan could extend the rallies by staying steady and recovering to the ‘t’ decently these would favour him. This produced a contrast of styles, but evenly match ones as the first game was tight, all the way to a tie-break in fact. Scot had the first chance to wrap it up in this… and proceed to serve straight into the back nick, and when Jan dug out a good tight boast in response put a lunging drop tight over the tin and into another nick – an impressive (unstoppable?) way to see out a game. Game two also started nip-and-tuck, but this time around Jan’s grinding approach worked when it was expected to, in the latter stages, as he pulled away from being level pegging midway through to claim it 15-12. The same was true for the third, and more decisively so as Jan was up the court ready to volley-drop when Scot attempted cross courts. Game four started with Jan building a 7-3 lead, helped by a couple of stretching (read: desperation) counter-drop winners that drew audible incredulity from Scot (fair enough – they were lucky!). These shots arguably had an effect somewhat latter, but in the meantime Jan worked his way to 14-12 up after a number of lung-busting rallies (the one at 10-all was particularly epic). However Scot saved these match-balls and then earned a game-ball himself at 15-14. Jan saved this by pulling off the only backhand flick drop he attempted in the match (where did that come from??), then got himself another match ball with a tight backhand length, which was converted when Scot tinned a forehand drop – the effect of going too tight after the earlier pick-ups? Maybe, just maybe… Jan won 14-16, 15-12, 15-9, 17-15.
Jan, the 1sts skipper this summer, commented after the game “It was nice to win a competitive evening. Aidan getting a 3-0 victory on a rare appearance for the team was particularly pleasing – it would be lovely to have him playing more often – and I did just enough to see it out. Winning meant we have picked up decent points from our opening two games and are set up nicely for the season ahead.”

Melbourn II lost 0-12

Melbourn 2nds travelled to Biggleswade for the opening match of the Summer League.
Sean Hamilton (2) made a slow start against Chris Hunt and was soon 0-6 down. He then settled into his game and fought back to level the score. As the game progressed,    Sean was often undone by high deep lobs to the back of the court. He lost the first game and the next 2    games followed a similar pattern, match lost 0-3.
Roger Woodfield (3) started well enough against Jack Wright. The players were evenly matched and both made some unforced errors. The players tracked each other’s scores until the end of the game when Roger missed critical opportunities and lost the game 11-15. Strangely, the next 2 games ended up the same way, match lost 0-3.
Thomas    Higginson (1) was pitched against Marcus Gary, an extraordinarily talented player drafted in from a higher Biggleswade team. Marcus’s ball control and positioning was remarkable. Once again, great use of the deep lob put huge pressure on Thomas who chased and fought for everything. Very entertaining, this contest often involved long hard rallies, often at great pace. Thomas played very well but could not break his opponent’s game down. The 0-3 result does not do justice to the way Thomas competed.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said "All in all, this was a tough opening match. On another day we might have snatched a couple of points, but we were well beaten"

Melbourn lost 4-10

The Herts Summer League returned after missing two entire seasons (reasons) with Melbourn 1sts in Division 2, just as we were way back in pre-history (2019) when we finished 3rd. But given the water under the bridge since then and the associated player churn, the new season brought more questions than normal – mostly how would a bunch of new look teams do?
The first challenge for the 1sts was taking on St. Albans side Nuffield Health 2nds. First on was skipper Jan Brynjolffssen (2), who was up against Andrew Green. The opening game was nip-and-tuck as Jan was able to stay up the court and avoid being picked off by Andrew’s touch shots often enough to battle through 15-12. The visiting player picked up his accuracy and speed getting forwards in the next two games though to completely dominate as Jan found himself pinned deep and dropped to death. Both ended 15-4. The fourth was also over by the mid-stage as Andrew built another substantial lead, though Jan showed some late resistance to get back out of the pattern of being pushed into a back corner and then dropped, winning enough rallies to close to 9-12 at one stage before finally going down 3-1 (15-12, 4-15, 4-15, 9-15).
A withdrawal on the day of the game due to injury had resulted in a scramble to find a third player. We eventually got Tom for a debut for the 1sts… having first got him to stop the solo practice session he was having at the club when the phone call came (commitment!). Tom should no ill-effects of the 20 minutes already in his legs as his movement was at its usual exceptional level. This clearly got into opponent Douglas Hudson’s head, a few incredulous looks to the balcony early on as if to say “how did he get to that?!?” being followed by the standard string of errors from trying to be too tight as Tom turned a 7-2 deficit around into a 15-10 first game success. Douglas cleaned things up in the second, with Tom maybe getting a little passive towards the end as this game went the Nuffield player’s way 15-11, but Tom stepped up and fought back to claim the third 15-13 (Douglas is probably still having nightmares about serving out when 13-12 up!). The key to this game was Tom slowing things down and moving up the court even more, and these tactics worked a charm in the fourth as Tom built an big early lead and then cruised home as Douglas’ confidence drained away. Final score 3-1 (15-10, 11-15, 15-13, 15-2).
With the top two strings taking a while to complete Mark Oppen (1) and Teejay Sognuro moved next door to play their game. Which means I didn’t see that much of it (being on court at the same time). But it appears that Mark played pretty well in the opener, albeit with more Oppen-boasts than is totally advisable (one is too many!). Except these shots were so unusual they were catching Teejay out. He began to read them coming in time though, and his own excellent kills came into play to win the game. Oppen-boasts are often a sign that Mark is struggling physically, and the second game escaped fairly quickly as he struggled to stay on the power. But a bit of a breather helped for the third, which Mark succeeded in making reasonably tight, though he was mostly on the defensive and not in the end quite tight enough to claim a game from the evening. It finished 3-0 to Teejay, the game scores (Mark’s first) 12-15, 7-15, 11-15.
Skipper Jan commented “It was a good evening of Squash, but in the end they were just a bit too strong. Tom played really and looked every inch a first team player.”

Melbourn won 16-7

Already the Division 2 champions and with their last match of the season to play, Melbourn's first squash team travelled to Churchill College to play Cambridge's 2nd team. Having not lost a single match throughout the season, Melbourn were committed to maintain this record, regardless of their division crowning. It should be noted; Cambridge had not won many of their matches in the first half of the season but had made a 'significant' turn-around in the second half of the season, beating all the top teams (Ely, Stamford, St Neots) in recent weeks. 
First up for Melbourn, Mike Hird playing his Cambridge opponent, Miles Jeaneret at string 5. Miles played 3rd string in the first half and so would be strengthening his Cambridge teams defences significantly at 5th string. Mike had a very good opening game, playing with good control, length and making use of his well timed pressured boast shots to move his opponent in the wrong direction all helped Mike win an excellent opening game 15-12. Miles in the second game was looking more nimble, reading Mike's boast shots earlier and generally tightening up his game. Mike was still playing well but the improved consistency from his opponent made the rallies tighter and unfortunately Cambridge levelled the game scores 1-1 (9-15). The third game was much closer and Mike stepped up his game to keep the score-line level. Miles was now into his rhythm and although close, Mike lost out on the third game 12-15. The fourth game started well for Mike initially, but likely the previous games had taken a physical toll and it was not long before Miles had gained a comfortable lead and although Mike put up a fight to stay in the game, it was a shame his fourth game was lost 8-15 and his match 1-3 (15-12/9-15/12-15/8-15).   
Ed Aspelling was next on, this time playing Christopher Thorpe [Chris had played 1st string in the first half against Matt!!] at string 4. Ed started his opening game very well, playing sharply, reading the ball well and generally looking in charge...although close, Ed won his opening game 15-13. The second game was similar but his opponents uncanny movement and return shots made the rallies close and unfortunately Ed missed out on the second game 13-15. The third game was a similar situation to the first, Ed made great efforts to stay in the rallies, but wasn't quite able to gain that key half-a-stride advantage often enough that could put him in the attacking positions. The third game was close but alas Ed missed out on it 12-15 and was then faced being 1-2 down, going into a match saving fourth game. The fourth was not as close as Ed would have liked, as his opponent continued to rush the level of play that made it difficult for Ed to take control. It wasn't without trying but Ed missed out on the fourth game 8-15 and his match 1-3 (15-13/13-15/12-15/8-15).
With Melbourn's team now facing the very unusual prospect of being two strings down before the 1s, 2s & 3s had played, it befell Melbourn's skipper, Mark Oppen to try to keep the teams unbeaten run alive. Mark's opponent, Adam Jackson, looked a stylish player in the warm-up and this showed in the opening game. However, Mark this week was finding his line and length shots were playing particularly well for him [or perhaps the Churchill courts were playing to his rhythm] as he eased through the first game, not looking in any real trouble - Mark won the first game 15-12. Fortunately Mark's level of play continued to go well for him as he eased through to take the second game 15-9. The third game did see his opponent make more effort to keep his match alive but this wasn't enough so it was very pleasing (and with some relief!!) to see Mark win the third game 15-12 and his match 3-0 (15-12/15-9/15-12).  
Vinod Duraikan was next up at string 2, again with the added pressure of maintaining Melbourn's unbeaten history. Vinod's opponent, Ian Wilson was looking a challenging adversary and the first game was playing out to be a very close affair. The level of play was good from Vinod but the rallies were disrupted with some difficult calls for the marker around players [singular] movement to the ball, this made for some spicy play but Vinod kept cool and concentrated on his game. It was a tie-break opening game but Vinod managed to take the first game 17-15. The second game saw Vinod play the ball wider to keep the gaps between his opponent and that clearly helped as the game flowed better and it was great to see Vinod win the second game to a more recognisable 15-8. The third game was looking more like the first game again as Vinod's opponent made more effort to the ball but fortunately Vinod was able to keep ahead as he took the third game 15-13 and so his match 3-0 (17-15/15-8/15-13). 
Matt Sampson at string 1 was next on, but now with all the pressure passed onto him from his team mates to try and keep Melbourn's unbeaten winning history alive! His opponent, Grant Bryant, was not known to any of the Melbourn team [that's somewhat worrying] but had played already for Cambridge, so all within the rules then. This was going to be an interesting match and the spectators were not to be disappointed on that front. The opening game it was evident Matt had not played anyone in the league this season of Grant's level as his play was at another level, playing tightly and his speed and retrievals were impressive. Matt was playing well, if not with the speed Grant had around the court and the first game was very tight as it went to a tie-break. Matt was playing at a high intensity, accurately and calmly that helped him eke out a small advantage to gain game ball and then convert with a winning low hard cross-court drive into the forehand back corner. Matt won the first game 16-14, but despite that it was not going to be a typically straightforward match win for Matt this week! With the team going to support Matt before the second game began [plenty of water needed please!] this was going to be a match for preserving Matt's fitness more than anything. The second game again saw no let up from Matt's opponent as he eased around the court but Matt stayed with him as best he could. It looked as though Matt was suffering physically and it showed as his shot selections were not as good as normal, allowing Grant back into the rallies. So it was with some trepidation that we found Matt loosing the second game 12-15, somewhat tired, playing his toughest opponent this season. There was perhaps a slight hint that Grant was also suffering physically [anyone that 'thinks' they are fit can test it by playing Matt!] in the third game as he made a few more mistakes that gave Matt the front of the court or drive shot option into the back, side wall [nick!] corner. The game was never certain but Matt somehow kept his accuracy levels up, made Grant work hard for the ball that eventually produced an opening for a winning kill shot. Matt won his third game 16-14! So with Matt seeing there was still a chance to stay in the match, he needed to continue his level of play into the fourth game. This was an epic game, seeing some amazing squash that kept the spectators on the balcony on their toes as well. Matt really had to dig deep to stay in this game and it showed as he was physically [Oxygen please!] struggling. However Matt kept with his opponent all the way to level the fourth game on a tie-break. Grant's movement was still the challenge but he did make [occasional] mistakes at the front of the court that meant he couldn't get to Matt's cross-court drives. Incredibly Matt managed to save two or three game balls to Grant to take the fourth game 18-16!!! So a very, very well deserved match win 3-1 (16-14/12-15/16-14/18-16).
Skipper Mark Oppen commented on the evening "we did a fantastic job to beat a significantly strengthened Cambridge side, Matt's match was an incredible win that finally maintained the teams unbroken 16-16 win record. I'm so proud of the teams achievements throughout the season, it has not been easy but everyone worked hard to help contribute towards our excellent Division 2 title win and guaranteed entry into Division 1 next season"

Melbourn won 20-0

Melbourn's first men's squash team were hosting at home this week to Peterborough's 3rd team. The outcome of this match for Melbourn was important as at least 17 points would guarantee them the division 2 league title and entry into the 1st division for next season. However Melbourn did have a back up of their last match of the season (away at Cambridge Squash Club) if they fell short of the points required in this one.
Unfortunately for Peterborough a last minute illness meant that their usual 1st string player couldn't play. With their regular 2 also unavailable that left their 3rd seeded player, Neal Cooke, at the number 1 spot for their team! With Neal playing up two positions, meant Peterborough's remaining team members would, most likely, all be playing a higher seeded player - this is a tough pill to swallow for any team facing this challenge. Neal is a good player, but playing against Matt, the money had to be on Melbourn's number 1 winning. To make matters worse for Peterborough, they couldn't find a fifth player to fill the gaps from losing their 1&2 players so conceded the fifth string to Melbourn before the night had begun. For Melbourn this also meant a last minute change to our line-up, but fortunately Kate offered to step out from her squash duties to have a well-earned rest after all her recent nationals' matches.
With Melbourn's line-up confirmed and the team already 3 points towards their 2nd division title, the night's squash got off with Ed Aspelling playing at string 4 against his opponent, Alec Sarkissian. Ed started the first game positively, playing his shots low and hard that tested Alec's movement and retrievals to the ball. The first game had some good rallies and Alec's racket skills and boast shots disrupted the flow, but Ed's speed around the court made up for any accuracy from Alec's racket and Ed won the first game 15-10. The second game followed similarly to the first, seeing Ed maintain his movement and shot selection that handed him the second game, again 15-10. It was not looking like Alec was threatening to take control of the third game, with Ed continuing his excellent level of play and it was a very positive to see Ed win the third game 15-9 and his match 3-0 (15-10/15-10/15-9).
Next up to play was captain Mark Oppen at 3rd string. Tim Millington, who Mark had played some years before, hadn't played for the team in the first half of the season. Tim can be a very difficult player to overcome and although Mark had a positive start to his first game he wasn't playing as well as he could and although the first game he won 15-11, a match win was not a certain. The subsequent games were much closer seeing Tim with game ball in the second game twice, but fortunately Mark was able to prevent him from converting and won a very close second game 17-15.  The third game was a replay of the second but Mark was able to keep ahead when it counted and also with a little fortune, Mark won the third game 17-15 and so his match 3-0 (15-11/17-15/17-15). This match had the makings of a 3-2, but thankfully for Mark that didn't happen!
Following on to steady the ship after the wobbly performance seen from Melbourn's skipper, Vinod Duraikan came on court to play his opponent, Jeff Fillmore at second string. The first game saw Vinod easing into his rhythm, taking half the game to find his shot range and lengths. Jeff's movement wasn't as good as Vinod's and although he made great efforts to keep in the rallies, Vinod always had the upper hand, taking the first game 15-8. The second game saw Jeff up the ante, attacking from many angles. Vinod responded by adapting his play to try and keep the shots clear and wide of Jeff's line-of-approach to the ball. This worked for Vinod (and for Melbourn's marker) as the rallies became less contentious and the points flowed much better. It was never looking like Vinod was troubled by the play and the second game went to Melbourn 15-9. The third game saw Jeff's movement hampered and maybe with some frustration Vinod's opponent came off court early and Vinod took the game 15-2 and his match 3-0 (15-8/15-9/15-2).
So with Melbourn's team win confirmed already, Matt Sampson was next up to play Neal Cooke at first string. Matt was looking good in the first game, maybe not quite in his groove but to his credit, Neal did put up a valiant fight and the rallies were at a level that gave Matt a good workout. The first game Matt won 15-6 and the second game went to a similar score-line 15-5. Matt was certainly working hard to maintain his level of play but for Neal it was to be a three game straight loss, with Matt taking the third game 15-7 and so his match 3-0 (15-6/15-5/15-7).
The evening was finished off with an excellent get together and Thai red chicken curry meals supplied by the Queen's Head, Harston.
The skipper’s comment on the evening was "It was an excellent 20-0 win for us, which got the points we needed for the 2nd division title. It was unfortunate Peterborough's team were weaker than they would have liked, but the squash was still competitive on the night".

Melbourn won 20-2

Melbourn's first team travelled to Cambridge University's Squash Centre to play their third from last match of the season with the hope of retaining the full house of wins and to not miss out practicing the letter W in calligraphy.
As Melbourn arrived to meet and greet with the opposition, it was evident the five courts at Cambridge were jam-packed with players. This was a positive spectacle to behold, however there was an air of unusualness to this new landscape as we approached (in retrospect looking wee sheepish) our opponents. It soon all became clear that there had been some over optimism of available courts-to-players-ratio, so we all hovered about in anticipation as calls and discussions were made by our hosts, another venue was being sought out pdq - during which we witnessed some eye watering return shots from some of the keen improving players in action, clearly learning the hard way about why the 'stroke' rule came into place. Meanwhile, Matt who had not seen the rush hour scenes with the courts had already commenced changing into his squash gear to get his obligatory pre match warm up, unaware of the ongoing hiatus. As Cambridge's contacts came good, we were offered not one but two alternative venues to play our matches and shortly after Trinity was chosen - Matt appeared at the similar time and who was then quickly having to reapply his trousers and we were all off on an adventure to visit new courts, for most of us it transpired had not experienced these courts, including the opposition.     
Once acquainted with the very impressive Trinity courts and changing facilities, Ed Aspelling finally started the team's night of squash off. Ed's opponent, Daniel Jensen, who Captain Oppen had played in the first half, is a good player if you let him loose. It was a similar story for Ed, as Daniel’s speed around the court and tight and lengthy returns meant Ed needed to focus on his shot selection. The first two games were competitive, Ed working hard to win them. It was noticeable that Ed was particularly flushed, reporting back that the courts were 'incredibly' warm before going back on to play the third game. Daniel showed a little more control in the third and Ed had either lost some concentration or was recovering from the first two games and although it was close, Ed lost the third game 16-18. The fourth game saw Ed regain his shot control and at times the rallies were constructed so well that it produced either the drop shot or open court drive to win the rally. Thankfully Ed's efforts paid off and he won his match at string 4, 3-1 (15-10/15-12/16-18/15-5).
Next up at string 5 was our latest team member, Mike Herd. Mike started well but found opponent Dougie Dolleymoore was not quite in his groove and the first game was a reasonably straightforward affair. The second was similar but Mike sensed that if Dougie was given the opportunity to find his groove, the match outcome could be in the balance, maybe. Mike continued unabated with his playing level to reduce the chances of the match turning, thankfully Mike won the third and so his match 3-0 (15-11/15-5/15-5) and in a very quick time too.
Captain, Mark Oppen at string 3 was on next to a very focused opponent, Hannah Blythe, who came on court clearly meaning business. The warm-up gave Mark an indication that her playing standard was also looking competitive and the opening game was a confirmation of these early insights. Mark had to work hard to control the ball and as it turned out to check where his opponent was; nothing it seemed was going to stand in Hannah’s way of returning a shot. However, the standard of play was good and Mark's shots were tight and although the courts were very warm he was able to play the ball in shorter at times to disrupt the flow and win the points with a tight return or interception. Mark won the first 15-11 but in the second lost concentration and missed out on the 2-0 lead, losing that game 8-15. Regrouping for the third and fourth games, Mark played much tighter and controlled his shots better that handed him the match win 3-1 (15-11/8-15/15-9/15-12)
Vinod Duraikan at string 2 was next on and his opponent, Jai Matharu, was looking extremely skilful in the warm-up. Once play commenced, the warmup signals from Jai were not coming through into the game play and Vinod found he was able to control the ball well, finding his targets to win the first game 15-11. The second and what would be final third games were also similar, although Jai worked hard in the third to keep in the rallies, Vinod always had an extra gear or two up his sleeve to keep up. The final match score was 3-0 to Vinod (15-11/15-10/15-13)  
With the team result already in the winning bag once Mark had won his match, Matt Sampson was playing to close out the evening’s squash. His opponent, Ellie White, was a good player, playing calmly and accurately. This however may have played to Matt's forte as his excellent racket control and shot selection added to Ellie’s qualities and the rallies were very clean and flowing. With the courts playing at record temperatures, Matt was seemingly able to make the court conditions look ten degrees cooler from his excellent touch and racket skills. The first game was competitive but Matt was able to dictate play to take it 15-9. The second game was closer but still it looked like Matt had it under control and this game was won 15-12. The third and final game of the match was perhaps looking more like a practice routine but entertaining all the same and Matt took this game 15-10 and his match 3-0 (15-9/15-12/15-10)
After our games, we were hosted on at the Churchill college bar for some excellent pizza, drinks and discussions.
Skipper Oppen commented on the evening, saying, "It was an excellent win (20-2) for us again, and with just two matches to play before the end of the season our position is very good. It was also a pleasure to play against Cambridge University II who were excellent hosts"

Melbourn lost 17-7

The 2nds last match of the winter season [what, already – yep, the downsides of an 8-team Division that] pitted us against Spalding.
There was little to play for in terms of league position as the visitors were mid-table and we were sure to finish 7th after results from the penultimate week, and will have to wait and see if that means we are back in Division 4 next season. So this was potentially a last chance for a while to test ourselves against Division 3 standard opponents.
The first to try were Roger Woodfield (5) against Philip Blake and Sean Hamilton (4) vs James Bowser. Roger started his match slowly, falling 7-1 down in the first game, and was always up against it from that point on. Philip was getting forward well and picking up Roger’s drops, and then countering for winners. Despite Rog using all his guile to try and figure out a method, he was simply overmatched here and lost 7-1, 6-15, 9-15.
Sean also started slowly, losing his opening game, but gradually worked his way into it as he chased and harried James. The Spalding player took the second to add to the opener, but Sean was really in the match now as James was visibly tiring, the Melbourn player’s retrieving allow him to turn rallies around that he often seemed to have no right to win. 2-0 became 2-2 to take us into a decider… which followed the pattern of the match as James came out hard and caught Sean cold for a 6-1 lead. At 13-7 down things looked all lost, but a one-rally-at-time approach and laser like focus on no errors was getting Sean back – all the way to 11-13. This was the turning point rally as Sean scrambled across to a drop shot in his front backhand corner, lobbing an out-of-position James. Except the Spalding player somehow not only leaped high enough to get his frame on a ball that was seemingly over him, he also managed to direct his desperation volley into the nick! 14-11 rather than 13-12 was a massive momentum shift, and one Sean couldn’t recover from as he lost the next point as well to fall 10-15, 14-16, 15-9, 15-8, 11-15.
Whilst this was all going on Colm O’Gorman (3) had got underway against Gary Slator over on Court 1. The first game was nip-and-tuck as Colm scrambling and movement matched up with Gary’s attempt to hold the ball to get space for kills. However some clutch rallies at the death saw Colm through 15-13, and from there on it was relatively plain sailing when Colm was on it as Gary looked increasingly lost in the search for winners. One brief interlude in game 2 where Colm attempted to beat Gary at his touch game aside, the Melbourn player was bang on the plan and won 15-13, 15-10, 15-6.
Liam Murphy (2) looked to continue his good form following his convincing win in the last match. However, it became clear early on that his opponent, Clyde Finch, was going to be a tough competitor. Liam was the most impressive when he attacked with his powerful drives and deft drop shots. Clyde’s style was more measured and consistent. The first game was tight but Liam edged ahead to 13-11 and was able to hold off Clyde to win 15-12. The second was just as close until Liam forced a 10-7 lead. Clyde recovered and 11-11 became 14-14 but Liam, impressively, took the game 16-14. By now, Liam was visibly tired and could not keep up with Clyde’s relentless pressure and the third game was quickly lost 5-15. The next game was crucial. To his credit, Liam found new energy and competed well but was always just short of points and Clyde efficiently wrapped up the game 15-13. The final game followed a similar pattern and, despite giving it his all, Liam lost 10-15 and the match 2-3.
Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was up against Scott Chuter. Jan arrived at the game in good form, and the opening rallies featured some clean up-and-down the wall Squash from both players. The only problem from a Melbourn perspective was Scott won them all (well nearly, 15-4!). Encouraged to break the play up a bit by his teammates, Jan made more headway in second game catching Scott out with a number of drop shots. But even so he still trailed all the way through. The third game was more comfortable again for the visiting player as Jan slipped to a 4-15, 10-15, 7-15 defeat.
That made the final score 17-7 to Spalding, which is a rather standard score for the 2nds this season. We have competed and given other teams good games… but only to ultimately loss most of them. Just 3 wins and 11 defeats overall, and 2 of those 3 wins were against a Cambridge Uni side a little out of their depth.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “Another tough match to finish our league campaign. The highlight was Colm’s impressive 3-0 win. Sean and Liam battled well and were both unlucky to lose 2-3. There’s no doubt that our first season back in Div 3 was very challenging! We ended up in 7th position but would always argue we are better than that!”

Melbourn won 17-6

Playing away last Thursday to St Neots, Melbourn 1st team are in a very strong position in the league. However, matches still have to be won and Ed Aspelling got the team off to a fine start at 5 string with a 3-1 win. A competitive first game (15-7) then gave way to an outstanding bagel from Ed, taking the second game 15-0! Following this error-free game, Ed’s concentration must have wandered and he lost the next 9-15. Fortunately, he regained his focus for the fourth and final game taking it 15-6. Meanwhile, skipper Mark Oppen was battling his very tricky and experienced opponent next door. Although viewers never thought Oppen was really going to lose, well-executed drops and excellent retrieval from the St Neots player made each game a challenge. Oppen came through to win 3-0: 15-9, 15-10, 15-13.
Kate Bradshaw was somewhat outsized by her very tall opponent, but made an excellent start, going 13-7 up in the first. However, another slip of concentration let her opponent back in and she let the margin slide to a 15-17 loss. Bradshaw wasn’t able to take control of the next game which she also lost 12-15 and, although she had game point in the third, much like the first, she was unable to convert that opportunity. What could have been 2-1 to Bradshaw ended up as a very tight 3-0 loss.
Vinod Duraiken had one of the toughest matches of the evening – an epic 3-2 battle with a former Welsh masters international player. With huge amounts of skill and high quality of shot play from both players it came down to tenacity, fitness and will to win. Vinod always has these three attributes in spades, and won a fantastic match 13-15, 15-5, 15-17, 15-3, 15-6.
Matt Sampson at 1 string was up against a familiar opponent who can prove very difficult to play. Sampson didn’t feel he ever got into the match and that it was a bit untidy, but this still resulted in a 3-0 win for the Melbourn player, 15-12, 15-11, 15-8.
Skipper Oppen summed the evening up, saying, ‘St Neots are a difficult side to beat, but the team delivered another excellent win that maintains our league position.’
There was also good news for the 1sts from elsewhere in Division 2 after title rivals Ely suffered a shock defeat at Cambridge. Those results put Melbourn top of the table by four points, and with a game in hand. All with not very much of the season left.

Melbourn lost 16-9

Ooooh, so close. But not ultimately close enough. But let’s start from the beginning…
In a break from the normal pattern the evening began with what is more typically it’s conclusion as the first players on were the top strings, Jan Brynjolffssen taking on Cambridge’s Stephen Casey. The pattern of the play was swiftly established, with Stephen looking for variation and kills early in the rallies and Jan attempting to retain a high court position to reach these and counter-punch his own winners. For most of the first game this was effective for Jan, but Stephen sharpened things up from 13-10 down to win the next five rallies and go 1-0 up instead. Disappointed but not downcast, all Jan needed was to tighten a few aspects (most notably serve) and that should suffice. 10 minutes later it had, the second game being won to level the match. The key was being extra focused once the game reach 10-7, with the thought process working equally well in games three and four as Jan came through 13-15, 15-10, 15-10, 15-9.
The first match on court 2 (which is on a 20 minute stagger, so got underway a bit later than the court 1) saw Jamie Ware (5) get off to a good start as he held Rupert Sharrock’s big hitting in check and won the first game 15-10. At times, the game degenerated into a crash-bang-wallop affair and Jamie missed some opportunities to take control with some more structured squash. The game see-sawed and eventually reached 2-2 (10-15, 15-10, 12-15 over these three games). In the fifth Jamie started to impose his game and was edging ahead quite nicely and got to 10-8. Some fortunate mis-hits, however, enabled Rupert to get back in and pinch the game 15-11 and the match 3-2. At the end of the day, the result could have gone either way and Jamie can count himself unlucky.
Following Jan on Court 1 was Thomas Higginson (4), up against Miles Jeanaret. Thomas started out with his normal superb movement and defence, which threw Miles for a loop early on in the first as he struggled to think of a way of killing the ball against a lightening fast player who can seemingly get everything. Thomas’ play was working… but it was also hurting as Miles was making him work ultra hard for his points. Maybe it Tom had won the first 15-8, which looked on when he lobbed a ball into the sky at 12-8… only for Miles to climb an invisible ladder and not only claw it down but volley it into the nick. After that it got close, and though Tom did edge through 15-13 it was rather pyhrric as he was blown by the effort involved (and those who know Tom will be aware he is ULTRA fit, which shows how much running he had had to do). Thereafter Thomas wasn’t as quick or as able to lean into his shots, his situation not helped by Miles maintaining a staggeringly impressive length. It was still a great game, but it was always tipped the Cambridge players’ way, particularly in the last few points of each game. Thomas eventually went down 15-13, 7-15, 8-15, 10-15.
Colm O’Gorman (3) struggled early on to impose his game on James Buckley who was playing fluent squash with few errors whereas Colm was making too many unforced errors. The first game was lost 6-15 and the second went the same way 6-15. James’s confidence grew as Colm’s diminished. However, finding himself 3-9 down in the third, Colm raised his energy level and application and played well to get to 12-14. But he had left himself too much to do and lost that game 12-15 and the match 0-3.
Liam Murphy (2) was returning to the team after a spell of COVID and, understandably, was concerned about fitness. In the event, he need not have worried as he quickly got into gear after a slow start in the first game. A good run of attacking strokes saw him recover to 14-15 but he narrowly lost the first game 15-17. Realising his opponent, Ben Knappet, was less assured on his backhand, Liam piled on the pressure and won the second game comfortably 15-7. The third game followed a similar pattern until Ben pulled back to 10-10. Liam held his nerve and won it 15-11. By now Ben’s head was down and didn’t like he would get back into the match. Impressively, Liam retained control to win the fourth 15-9 and the match 3-1.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “This really was a close contest. Jan and Liam got us into a strong position but Thomas and Colm were up against very strong opposition. The match turned on Jamie’s game and he made a great effort but was narrowly beaten 2-3. We were naturally disappointed to lose but, as always, we gave it our best shot.”

Melbourn lost 17-7

The Seconds had a tough match on paper when we hosted title chasers Newmarket 1sts.
Things started well though when Thomas Higginson (5) put in a typically energetic and tenacious performance to defeat Charlie Crisp 3-0. Thomas was in good touch from the off pressurising his opponent relentlessly and not allowing him to gain any solid advantage. Make no mistake, Charlie is a strong match player but Thomas did not allow him to settle. Since the start of the season Thomas’s game has developed, introducing more shot variety and a tighter serve, all resulting in convincing squash. The first game was competitive with Thomas winning 15-12. After that Charlie could not keep up with Thomas who played with increasing confidence and authority. He won the next 2 games 15-9 and 15-8.
Meanwhile next door Gareth Jones (3) was up against the experienced Matt Pearson. The first two games were nip-and-tuck towards the latter stages, but sadly for Gareth once each reached 10-all or thereabouts errors crept into his game… and were eliminated from Matt’s. One of these methods is more effective! All was not lost though as Gareth had worked Matt very hard in the opening two games, and by now the Newmarket player was positioning himself very deep, allowing Gareth the front court to attack. He took advantage to win the third, though it took a tie-break after Gareth saw a late game lead wiped out (again the same pattern). The fourth was once again nip-and-tuck until, for the fourth time, Gareth was unable to sustain things at the crunch. He did resist well at the very death, saving a couple of match balls but Matt converted the third as Gareth fell 11-15 / 9-15 / 16-14 / 13-15 – and left the court wondering what might have been in a winnable match.
Up second on Court 1 was Mark vs Mark – Melbourn’s Mark Asker (4) taking on Newmarket’s Mark Price. The initial exchanges had Mark A struggling as Mark P’s preference for taking the ball in short on the drop or boast caught the Melbourn player on the back foot and too deep on numerous occasions. However Mark A is a tough competitor, and he scrapped and scrambled, recovering the deficit and instead getting himself to game-ball at 14-13. A rally ended with a drop shot in the backhand corner from Mark A and a turn away in celebration. However only he had seen an apparent second bounce, Mark P believing he had retrieved the ball and none of the balcony seeing one either. Mark A actually had to be called back on court to hear it was 14-all and not 15-13. Four rallies later he left it again, 1-0 down rather than 1-0 up 😲. Some advice from teammates saw Mark A adjust his court position to be much higher, which did two things for the second game – it induced feelings akin to vertigo by being further forward than is comfortable but also worked as planned as Mark A was now getting to Mark P’s attempts to go short, which instead became set ups for the Melbourn player to pounce. Sadly for the home side though the effort needed to get far enough out was draining Mark A and as he tired his court position dropped deeper again… and Mark P was able to make hay in the front court once more. It all added up to Mark A’s first reverse for ages in a team match, losing 15-17 / 15-8 / 8-15 / 11-15.
Colm O’Gorman (2) was playing his first game back after a recent bout of Covid, and despite a successful fitness test the day before was a little concerned pre-match about how his energy levels would hold up. Colm started well and scoring was even up to 8-8 when his opponent, Santiago Uribe Lewis, put in a convincing run of 5 winning rallies which Colm could not claw back. The first game was lost 10-15. A similar pattern followed in the second game when at 7-7 Santiago pulled away again to win 15-10. Undoubtedly, a lack of game time was Colm’s undoing whereas Santiago looked comfortable and waited patiently to make a winning shot or force Colm to make an error. Colm made a great effort in the third to get back into the game and the result of the third was in doubt until 12-12 when Santiago forced a 15-13 win and an overall 3-0 win.
That result meant Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was playing for pride and consolation points against Hamish Jogee. The match started ice-cold, with each player making a horrendous unforced error, gifting the opening two points to each other. But once they got to 1-1 the match could start properly! It was quickly apparent that Hamish was looking to attack early and short, Jan doing his best to stay high and give himself a chance to pick up the touch shots and power kills. Despite lots of lunging retrieves from Jan, Hamish was still able to take the opening two games. The visiting player seem on the brink of a 3-0 win when a nip-and-tuck third appeared to be going his way as 12-all went to 14-12 to Newmarket. However a lung-busting rally saved one game ball and then Jan tried a risk/reward quick serve, Hamish going for the expected volley kill… and tinning it. Four points later Jan had game three pocketed, and the match was ON. Game four started even, but a burst of points from 5-all put Jan in command and had Hamish (who had already been showing signs of tiredness in game three) really blowing. Some easy kills polished the game off and had Melbourn confident the turn around could be completed. However it turned out that Hamish was saving his remaining gas for the fifth, which started in complete contrast to the first with one spectacular kill a piece, but then gradually unravelled for Jan as Hamish pulled out all his shots to take it and the match. Game scores were (Jan first) 10-15 / 10-15 / 17-15 / 15-9 / 8-15.
The overall result was a 7-17 loss.
Seconds skipper Roger Woodfield commented after the match “This was a typically dogged Melbourn performance with everyone giving their all against a strong Newmarket team who deserve their position near the top of the table. Thomas continues to impress but Jan’s heroic effort was the highlight for me”

Melbourn won 18-6

Melbourn’s 1st squash team enjoyed a home match against Peterborough 2 last week. However, playing without their number 1, Matt Sampson, meant the match was likely to be more of a challenge.
Vinod Duraiken went on early at 1 string and this start time clearly suited him. He eased through his match and was always in control, winning 3-0, 15-8/15-11/15-12.
Ed Aspelling at 4 string had a score to settle in his match feeling of all matches from the first half, this was the one where he let himself down. Playing with real purpose, he stormed to a 2-0 lead. All hopes that his opponent’s head would go down were proved wrong by the next two games which were hard fought by both but taken by the Peterborough player. Coming down to a fifth and final game, it was a matter of who had the greatest mental and physical energy and determination to win. Thankfully, it was Ed who kept a clear head, controlled the rallies, and took the fifth game and a 3-2 victory: 15-5/15-9/9-15/7-15/15-6.
Mike Herd is a very welcome recent addition to the Melbourn team and he did an outstanding job on his first outing. Looking the classier player from the off, Mike controlled the games with calm and sagacious play. Although he dropped the third game, the result was never really in doubt and he notched up a 3-1 win, 15-6/15-10/12-15/15-12.
Captain Mark Oppen’s match often looked out of control, but this was largely down to the somewhat frenetic play of his opponent which sometimes drew him into that more reactive style of play. Oppen took an extremely tight and frantic first game 16-14, then managed to introduce enough composure on his shots to outplay his tricky opponent and proceeded to take the next two more easily 15-11/15-8 and a 3-0 win.
Kate Bradshaw moved up to 2 seed for the evening and started well by taking the first game 15-13. Although not as frenetic a game as Oppen’s, Bradshaw too found herself getting dragged into her opponent’s style of harder hitting which favoured him. She tried to re-impose her game plan but couldn’t maintain adequate consistency towards the back end of the games. The only match going against Melbourn of the evening, Bradshaw lost 3-1, 15-13/12-15/12-15/8-15.
Pleased to get through his own game and with another team win Mark Oppen commented “With everyone having to play against a higher seeded opponent, the pressure did show at times but thankfully some steady and controlled game play gave us another well-earned win”

Melbourn won 19-5

Melbourn men’s 1st squash team travelled away to Hunts County this week. This had been a fairly uncontested match in the first half, followed by excellent food and drinks at the Plough – a very enjoyable evening. However, this second half re-match was going to prove a little more taxing for the travelling team.
All started well at 5 string with Ed Aspelling controlling his usual match nerves with a positive outlook against a keen opponent. Both had solid match play and high levels of effort, but fortunately it was Ed who held most of the finishing touches enabling him to have a relatively simple 3-0 win: 15-7, 15-8, 15-5. Mark Oppen at 4 enjoyed the luxury of playing on the show court and very much looked in control in the first. His opponent had other ideas and challenged Mark in the next two, with the Melbourn skipper unexpectedly going 2-1 down. Redoubling his efforts and finding better focus and greater accuracy, his opponent began to tire allowing Oppen to capitalise and take the next two and a 3-2 victory: 15-9, 12-15, 9-15, 15-11, 15-9!
Kate Bradshaw had been showing some good form of late and went on court feeling confident. This played out as hoped with Bradshaw taking a fairly easy 2-0 lead. That was all about to change... With a marked lowering of standard in the third game from Bradshaw who lost focus, her opponent managed to edge his way back in, finding some luck with his shots. Losing the third, Bradshaw tried to up her game again for the fourth. At 8-10 down she served, moved to the T, but was then struck in the back of the knee by an errant ball off her opponent’s racket. Time was called for ice to be administered but after a ten-minute break, play restarted. It was an exceedingly closely contested game but one which Bradshaw lost 15-17. The fifth played out all too similarly. The Melbourn player just couldn’t quite find the form from the first two games and allowed some frustration to creep in. The match ended up 3-2 against Bradshaw, 13-15 in the last game – a salutary lesson in not losing concentration when the going is all too easy..!
The final two matches were much less dramatic with both 2 string Vinod Duraikan and 1 string Matt Sampson playing reliably solid and sensible squash. Duraikan’s opponent had some lovely touches and delicate drop shots, but his fitness was not up to the same standard and the Melbourn player was able to win convincingly: 15-10, 15-5, 15-4. Sampson’s opponent is a quality player who unfortunately has an ongoing injury. There was plenty of top-notch squash at the back of the court and down the walls, but as soon as Sampson took the ball in short, his opponent was in difficulty with his movement. The Melbourn number 1 took his match 15-6, 15-8, 15-5.
So, another broadly successful night for the Melbourn team, with a couple of very tight matches in the middle. Skipper Oppen commented: “the match was won convincingly from our 1, 2 & 5 seeded players. Although at 3 & 4 seeds it wasn't as straight-forward, the points from those matches helped achieve the 19-5 overall team result - which was only one point less than our first half result showing we are consistent”.

Melbourn lost 15-8

Hunts vs Melbourn was sixth against seventh in Division 3, with the situation unclear whether it is one or two to be relegated with the Division playing short numbered with just 8 teams this season. With just 5 points between the teams at the start of play (in Hunts favour) it was a biggie.
First on court were Sean Hamilton (4) against former Abottsley player (and Cambs County back in the day) Tony Barker and Thomas Higginson (5) against home skipper Billy Bremner. No, not that one…
Thomas and Billy had had an epic in the opening half that Thomas won 3-1, by basically wearing Billy out (he is very fit for a 50 , but more than twice Thomas’ age). The opening game saw Tom struggling to get enough blows on Billy to win the game. He looked quite frustrated after it. Wrongly because whilst Tom might have been one down the greater damage had been done to the home player. Properly pyrrhic stuff – with more victories like this all would be lost. Or indeed with no more victories as Thomas’ lightness on his feet and fleetness of foot, combined with solid and sensible hitting up and down the walls gradually took command. It was never easy, but the match gradually tipped further and further the youngsters way until he had collected a 12-15 / 15-11 / 15-8 / 15-11 win.
Meanwhile taking on Tony was not a good match up from Sean’s perspective – the Hunts player’s movement might be nowhere near where it once was, but all the racquet head control is still there. Put a ball loose and it was dead. Not the style for someone whose preferred method is to run and chase, coping with the occasional loose ball by retrieving response, which is Sean’s method. Tony soon had Sean’s number, putting the ball high to his backhand and then moving straight to the front corner expect the short reply – when it came it was counter-dropped for a winner. Sean was having more success when asking Tony to move rather than play shots, i.e. attack the weakness rather than the strength, but maintaining it was the problem. Apart from a spell at the start of the second game, which Sean clung on to win in the face of a fight-back from Tony, this was always heading in one direction really – Sean lost 6-15 / 15-13 / 8-15 / 12-15.
The next string to start was the seconds, with Liam Murphy taking on Andy Budd. Liam came into the game feeling rather under-Squashed – he hadn’t been on court since a team game nearly three weeks prior due to a combination of work and illness (that one). Initially this resulted in a freshness in Liam’s player we haven’t seen recently as we got flashes of what he is capable of – one lunging backhand dropped that was flicked fast into the opposite nick showed the racquet skills at his command. He was initially coping with Buddy’s own flicks and boasts… but then the lack of court time (and lack of confidence from only a few wins this season?) came to haunt Liam as he got defensive when 13-8 up in the first game. This eventually went away 17-15, and Liam’s head appeared to be dropping when the second followed it 15-8. Game three brought a second wind though, Liam working hard to fashion a 13-11 lead late on. Could he pull one back? Limping with a sprained ankle wasn’t helping (apparently this had actually happened in the first game, but, reader, I only noticed it in Game Three). It began a nasty mix of not wanting to make mistakes, wanting the rallies over quickly, and Buddy being on it. The match ended with a 15-17 / 8-15 / 14-16 defeat. So close to something morale boosting, but not quite.
Meanwhile next door Mark Asker (3), who absolutely, definitely totally isn’t on a long winning run in team games that I’m banned from mentioning again, took on Simon Joyce.
This was a little and large encounter, with Mark taking the roll of the big bully. His power and his ability to use his frame to shield his shots had Simon in the same place as many other opponents previously – scrambling around behind for balls that came powerfully and short. And, basically, that was it. Mark was always in control of this, able when he needed to string two, three, four point runs together to pull gradually clear and win 15-6 / 15-8 / 15-8.
That sent it to the first strings, where Jan Brynjolffssen took on Matt van den Bos. The opening game was nip and tuck as the players exchange points, Jan finding himself able to chase down most of Matt’s boasts and variations, but then not quite as adept at putting the ball away from the front of the court. Too many cross kills. There was very little in it but from 13-all it was Matt who took the next two… at the cost of his favourite racquet, though. A new weapon lasted for a chunk of game two, though Matt was already suspicious of it when he started (already broken I believe). However when he change to a new wand this proved effective as Matt accelerated away to leave Jan slightly bemused to be 2-0 down. Hmm. However by now Matt was clearly struggling with the pace, his breathing already laboured – and that told in game three as whenever a tough rally was played Jan was able to take the next two double quick thanks to out-of-gas errors. Back to 2-1 and the Melbourn man confident. Misplaced as it turned out as Matt changed up his tactics at the start of game four, keeping the rallies short and loopy, which meant his still had some air in his lungs for the denouement. This went as far as a tie-breaker, and Jan had a game ball for 2-2 (and a big favourite tag), but he couldn’t covert, then lost the next two points stretching but not making it to drops into his forehand corner. Which meant a game that really could have gone either way ended as a 13-15 / 8-15 / 15-10 / 15-17 defeat for the Melbourn player.
And that meant a 15-8 overall defeat that extended the gap between the teams from 5 points out to 12. Dang.
Jan was skippering for the day as Roger had sent Thomas out in his place (Billy was VERY grateful for that!), so it was left to the stand-in captain to comment “It was a really tight match overall. On another day any of me, Liam or Sean might have won our strings – we all had our chances. But the clear performance of the night was Thomas, who played excellently to grind down a solid and experienced match player.”

Melbourn won 16-8

Wednesday was billed as the crunch match for these two Division 2 teams, both hoping to move up to Division 1 next season. By far Melbourn’s toughest match of the first half, we were at full strength this time to make sure of the victory.

It kicked off with Ed Aspelling (5) who had played a key part in last half’s victory. Matched up with the same opponent, this could almost have been a rerun, but for the opposite result. Both players battled hard, and it was nip and tuck all the way, although it felt like Ed had the better game to win. However, the ebb and flow of the game was not with Ed this time, who lost out in 5 games, 15-17 and 14-16 in the last two; sometimes it’s just the way it goes.

Skipper Mark Oppen (4) was on the other court hoping to bring a better result for the team this time round. When he played calmly, with good height, width and shot choice, there was no contest. However, from time to time, he let this plan slip and allowed his opponent, whose shot-power might challenge Cameron Pilley’s, into the game. Luckily, Mark managed to swing the balance of play in his favour and notched up a very important 3-1 win for his team.

Kate Bradshaw was keen, like the skipper, to make amends for her first half performance. However, her opponent has been unbeaten as number 3 for Ely all season and he was unlikely to want his record blemished either. The first game saw Bradshaw a bit timid in her approach, getting on the end of her opponent’s shots, but not being able to do much with them. A pep talk from Melbourn number 1, Matt Sampson, after this helped Bradshaw to find some confidence in her game and she very nearly took the second, just losing out 13-15. The third also fell away in the final part, but again she challenged the Ely player most of the way. Still  a little disappointed, but happy with some very good spells of play, Bradshaw lost 3-0.

With the scoreline sitting at 2-1 to the away team, the next two matches were to be critical. Vinod Duraikan at number two also faced the same opponent from the first half. This had been a tough match first time round and this occasion was to prove no different. Duraikan was as reliable and hard working as ever, knowing how crucial this match was for the team. Drawing on years of experience and summoning all his energies, Duraikan fought hard and went 2-1 up with all games going to 15-12 one way or the other. By the fourth he was clearly determined not to cut his opponent any slack and mustered a fine finishing game, taking it 15-4 in the fourth and a second win for Melbourn.

With the match level, Sampson equally knew his was the match to win now! Knowing his opponent could be dangerous, Sampson was prepared for a challenge this week. However, the challenge was never given a chance to turn into anything sustained. Sampson’s shrewd shot choice, disguise and excellent rally building enabled him to outplay his often skilful opponent, whose cross court drop flick was a dangerous weapon, and seal a victory for Melbourn with a 3-0 win, 15-9, 15-7, 15-7.

Team captain, Mark Oppen, was delighted with the result, commenting: "It was a superb team win that puts us just one point behind, but with a match in hand, on the league leaders. The team still has a way to go, but if we can continue with our solid play each week, that should put us in a strong position before playing our final match of the season."

Melbourn won 20-3

The Seconds were hoping for better fortunes against the Uni 3rds than in their previous two matches where they had been overmatched.
The initial signs were not promising though as Sean Hamilton (4) was all twisted around whilst comprehensively losing his opening game against Nicholas Choustikov. The problem here was unusual – that Sean was trying to do the right things! Or at least the right things generally, but unhelpful with this particular match-up. And that was hustle out of the back corners after retrieving to try and regain position on the ‘T’. However the vast majority of Nicholas’ attacks were towards the back corners and what kept happening was Sean would be rushing forwards as the ball fizzed past him back to where he had just come from! D’Oh… So, horses for courses, Sean was instructed to stay deep. This was never natural and Sean rarely looked comfortable doing it (you could see the worry about leaving the front corners undefended to drop shots (which weren’t happening!)), but he managed to make it effective enough to claim a 7-15, 15-11, 15-12, 15-13 victory.
Things were smoother for Mark Asker (3) next door against Nick Chornay, at least for two games as Mark’s huge wingspan and powerful drives kept Nick penned back behind hm. To his credit the Uni player’s head never went down and in game three he really challenged Mark as things became close. Fitness might have been an issue if it had gone to 2-1, so Mark was visibly relieved when he got through the third 15-13 to complete his 3-0 win (15-4, 15-8 in the first two – I did say they were comfortable).
Roger Woodfield (5) followed Mark on to court 1 to take on Matt Levine. And the pattern of the match was extremely similar to what had preceded it, Roger starting well on top but gradually being figured out. The infamous deadly drop shots were working really well in game 1, but as the match progress Matt began to predict they were coming and get more back. However Roger is a tough-as-teak match-player and he seized on whatever loose balls Matt offered him to keep himself a point or two ahead through the second and third games to close out a 15-8, 15-12, 15-13 win.
Court 2 was not a happy hunting ground in opening games for Melbourn as Colm O’Gorman (2) mirrored Sean by losing his first against Mansoor Ahmad comprehensively. Colm had started ice-cold, dropping 10-2 down at one point if I remember right, and was generally looking nothing like his normal springy self. Instead we got a heavy-legged and overly defensive performance, Colm’s court position in the first only getting up towards the ‘T’ in the latter stages. However these last few points did give hope as Colm was reducing arrears with this move lively approach, too late to claim the first but setting a platform to take the second and three by a good distance. Closing it out in four would have been too easy so Colm didn’t, losing the fourth before dredging up the energy to win the fifth and finally close out a 10-15, 15-7, 15-6, 12-15, 15-8 win.
That game was still going on when Jan Brynjolffssen (1) and Molly Woods hit court 1. The opening game started very well for Jan as he found himself dominating the front court, opening up a 11-2 lead. It was all a bit too easy initially, which encouraged a period of slack play that Molly demonstrated she was well equipped to take advantage off, closing to 11-8 before Jan refound his form to close out the game. The second was more focused, Jan keeping the pressure on throughout. However Molly was not going to go without a fight and she upped her level impressively in the third, which was suddenly close. Rallies became drawn out as both players sought openings, with there rarely more than a point or two between the scores. At the death though Jan produced a solid rally ending with a backhand volley kill to go 14-13 up, and then got a forced error on the first matchball as Molly couldn’t dig a ball out of her deep backhand corner, which had been a profitable area for the home player throughout. The game scores were 15-8, 15-5, 15-13.
Skipper Woodfield remarked “Although the University team is bottom of the league table, we knew we would all have to focus and play well to ensure a successful outcome. Everyone did just that, showing good concentration and determination, the 20-3 win was well deserved”

Melbourn lost 17-3

Another week, another very strong opposition for the 2nds.
Just like Comberton the previous Wednesday, Walden are pushing for promotion to Division 2 and looked every inch a side of that level. Their top two appeared particularly strong on paper… and also on the court. But we will get to those games later.
First on though was Mark Asker (5) against home skipper John Goodfellow. John was briefly a Melbourn player, featuring for the 2nds in 2018-19 and playing in our internal leagues. He and Mark had actually ever met in those, but the two had come across each other twice before in team matches. And on each occasion Mark had run out the 3-0 winner. Well, make that three out of three, 3-0 once again as the stylistic match-up worked heavily in Mark’s favour, his powerful game keeping John pinned deep as the Melbourn player came through 15-10, 15-11, 15-8. Mark is now 19-2 all time in team games for us, and on a 13-match winning run that extends back to October 2019… we really have to get him out more often!
Our other realistic chance of winning points came at no.4, where Gareth Jones took on Kirk Archibald. This one was nip-and-tuck all the way through each game, two of which got to 11-all and the other to 11-10. The problem for Gareth was the only period of games that proved one-sided was the most crucial one – the last handful of points. Three times it came to the crunch, and three times errors came. Frustrating as Gareth found the right tactics at various stages through the match… but never seemed to want to stick to them. The game scores were 12-15, 11-15, 11-15.
We won’t spend long on strings 2 and 3 as Liam Murphy (2) and Colm O’Gorman (3) struggled significantly against Will Blower and Mark Scott respectively. Liam started OK, but his head dropped towards the end of the opener was he figured out Will’s level was not going to vary, whilst Mark’s shot making was too good even for Colm’s recently impressive movement and defensive skills. Both finished 3-0, neither Melbourn player threatening double figures in any of their games.
That just left Jan Brynjolffssen (1), who wasn’t expecting much joy either against Simon Goddard as the Walden player hadn’t lost a Div.3 match, um, ever. Or even a game recently, Simon having won his previous 13 matches at top string all 3-0. Oh. Jan gave it his best shot though, attempting to defend as much as he could and when he could get Simon behind him attempt to pull the trigger on any attacking chances. That worked to some extent, also helped by unexpected errors of Simon’s racquet to mean Jan had achieved his aim for the match, get to double figures in a game, after just the first (only just, 15-10, but hey). An ill-judged comment about a loose serve on the first point of the second fired Simon up to provide a masterclass for the rest of that game (begging the question of just how hard the Walden player had been trying in the first) but the third was back to being close as Jan’s attempt to battle was proving more successful than he could have hoped for. In fact, if a backhand drop that Simon had given up chasing at 12-10 to Jan had gone up… but it was in the tin and that was the encouragement Simon needed to up his intensity for the last few rallies to send Jan to defeat 10-15, 2-15, 12-15.
Jan was the stand-in skipper for the day with Roger not playing. His comment after the match was “I knew we were in for a tough evening when I saw their team. Simon, Will and Mark are extremely strong players for the top three at this level. I thought Mark always had a good chance of beating John at fifth string and he delivered excellently on that, and on another evening Gareth would have taken at least one game of his, but we were always up against it overall.”

Melbourn lost 18-4

Melbourn 2nds ran into a very strong Comberton side that had added a new 1 and 2 since the first half clash between these sides, and consequently suffered a heavy defeat. In fact, without an unfortunate injury to one of the hosts, we likely would have got even fewer. But more on that further down.

The first matches on were Sean Hamilton (4) against Graham Broughton and Roger Woodfield (5) versus Stuart Elms.

Sean battled hard against Graham through the first game but was generally behind over the course of 90% of it. Fortunately the majority of the 10% where he wasn’t behind was the final couple of rallies as Sean retrieving and if we are honest some unforced errors from Graham gave the Melbourn player the opener 15-13. Unfortunately this wasn’t really with the balance of play, and once Graham had got the error count in check the match turned around, Sean trying his hardest through but falling 3-1 (15-13 / 5-15 / 10-15 / 3-15).

Next door Roger was finding things tough against Stuart, who was forcing the Melbourn player into a very deep position on the court and then going short. Simple tactics, but highly effective ones. Roger again fought as hard as he could and made the second relative close, but the 3-0 end result to Comberton always looked by far the most likely outcome. Game scores were 8-15 / 11-15 / 6-15.

Gareth Jones (3) was next on court taking on Tom Parker. Who had played #1 when the teams met at Melbourn. Knowing he was up against a strong player Gareth was talking about playing with patience. But once on court his normal attacking instincts couldn’t be reined in. Sadly this wasn’t an effective strategy against a counter-puncher would made hay to win comfortably 3-0 (5-15 / 6-15 / 5-15).

Colm O’Gorman (2) also looked up against it as Nathan Taylor, a new recruit to the Comberton cause and making his debut for them, wrapped up the opening game 15-11 and built a 10-4 lead in the second. Colm was doing all he could to fight and scramble, which was asking Nathan to play a number of extra balls each rally. Ultimately this paid dividends but not in a way anyone was happy with as a stretch resulted in Nathan doing something very nasty to the back of his knee. He could barely stand after this let alone play on and had to retire hurt thereby handing Colm a 3-1 win.

The top string match pitted Jan Brynjolffssen against Harry Hennessey. This was an enjoyable game with both players looking to play clean Squash, a number of rallies seeing many shots traded along either wall. The first game saw nip-and-tuck, Jan holding a 12-11 lead at one point but not quite being able to see it out and losing 15-13. The second was out-of-keeping as Jan failed to keep the pressure up, Harry got very confident and produce a number of increasingly impressive winners. This one finished 15-2 to the home player. A refocused effort from Jan made things competitive again in the third, starting to draw errors from Harry’s racquet again. However once again despite being tight (15-12), it was the Comberton player who won the key final rallies to complete his 3-0 victory.

2nds skipper Roger opined “This was probably the toughest side we have faced so far this season. As always, every Melbourn player competed as hard as possible and made the Comberton players work hard for their wins”

Melbourn won 15-8

Liam Murphy playing at string 5, his first appearance for the 1st team, started well mixing and varying the play. It was looking to be a close opening game. Unfortunately his opponent had other ideas in some of the front court exchanges, driving the ball long and out of reach into the back corners. Liam fought well to control his play but just missed out on the first game 11-15. The second game was similar to the first, with some close-quarter exchanges again at the front of the court, but alas, the second went 11-15 following the same score line as the first game. The third game saw Liam play some improved length that pressured his opponent but this wasn't enough overall and although a close 11-15 (it's a hattrick!) score line Liam lost his match 3-0. 

Ed Aspeling (4th String) started extremely well, playing with an aggressive style that saw him win the opening game convincingly 15-4. His opponent however started to find his own game in the second, seeing him produce some crafty drop shots and with a mixture of pace. Ed unfortunately lost the second game 7-15. His opponent continued this play into the third game and Ed was soon faced being 1-2 down. Although Ed made some great efforts to level the points in the forth game, executing some excellent low hard kill shots that produced a string of points this wasn’t enough in the end to change the final game score and his 1-3 match loss. 

Skipper, Mark Oppen (3rd string) back from injury didn't have the easiest of starts, loosing the first 15-13 and then the second game similarly, this had taken its toll on him physically. 2-0 down, fortunately Mark's length and lobbed shots improved, removing the midcourt from his tricky opponent. This changed the game, creating more opportunities for playing short balls off of the front wall from a forced boast or loose return. It was a battle but Mark won the vital third game 15-13 (but no cigar!) and to save the match. The fourth game was better again, seeing improved shot selection that drew the match out to 2-2. The hard work paid off as his opponent was clearly tiring and Mark won the deciding game 15-9 and his match 3-2.   

Vinod Duraikan (2nd String) Started well against his opponent, taking the first game 15-6. With a combination of his opponent gaining more confidence and Vinod relaxing, his opponent picked up more points in the second and third game, but not enough to threaten the final result. Vinod won the final two games 15-9 and 15-11 and so his match 3-0. 

Matt Sampson (1st String) was up against a youthful opponent but this 'youthfulness' seemed like it may have been elsewhere on the night as his game was not at all at the level to create competitive play. Even after Matt kindly adjusted his shots to help generate some sort of rallies, that still couldn't enthuse his opponents game and although Matt won comfortably 3-0 (15-7/15-8/15-6) , it was not the most gratifying of wins.  

Skipper Mark commented on the evenings play "It was great to see Liam Murphy in his debut match for the team, although not the result he'd have liked, the games were still very close. The overall team result on the night was far tighter than expected, the third string match was the recovery of the night" 

Melbourn 1sts squash team went into their final match of the first half last Wednesday, confident of a good result with a full strength team. Ed Aspeling went in at 5 string against the experienced Sanjay Poria, who had been brought into the Cambridge side at the last minute. Ed started well, taking the first game fairly comfortably, 15-9. The next two proved trickier - he took the second 18-16 but missed out in the third 14-16. This must have tired out his opponent, however, who then suffered a 15-8 defeat in the fourth, giving Melbourn the match 3-1.

Skipper, Mark Oppen, went on next not so confident, largely due to an ongoing injury he hoped had healed. This was not the case; struggling with movement, his game was off and he lost 3-1.

Kate Bradshaw (3rd string) was next on court against a tall opponent with a great reach. Nonetheless, Bradshaw started well taking the opening games 15-11, 15-9. Feeling strong and in good form, Bradshaw was disappointed, if not surprised, at a dip in concentration which resulted in her being on the wrong end of the third game, losing it 6-15! Redoubling efforts was not enough to secure a tough fourth which she narrowly lost 16-18. Fortunately, Bradshaw regrouped in the nick of time and with increased patience and improved shot decisions, took the final game 15-8 and a hard-fought 3-2 win.

Vinod Duraikan would have been no stranger to his 2 string opponent who, although appearing unwarrantedly disgruntled at times, knew that he was on a hiding to nothing from the off, given the superior skills of his adversary. With the court getting ever-colder due to the opposition’s desire to turn off the heaters, Duraikan did well to hold concentration and form to deliver a 3-0 victory (15-10 / 15-2 / 17-15) for the team. Matt Sampson also hit the court very much the favourite. His match was a swift affair with his opponent unable to put up much fight. The all too squash-savvy Sampson rolled out the fourth and most convincing win of the night, 3-0 (15-3 / 15-1 / 15-5).

The two teams then enjoyed their final post-match dinner of the first half at the Plough at Shepreth. Sadly this was to be the last visit to this extremely hospitable and welcoming pub, which closed its doors on the following Sunday. As ever, they delivered a hearty and incredibly tasty meal to replenish the players’ energies, who even enjoyed birthday cake for dessert. A huge thank you from the Melbourn squash teams to the Plough for their unfaltering catering and service over the last few years – you will be missed.

Melbourn won 15-10

The 1sts, somewhat depleted by self-isolation and also carrying an injury, just survived one of their tightest matches of the season so far to maintain their 100% winning record in Division 2.

The first matches on court pitted Ed Aspelling (4) against Jeff Filmore and Jan Brynjolffssen (5) up with Alec Sarkissian. Both visiting players struggled in their opening game, each losing it heavily (Ed 15-6 and Jan 15-8). However following a tight second which he nicked on the break Ed got his mojo going with crisper hitting and tighter play to come through 3-1 (6-15 / 16-14 / 15-9 / 15-8). Jan also looked like he might claim a 3-1 as he won his next two and got narrowly ahead late in the fourth. He lost that one on a tie-break however, though the effort it cost Alec to scramble level made a difference at the start of the decider as Jan established a handy lead. This got whittled down a bit as closing nerves kicked in, but Jan eventually came through 3-2 (8-15 / 15-11 / 15-12 / 15-17 / 15-11).

It was soon apparent that Mark Oppen (3) was struggling with a leg injury as he battled against both that and Neal Cooke. Mark was moving sort of OK during rallies, but was obviously pulling up in obvious pain at the end of them. This had a cumulative effect in games as Mark saw late, albeit narrow, leads evaporate in the first two games. The third was nip-and-tuck, but once again a close one went against Mark as he lost 3-0 (15-17 / 13-15 / 15-17). In truth it was a remarkable effort on one-and-a-half legs!

Kate Bradshaw (2) was up against a player of distinctly contrasting style in Ady Payne. The Peterborough player was clearly after a powerful length game, but that isn’t Kate’s style as she player her usual aggressive cut-out Squash. Which player had the upper hand kept changing, the first two shared on tie-breakers before Ady claimed the third. Kate looked on course for the fourth when she established an 11-6 lead, only to get cautious, sending her drops 20 centimetres above the tin instead of the previous 1 (which had been driving Ady up the wall). This, sadly, saw her advantage evaporate as she lost 1-3 (15-17 / 17-15 / 12-15 / 12-15).

That meant Vinod Duraikan’s match against James Best at top string was the decider for the evening. When Vinod was edged out in the opening game it meant Melbourn had lost the first of all five strings. However in four of these we recovered to win the second, Vinod effecting the greatest turn around of all as he took his 15-4! At this point and in the third Vinod had James on a string, working him all around the court. However in the fourth the home player dug in, leading to far-and-away the best Squash of the evening. Errors were few and far between and winners very difficult for either to come by as the game went the distance and then sum. However the question of whether younger necessarily meant fitter was left unresolved as Vinod eventually claimed it 18-16 to avoid a decider and instead complete his 3-1 (11-15 / 15-4 / 15-7 / 18-16) success, to his teammates relief. Thanks for bailing us out!

The hard-fought win meant the 1sts stay second in Division 2, but will overtake Ely for the halfway lead if they win their final pre-Christmas game this coming week as Ely have already completed their first half of the season programme.

Melbourn lost 5-20

Melbourn 2nds travelled to Spalding for what turned out to be a particularly demanding contest.
Liam Murphy (1) went on first to play Scott Chuter who displayed great control and power and made few unforced errors. Liam was playing well but could not match Scott’s impressive performance and he lost 0-3.

Thomas Higginson (4) put in a characteristically strong performance and there was a flow of very entertaining rallies. But Thomas’s play was matched by Martin Pettitt’s consistent stroke-play which forced Thomas into making errors at crucial points in all 3 games. Thomas lost 0-3 but competed very well with the scoreline not really reflecting how close this match was.

Roger Woodfield (5) started strongly and dominated the first 2 games with some well crafted rallies and drop shots. The crunch came in the third when Roger was 13-11 ahead. His opponent, James Bowser, came back strongly and was able to win the game 15-13. James then gradually took control and won the next 2 games so Melbourn lost this string 2-3.

Roger plays a typically crafty drop shot

Gareth Jones (3) struggled to get into his match making several errors and lost the first game. To his credit Gareth responded well and convincingly won the second game with some attacking squash. His opponent, Gary Slator, also recovered well and played consistent squash which Gareth could not counter and he lost 1-3.

Colm O’Gorman (2) was in good form taking the first game in style. Although he lost the second, he restored control to take the third. It seemed that Colm was set to win the match but Clyde Finch had a different agenda and really dug deep to win the next 2 games. Colm lost 2-3.

Colm in action at Spalding

Skipper Roger Woodfield said "Although we were beaten by a stronger team, it was disappointing not to come away with more points, particularly as we were so well placed to win the second and fifth string matches"

Melbourn won 20-1

The 1sts went into their game against the Uni 2nds as strong favourites to win even with the absence of regular number 1 Matt. That was because of the respective league positions of the sides; our boys and girls were second in the table, but only just and with a game-in-hand that would take them comfortably top if they win it, whilst the Uni 2s were propping up Division 2 with just one win from their previous five matches.

The students were obviously determined not to give us an easy ride though, as Ed Aspelling (4) in particular found. Ed actually won his opening game against the hard working Dougie Dolleymore fairly decisively, but he dropped the second as Dougie’s work rate and retrieving often caught the Melbourn player flat-footed. Fortunately for Ed he got annoyed with himself at this, the frustration well channelled into a step up of level that saw him take the next two with rapidly increasing comfort to triumph 15-9 / 11-15 / 15-11 / 15-3.

First on next door was Mark Oppen (3) against Daniel Jensen. Mark trailed for much of the opening game as he allowed Daniel to set the pace of play. In fact he got so far as game points down, and then came within centimetres of serving out on one of those. Talk about flirting with disaster. Having survived the close call Mark was able to take greater command of the match from then on out. Which allowed the shots to flow. His overhead backhand volley powered down short for a dead nick, the extravagant shot winning the penultimate point of the match, was absolute the pick. Mark’s game scores were 17-15 / 15-6 / 15-7.

Jan Brynjolffssen (5) followed Mark on to Court 1, and obviously regarded his skipper as a template as he also got himself 14-12 down as he found Patrick Nichols ability to move at high speed to retrieve apparently dying balls pesky to deal with. Jan was within a referee’s decision of losing the game 15-12, calling for a let that he hoped would be a stroke on Game Ball, only to find the marker was hedging more towards No Let! *ulp* Eventually given a second chance, Jan forced a breaker which went on-and-on (not helped by both players following each other in serving out!). However Jan finally got it done 21-19, and whilst never absolutely comfortable was always ahead thereafter as he won 21-19 / 15-10 / 15-8.

Kate Bradshaw (2) came off court after her match apologising to opponent Andrew Jeffery and berating herself. Had she lost? No, it turned out she had won 3-0. Kate sets high standards for her performance! What was apparently frustrating her was not closing out the second game as ruthlessly as she would have liked, an 11-0 lead turning into just a 15-12 final game score. But if it wasn’t quite as clean or efficient as she wanted, Kate’s accuracy and springiness of movement were still enough to see her through 15-11 / 15-12 / 15-11.

Last on was Vinod Duraikan (1) against Benj Chester. From the opening exchanges the pattern the match would take was clear – Benj was working very hard, chasing and retrieving, but he was struggling to lay much of a glove on Vinod, who was moving in that unruffled but if you timed it extremely quick way of his, and dropping with typical deadly accuracy. Points were accumulated with a minimum of fuss despite Benj’s efforts as the match moved swiftly onwards, to progress to match ball for Vinod. The Uni player saved the first of these in spectacular style… cutting a millimetre perfect drop into the front right corner from deep in the court. He then somewhat undermined this by immediately serving out… Vinod won 15-7 / 15-8 / 15-8.

Skipper Mark commented about the evening “Even with our number one [Matt Sampson] missing this week and everyone having to move up a position, it was another superb win from the team. Although we are doing really well in the league standing, we mustn't let this distract us. Continuing our excellent levels of play as we head towards the half-way-stage is really all we need to focus on now.”
Melbourn go to Peterborough 3rds on Monday for their next match. They currently trail Division 2 leaders Ely 1sts by 6 points, but have played a game less than the Cathedral City side (108 points from 6 matches compared to 114 from 7). 

Melbourn 2 squash team faced fearsome opposition from Cambridge 3 – rapidly losing the first four matches without claiming a single game.

It fell to No1 string Liam Murphy to save face with a 3-2 victory against Ben Knappett, breaking his own run of four previous losses. But it was an overall 4-1 defeat for Melbourn, who were playing away at Churchill College’s courts.

First on court was Jamie Ware who lost his first two games to highly experienced player Sanjay Poria. A motivational talk from his teammates fired Jamie up who laid it all on the line to make it 15-15 in the third game. However, a dramatic dive for the final point was not enough and Sanjay took the match.

Melbourn No 4 Thomas Higginson came close to winning his third game with a run of six consecutive points which brought him back to 12-13. But Miles Jeaneret closed him down to win the two final points – winning the match 3-0.

Sean Hamilton, playing at No3, was no match for Cambridge player Christopher Thorpe. The Melbourn player was constantly frustrated and lost his match 15-4, 15-8, 15-5.

Melbourn’s Colm O’Gorman put in an incredible performance against James Buckley, fighting hard for every point. He managed to accrue significant points, losing 15-13, 15-10, 15-11, but failed to win a game. Colm’s broke a string in his racket at a crucial moment in the first game when he was 13-12 ahead. But he lost the next three points with his replacement bat, and never got ahead again.

Liam’s No1 match was incredibly tense to watch. He lost the first game 15-13, then won the next two 13-15 and 12-15, before losing the fourth 14-16. However, he dialled up the pressure in the last game to win it 16-14.

Melbourn 2 are now in sixth place in the league of eight after winning two matches and losing four.

Melbourn won 17-4

The Melbourn First team latest match was against the unusually named Saints 2nds – St. Neots. It appears St. Neots and St. Ives have combined resources to be a single ‘Saints’… but the team in this league is mostly ex-St. Neots players, and is playing their home games there as opposed to… er, Hungtindon. Whatever. It’s confusing.
Anyway, this Saintly evening started unusually with the first string match as the opposition player, Jason Burgon, needed to play and dash. Although keen to make tracks, he probably wasn’t so pleased to get away in double quick time due to Matt Sampson putting in a very convincing performance, completely outplaying his opponent to take a 3-0, 15-11/15-8/15-6 win for Melbourn.
Ed Aspelling had a longer game to play, with his often vocal opponent (Andrew Montieth) producing some challenging play which took him to 16-14 in the second and a 1-1 scoreline. Ed managed to recompose himself and steadied the ship in the third with a 15-11 win, after which he proceeded to a more comfortable result in the fourth (15/7), taking the match 3-1.
Captain, Mark Oppen, was next up and in good form. Taking the first game 15-11, the match might have looked balanced, but he upped his game with good width and shrewd play to take the next two 15-7/15-6, cruising to a solid 3-0 victory over Sam Morris.
Kate Bradshaw had hoped that she’d take inspiration from the world’s best squash players, having watched some live matches at the Canary Wharf tournament the previous night, but in practice, it turned out to have the opposite effect. Bradshaw played below par for the entirety of the match albeit against a player, Harry Aldridge, who had some very decent spells of play, but who also was prone to unforced errors. The differing strengths of the players might have made for an excellently contended match on another night, but not this one. Bradshaw lost out 8-15/8-15/10-15.
Reliability returned to the courts in the form of the evergreen Vinod Duraiken. His was also an interesting match up, playing Grant Mankee, well known for his ability to keep running. However, Duraiken’s game-play knowledge and accuracy was too much even for the willing legs and lungs of his opponent, and he didn’t entertain the thought of a lengthy battle, winning out 3-0, 15-5/15-8/15-4.
Mark commented on the evening “It was another great result from the team against an experienced opposition. St Neots were missing their number 1 player on the night so we should prepare for the return match in the second half being more of a challenge.”

Melbourn lost 19-6

Melbourn 2 suffered a comprehensive beating away to Newmarket 1, who are top of the league, on Thursday November 11 – losing four of their five matches.
The local side were outclassed by an excellent Newmarket team, yet to lose this season, which had depth across all five players.

Only Thomas Higginson, at fifth string, was able to secure a victory, clawing back from 0-2 down to eventually win the match 3-2 against Charlie Crisp.

Sean Hamilton, playing a no4, lost 0-3 to Mark Price. His opponent played a precise lob and drop game which proved impossible to disrupt.
Third string Gareth Jones had the hardest-fought loss of the evening, losing eventually 2-3 to Matt Pearson.

Colm O’Gorman managed to clinch the first game but opponent Santiago Uribe knuckled down and saw off the next three in quick succession.

Melbourn’s No1 Liam Murphy was frustrated by Hamish Jogee’s speed and accuracy, losing three all games.
The total tally was 6 games to Melbourn versus 14 games to Newmarket – equating to 6 points to 19.

Melbourn 2nds are now mid table at fifth spot (out of eight in the Cambridgeshire Third Division) after five games. They travel to Cambridge Squash Club next to face Cambridge 3.

Melbourn won 17-4

1sts @ Peterborough (l to r): Kate, Mark, Vinod, Matt, Ed

The Melbourn First team travelled away to Peterborough for their match on Tuesday night – with a full team and no major injuries, hopes were high.
Ed Aspelling kicked off the evening on the club’s new glass back show court. Ed’s opponent was keen from the start and didn’t give Ed much of a chance to get into the first game. Ed picked his play up in the second, but unfortunately couldn’t quite nick this game which he just lost. The Melbourn player didn’t recover from this against an opponent who never gave him a chance to find his rhythm and he lost 3-0, 7-15 / 13-15 / 7-15.
Meanwhile team captain, Mark Oppen, playing on another court, had a relatively straight forward match. Using the lobbed backhand shot into the back corners removed all but a boast option from his opponent that enabled Mark to kill the ball off with a drop or low hard drive. Mark was also able to take advantage of his opponent’s loose backhands that fell midcourt to seal a 3-0 victory, 15-9 / 15-10 / 15-6.
Kate Bradshaw was on the new court after Ed and was struggling even in the warm up to find a decent length or width. Fortunately, so was her opponent in the match. He was also challenged by Kate’s high lob serve which put him into trouble throughout and gave easy opportunities for Kate to put the ball away at the front of the court. It was far from plain sailing for the Melbourn player, as she succumbed to end of game nerves in the second, losing out after a 14-7 lead! Determined not to let this happen again, she dealt with a similar scenario better in the third and then took the fourth more comfortably for a 3-1 Melbourn win, 15-11 / 16-18 / 15-12 / 15-11.
Vinod Duraiken at number two showed a solid game plan from the start. He aimed to reduce his opponent’s retrieval rate by playing a raft of superb, short, cross-court drops from forehand and backhand sides, often rolling out of the nick. This caused his opponent to move forward, but even if he managed to pick them up, Vinod positively nailed them into the back corners. The third game saw his opponent have a run of good points but the eventual scoreline was never in doubt with Vinod taking the match 15-7 / 15-3 / 15-8.
Matt Sampson stepped on court for the final match of the night. Much like his opponent from last week, the Peterborough number one looked somewhat defeated before the game had started. He had cause for this by the end of a quick first game that saw Mark outplay his opponent with excellent high lob retrievals from drops, and deceptive hold on the ball disrupting movement patterns. The second game was similarly barely contested and it looked very much like everyone would be in the bar shortly. However, the Peterborough player rallied in the third, putting Matt under a lot more pressure with some high quality play and outstanding nicks. Despite this run of better form, Matt was able to retain control and took a 3-0 win for Melbourn, 15-7 / 15-4 / 15-12.

Melbourn won 20-0

Melbourn’s First team had the luxury of a home match last Wednesday evening.
Following a narrow escape at Ely before half term, the team were keen to give themselves more breathing space. Ed Aspelling (5) was up first and did a great job of holding his nerve again. With characteristic solid play, he overcame Lee Palombo 3-0 relatively quickly. The key passage in the match was the second game where Ed trailed 8-2, but a refocus on length and positivity saw him turn it around to take it 15-10. It was plain sailing thereafter.
Captain Mark Oppen was next up against Jonathan Pittmas, a tall and rangy player at 4 string. Having not found form a fortnight ago, Mark was looking determined this week. Although the opposition was not as tough as at Ely, Jonathan was still tricky to play against given his height and reach. To counter this Mark focused on keeping rallies short and going behind Jonathan to make him turn. Gladly this worked as Mark won through, again 3-0.
Kate Bradshaw was back at 3 string for this match and, like Mark, keen to make amends for a below par performance in the Ely match. With improved levels of concentration, her serves hit the mark well and caused her opponent, Tom Horton, a lot of trouble. This enabled Kate to capitalize on weak returns which she chopped away into the front of the court. Her calm wavered for a few points, but she quickly regained control in the 3rd to take another 3-0 victory.
Vinod Duraikan came in at 2 for Melbourn and played his usual well-measured, calm and clever squash. He felt a little slow to start but some lengthy, high pressure rallies at the end of the first game saw opponent Matt Ainley tire and Vinod then took control for the rest of the match ending in a comfortable 3-0 win.
Matt Sampson went on against an opponent, John Williams who already showed signs of defeat before the match had started. Although the outcome was never going to be in doubt, John was struggling with movement due to injury and knew he wouldn’t be able to keep up with Matt’s play. The Melbourn 1st string, playing the ball with disguise and hold, along with variety, made quick work of the match and brought in another 3-0 scoreline in favour of the home team.
Skipper Mark commented "We played very well. There were a couple of close games where Hunts could have taken a point of two, but we upped the pressure in those moments. Everyone played solidly, particularly when it counted most."

2nds side (l to r): Colm, Gareth, Liam, Mark A, Thomas

Melbourn won 17-6

Melbourn 2nds continued their winning form to record an impressive result against an experienced team from Hunts County.
Melbourn made a strong start with Mark Asker (4) dominating a very skilful opponent, Ian Gabriel, who was unable to keep up with Mark’s persistent and powerful squash; it was a convincing 3-0 win for the Melbourn player.
Colm O’Gorman (2) was faced with a tough task against talented left hander Andy Budd. Colm played well to take the first game 15-11 but then his opponent had to withdraw with injury and we were denied the spectacle of a very entertaining contest.
Gareth Jones (3) had a terrible start losing 10 points on the trot to lose the first game to Rick Watson. To his credit he then dug in and recovered well to win the second game 15-13. The match then see-sawed with neither player playing great squash with all the remaining games going to 15-13. Importantly for Melbourn, Gareth won the fifth 3-2 with characteristic doggedness.
Thomas Higginson (5) impressed in the first two games with consistent organised squash. He then lost some concentration allowing his wily opponent, Billy Bremner, to impose his style of squash to claim the third 15-12. The fourth saw Thomas re-focus and restore control and systematically win the game 15-9 and the match 3-1.
Liam Murphy (1) struggled to impose his game on Sean Broderick, a highly organised and skilful player who made few unforced errors. Murphy could not disrupt his opponent’s game and lost the match 0-3.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “This was a strong team performance against a very experienced team. We now need to carry this momentum into the next match with the league leaders”

Melbourn won 15-8

2nds recorded their first win of this Cambs Div 3 campaign away at the University Sports Centre. However, it was not the best start for Melbourn with Gareth Jones (2) struggling to compete with a very accurate player who made few mistakes. Despite playing with his usual gusto, Jones was unable to break down his opponent’s game and lost 0-3. Meanwhile, on the other court, Thomas Higginson (4) was playing his first match for Melbourn. It became clear this was going to be a long contest between two evenly matched players. The first game was eventually won 18-16 by the Melbourn player. The second game was equally tight and Higginson again just secured the game 15-13. His opponent was as committed and stubborn as the Melbourn player and he pulled the third game back, again very close at 16-14. Fitness was now an issue but Higginson battled on and pulled away for the first time and won the fourth 15-10 and the match 3-1. It was a great performance against a very good opponent. 
Sean Hamilton (3) soon found himself up against it, losing the first game. He recovered well to win the second game but was worn down by his opponent who chased everything relentlessly. Hamilton narrowly lost the third 13-15 and, whilst he staged a comeback in the fourth, he could not prevent his opponent winning it and the match 3-1. Skipper Roger Woodfield (5) also had to battle in another close event but was able to produce winning shots at the right stage in each game. Carefully judged drop shots and wrong footing his opponent made the difference. In the end, Woodfield ran out a fairly comfortable winner 3-0.
So the scene was set at 2-2 for a deciding match between the two first strings. Colm O’Gorman (1) lost the first game 13-15 but then steadily took control of the match. His opponent was unsettled and disputed several decisions from the marker which, undoubtedly, did not help her performance. O’Gorman finished the contest clinically and won 3-1.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “Obviously, we are pleased to win our first match of this season. We needed solid performances to come out on the winning side of many very close games. Special mention goes to Thomas Higginson who was making his debut for Melbourn. He won the tightest contest of the match with a most impressive performance”

Melbourn won 14-9

Melbourn I got the better of Ely Squash & Leisure 1sts by three strings to two in a see-saw evening of Squash.

First on court was Jan Brynjolffssen (5), who was up against Chris Hornby. Things looked rather bleak for Jan seven rallies in, after he had lost them all making game one unretrievable. Substantially improved Squash from Jan, getting the ball past his opponent and cutting out at the service line and dropping accurately, saw the Melbourn player win the second… only to give away an early lead in game three and lose that to fall behind again.
Refocusing on the gameplan worked to level things up to 2-2, and a good start to the fifth had Jan 10-6 up. Then he got nervous about the finishing line, shanked two balls… which both dropped for winners! Helpfully that put it 12-6 up, but the nerves did their thing as Chris clawed back 5 of the next 6 points to close to 13-11. However, a slightly surprising error from the home player in response to a deep but not devastating shot gave Jan matchball, which (nerves mysteriously now absent) he converted with a forehand power kill from deep. That completed an 8-15 15-10 12-15 15-10 15-11 win.

Meanwhile next door Mark Oppen (3) had been in a game one battle with Ben Mitchell… and with his own game as he struggled with the line of his shots and also to get the pace of the Ely courts. Oppen was in trouble after the opener slipped by on a tie-break, in part because his own form was somewhat off on the evening but also due to Ben looking a very handy player for third string at this level. The next two went by with Mark struggling, both in Squash terms and in getting enough oxygen down as he lost 15-17 4-15 8-15.

Ed Aspelling (4) followed Mark on to court to take on Paul Sherwood. This game involved lots of power as both players looked to hit through the other, but also some sweet touch from both players. When either managed to slow things up a little they looked in control, but neither was maintaining this for longer than four or five points at a time. That resulted in streaks of points for both players, and the opening two games shared.
From game three on though Ed was able to stay on top for slightly longer streaks than Paul managed, and that was the key as Ed fought through to a 16-14 8-15 15-11 15-9 victory.

Kate Bradshaw (2) had been in good form recently, but she looked to have a task on her hands against Jack White. In a similar way to Mark, Kate was struggling with the pace of the courts, and also the lines she was finding (or not) for the ball. This would have been a problem against most players; against Jack, who showed jaw-dropping accuracy on the drop shot at times, it left Kate nowhere to turn. Games two and three were less one-sided than the opener, but overall the 3-15 7-15 7-15 loss was as comprehensive as the scoreline implies.

Which all set up Vinod Duraikan (1) and Chris Purkiss to play a deciding rubber. Vinod started like a house on fire, moving superbly, both in terms of covering the ground to pick everything up but also in the lightness on his feet to twist and turn. Chris initially seemed nonplussed by the onslaught, Vinod racking up an 11-2 opening game lead.
That was converted into a 15-5 first game win, but from this point things became a little closer as Chris got more of a measure of both his own and Vinod’s game… and Vinod started to make a rare error or two on the drop rather than the near perfection he had shown over the first ten minutes of the match. Even so Vinod was ahead through the majority of game two, an advantage he converted into a 2-0 lead. The Melbourn player trailed through most of game three though, but he tightened things up at the death, cutting out the errors. Having fought back to 13-all, Vinod played a very solid rally to force an error and get to matchball, which he won with just one shot as Chris went for the spectacular return… and tinned it! Game scores were 15-5 15-12 15-13 in Vinod’s favour.
Skipper Mark said of the evening “The team really came together to make up for the two lost matches and the inevitable 1st string decider that was played so well by Vinod. It was a great night of competitive squash.”
Melbourn sit fourth in the Division 2 table going into the half-term break, but that is a little deceptive. We are the only unbeaten side left in the Division but having had a bye week keeps our points down a little.

Melbourn lost 7-16

Melbourn II lost 2-3 to Saffron Waldon (11 games to 7) in their second match of the season in Division 3 of the Cambridgeshire squash league.
First man on court, Sean Hamilton, at No5, ground his way back from 2-0 down to eventually beat Chris Dorman 3-2.
Playing in the fourth spot, Melbourn’s powerful Mark Asker dominated the court and defeated John Goodfellow 3-0.
The third string saw home player Gareth Jones take on Christopher Gray. Gareth moved quickly to secure the first game. But Chris came back strongly to win the next three games, leaving the final score 1-3.
Melbourn did not win another game the rest of the evening, despite some intense rallies.
Even his newly found fitness was not enough for Colm O’Gorman to keep up with Will Blower. Colm found some form in the second game but Will closed the match 3-0.
Last on court was Liam Murphy who battled hard against Simon Goddard in the top match of the card. Their pair had some thrilling rallies but the visitor’s relentless speed and accuracy won him the match 3-0.

Melbourn I won 20-2

Ed Aspelling at 5 string was playing his inaugural match as part of Melbourn’s team. Feeling the pressure of starting for a new team and being the first match play for well over a year, he admitted to a few pre and on court nerves. This was not reflected at all in his play. Dealing well with some hard, loose hitting from his opponent with skilful drops and using his consistently pacy and accurate forehand drive, he came away with an excellent 3-0 win.

Mark Oppen at string 4 had a good opening game, taking full advantage of playing the ball early and in short to the front wall as his opponent made some loose returns. There was a marked improvement from his opponents shot making in the second game but he was able to keep ahead and in control. The third and what was to be final game of his match was the closest but he found his line and length when it counted and came away with a 3-0 win.

Kate Bradshaw walked on court for Melbourn at 3 string with some match practice already in hand. Feeling confident, she focused well and served accurately and, by cutting out loose returns, quickly reached a 2-0 lead. However, the match was not in the bag yet…wavering concentration and some improved passages of play by her opponent led to the match squaring up at 2-2. Determined not to let self or side down, Bradshaw pulled through in a see-saw 5th game, taking it 15-13 and the match 3-2.

Vinod Duraikan at string 2 had an uncharacteristic up & down opening game as he adjusted to the courts speed and temperature. Nonetheless, he was able to keep ahead in the vital latter points to win a close opening first game. The second game saw his opponent attack more which gave him more opportunities to test finding his range and rhythm. The second and third games saw some good rallies but ultimately his opponent was unable to turn around the inevitable 3-0 win to Vinod.

Matt Sampson string 1 was up against a youthful player whose speed and agility made for some entertaining rallies. This didn't faze Matt as he held his tee position to produce some pin-point accurate short balls that made it extremely hard for his opponent to retrieve. This standard of play continued throughout his match and culminated in an excellent 3-0 match win and overall team win of 5-0.

Skipper Mark commented “This was a fantastic team win to mark the start of the season. It was great to see everyone so focused and enjoying their squash again after such a long layoff. It was also a superb win from our new team member, Ed. Thanks goes out to the The Plough, Shepreth for the excellent meals and hospitality afterwards.”

Melbourn II lost 9-16

Melbourn 2nds hosted this first round match of Cambs League 3 having been promoted in March 2020 when the pandemic stopped all sports activities.

First up was Mark Asker (4) who quickly found himself in a very tight encounter with a very experienced and skilful player. He narrowly lost the first game but came back well to take the second. His opponent then built a meaningful lead to win the third and then started well in the fourth. Unfortunately, injury struck and he had to retire, leaving Asker the winner 3-2. Colm O’Gorman (2) started well and won the first game 15-11. His opponent responded vigorously and worked really hard to get back into the match. He won the second and then never lost control of the match so Melbourn lost the string 1-3. Playing his first match for Melbourn, Liam Murphy (1) struggled to find his rhythm and lost the first game. He then fought back well to win the second 15-13. But his opponent re established control and won the next 2 games with some relentless pressure and some devastating drop shots; the string was lost 1-3. Gareth Jones (3) simply outplayed and outgunned his opponent with unrelenting pressure and forced a fairly comfortable 3-0 win. With the match situation at 2-2, Jamie Ware (5), also playing his first match for Melbourn, quickly realised he was in for a tough match. The pace was fast and furious at times but Ware played well to take the first game 15-10. His opponent responded well to narrowly win the second game. Although every point was fiercely contested, the Comberton player was just a bit more consistent and was able to win rallies with some fine shots. Comberton won this final string and the match by 3 strings to 2.

Skipper Roger Woodfield said "This was tough fixture for our return to Cambs Div 3. Our team competed really well but, in the final analysis, were just beaten by a stronger side. Nonetheless, we picked up 9 valuable points. Great to see Liam and Jamie play their first matches for Melbourn and strengthen our squad"