Towers v Melbourn I (28th Sept 2022)
Melbourn Lost 7-17
The team managed to all travel in the one vehicle this week to meet their opposition Towers. The drive to Bedford was not direct, taking many twists and turns along the route - skipper did wonder if Kate's navigating was taking the team the 'scenic' route. Some nice looking pubs, passed by, enroute!
On arrival, Bedford Towers Health is an impressive venue, with all courts glass-backed.
First to play was Chris Shaw, playing 2nd seed for the team. Chris found the pace from his opponent tricky to adjust to, as well as Chris not being quite at his usual squash levels. The first game was competitive but Chris wasn't to get to that critical 8/9th game point to be in a position to threaten his opponent and so dropped the opening game. Second and third games were similar to the first and although Chris was staying in the games to their midway points, his oppenent always had the edge to pull away in the latter points that saw him take the second and subsequently third games and match from Chris 3-0 (11-6,11-7,11-7)
Next on was skipper Mark Oppen playing 4th seed. The opening few points were good from Mark but his opponent pulled it back to take the first 11-7. Mark's play improved in the second as he worked harder to move forward for front court opportunities that could disrupt play or play the ball short, which payed off as he won the second 9-11. However, Mark's fitness was now in question as the third game was similar to the first but the tempo and extended rallies were not doing any favours to the questionable fitness, the third game went to the opposition. The forth game was exceptionally close, with Mark making a last ditch effort from 6-10 down to give him game ball only for the opposition to keep his match alive, bringing it back to a tie break again, match ball and then the match 3-1. Mark lost his match 3-1 (11,7,9,11,11,7,14,12)
Matt Sampson at 1st string found his match was a back and forth battle with the fitter and more consistent style of the Club Towers No.1 up against the trickier and more attacking style of Matt. The first two games were quite high tempo with Club Towers superior retrieval and fitness probably being the difference in two close games.
However Matt managed to slow the pace down and improve the accuracy of his attacks in the 3rd and 4th games to start to force a few errors from his opponent who was starting to tire from the work of the first games.
The 5th was close with Matt coming back from 9-3 down to 9-8 - but with some increasingly heavy legs and heavy breathing Matt couldn't complete the come back - losing 11-8 in the 5th. (13-11,11-6,10-12,9-11,11-8)
Vinod Duraikan playing at string 3 was up against an experienced opponent. Before Vinod's match he said he really needed a 'good warm-up' and that he got in the first few points of his opening game as the rallies were all to the far front and back corners. Perhaps this was intentional as Vinod played very well in the first game, wining it 6-11 and fully warmed-up. The second game did see his oppenent step his game play up but Vinod was able to maintain his level of play up when it counted and he won the second 9-11. With the passing games, Vinod was looking more comfortable on court now and it was very pleasing to see Vinod win the third game 8-11 and his match 3-0. (6-11,9-11,8-11)
Kate Bradshaw was last on for the evening at string 5. Waiting to play clearly wasn't the best preparation for Bradshaw who, after a promisingly patient first three points, let concentration wander. After a pep talk from fellow player Vinod, Bradshaw found better form for the rest of the match. Levelling with a 15-13 win in the 2nd, and the third going back to her opponent, Bradshaw still felt strong in the 4th. It was close all the way, but a dead ball from her opponent in the back nick and a misjudged swing by Bradshaw in the last two points at 10-10 left Melbourn with another 3-1 loss for the night, instead of a fifth and final game Bradshaw felt ready for. 11-2,13-15,11-7,12-10
Skipper Mark commented: Towers were a tough one to play for a first match of the season but to get the seven points showed it was a close match. I'm sure after a few more matches played the team will be nearing their peak performance again.