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’.