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…