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.”