Mon 9th March

Melbourn won 18-4

The last home game of the season was an important one for the 2nds as we hosted the team one place above us in the table, Hunts County 3rds. The outcome mattered as Hunts were second, a promotion spot, and we were third, which is not…

We started with the top string clash, which, appropriately for the match closest to International Women’s Day, was an all-female affair as Kate Bradshaw (1) took on Emily Fuller. With both players ranked inside England’s top 200 women (per Squashlevels) a high-quality encounter was expected. It certainly started that way with extended rallies, both players looking to move the other to all the corners of the court; physical chess as the phrase goes. However midway through the first game it began to be clear there was something else in play as Emily was clearly struggling for breath, way too early in the match for that to be the case. It turned out she was playing her first game since a chest infection (genderless) and was discovering it wasn’t as far behind her as she thought. The lack of oxygen from midway through each game meant Emily was unable to run for Kate’s short attacking shots, which, as anyone who knows Kate’s game will tell you, is a recipe for a rapid defeat. That is exactly what Kate delivered, lobbing and dropping Emily to death as she cruised to a 15-7, 15-7, 15-10 win. [ 4.5% on Squashlevels]

The first string on the other court pitted Matt Walker (4) against Marcus Lattimer. There was something of a contrast in styles between the players as Matt looked to finish things with his trademark volley-drops whilst Marcus is more of a power player, though he has added some nice touch on the standard drop in recent years. As it panned out, Marcus’ low, hard hitting held the upper hand… mostly. Matt got his game really going in the third, and when he is on, he is really ON, but otherwise this was an off night as Marcus repeatedly caught him with punchy shots from the back corner. It all added up to a frustrating 7-15, 13-15, 15-3, 10-15 loss for Matt.

Next up on Court 2 were Moises Estrelles Navarro (5) and Kevin Hewitt. The Hunts player came into the game with a superb record for the season, sitting on 7-1, but he rapidly became the latest opponent to be surprised both by Moises speed around the court and the development of his attacking game. Moises came out all guns blazing, racing to a 10-1 lead in the opener that set the tone for the opening two games as Kev couldn’t find a way to counter a player who can seemingly get everything back and nowadays also puts away many of his own chances – well, this is a pretty deadly combination. One rally where Kev played the obvious and seemingly right forehand drop, only for Moises to somehow chase it down and then smack a crosscourt winner stands out in the mind; Kev looked completelity perplexed – we have all been there, mate. Moises had to worked harder in the third as a few mistakes crept into his game (pushing for the win) and Kev tried to wrong-foot him more (never give up), but right at the conclusion a series of "get everything back, make no mistakes” rallies from Moises saw him stretch away to finish off a comprehensive 15-6, 15-4, 15-12 win… against, remember, an opponent who has been tearing things up in the league this season. [ 7.1% on squashlevels]

The destiny of the bonus points was still in the balance as Richard Gouriet (3) took the court against Rick Watson. Richard has found county league Squash a struggle since he came into the team in the autumn, having spent 10 seasons away from the game. Match sharpness and fitness were initially lacking, but these are now coming back… but in the meantime Richard had endured a number of losses that hurt the confidence – we were not seeing the same player on the match court as we see in practice and internal friendlies. However, last time out, Richard had claimed a game for the first time, so hopes were high this could be the breakthrough. Those hopes looked slightly, well, hopeful after a first game which featured some tension-driven errors, but a determined effort saw Richard push through the nerves to claim the second and third. Fighting tooth-and-nail was a way through, as having got himself 2-1 up we finally saw some of Richard’s true abilities in fourth as he moved Rick around the court and then killed things off on the drop. It added up to a 9-15, 15-11, 15-12, 15-8 win… and a clearly relieved Richard. Hopefully that is the monkey off his back.

Richard’s string concluded whilst Jan Brynjolffssen (2) and Paul Goodwin were on court, so this one was about the margin of our victory rather than which team would come out on top on the night. A previous meeting at Hunts four years ago had seen Paul give Jan the run around, boasting him to death, but this time Jan was able to keep the ball wide, crisp and deep enough to force Paul into the back corners, where he had time to get to the boasts, rather than Paul boasting from the service line. Jan was having particular joy countering Paul’s short shots with straight drives, often catching the Hunts man racing forward expecting a crosscourt or drop instead. There were also a few weird exchanges at the front wall as both men reacted to scramble back balls whilst off balance… but most of these ended Jan’s way as he managed to hold his movement and not fall for Paul’s attempts to wrong-foot him. A slight wobble at 13-8 in the third with a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes from Jan made for a tense finish, but a straight backhand overhead volley kill (a shot which worked well on the night) at 13-12 set up a match point and a forehand drop closed it out as Jan picked up a 15-10, 15-7, 15-12 victory. [ 8.3 on squashlevels]

It all added up to a 18-4 win, or a 14 point margin of victory. That cut Hunts gap on us from 15 points down to just 1, with a single round of matches remaining. Exactly what the 2nds will need is still to be determined though as another match this week is Cambridge 3s (level with us prior to the Hunts match) hosting leaders Stamford. The outcome of that one will set up the final day, but prior to it this is how the top of the standings looks:

Tight, innit?