Melbourn lost 4-12

This was a match to throw everyone for a loop, as it pitted at Beds club 1st team (Biggleswade) against the same from a Cambs club (Melbourn), both having entered the highest Division available to them… which was called Herts Division 2, obviously.

Fortunately the Squash was more predictable in its patterns as each match followed Squashlevels to within a couple of percent. The first to try (… and fail) to overturn the rankings was Jan Brynjolffssen, who took on Tom Depuy at 2nd string. The opening game saw Jan struggling with the accuracy of his game, Tom cruising through it with too much comfort. The second was more of a battle in the rallies, even if the score was closer, but it wasn’t until the third that Jan really found his drop shot accuracy; one backhand volley drop, faded off the strings to go perfectly into the forehand corner, stood out. That turned 12-11 into 13-11, a lead Jan was able to convert into a game… but that was as good as it got as Tom through the kitchen sink at the fourth, especially from 10-9. Suffocating play saw the Biggy player home, Jan going down 6-15, 8-15, 15-12, 9-15.

Next up was Richard Gouriet (3), who took on Jason Gollaglee. This match was tight, tight, tight, with the first going against Richard 13-15. On a bouncy court and evening the rallies were extended, which suited Richard’s defensive and counter-punching style, allowing him to claim a tense second on a breaker on around his third game ball thanks to a trickle boast that Rich had kept up his sleeve until the perfect moment. However, the third broke the other way as Richard found himself pinned deep into his backhand corner a little too often. Game four saw Rich find a good pattern of attacking Jason’s forehand volley, some of which he was leaving when they were playable – however this wasn’t quite enough to turn things around as the match finished 13-15, 17-15, 12-15, 12-15 against Rich.

That meant overall victory for Biggleswade, but there was still a target for Mike Herd (1) to play for against Ryan Harper. Two in fact; revenge for a 3-2 loss in the Cambs Winter League, where Ryan had featured for Comberton (there is a lot of overall of personnel between Biggleswade and Comberton) and the other, which Mike may not have known about, of becoming the first player this summer to win against Bigglesade in the Herts League. For 25 minutes Mike looked on course for both as he was more accurate than Ryan, forcing the Biggleswade player back and then playing pinpoint drops to build a 2-0 lead. However, time was in Ryan’s favour, given his relative youth and physical condition. Ryan’s shots were still looser than Mike’s, but the Melbourn players legs were starting to falter – one vital moment at 12-11 in the third saw energy preserved expecting a tight drop shot, only for Ryan’s put away to bounce nearly to the service line. But with Mike stationary, this was enough. A handful of minutes later it was 2-1… and the game had turned as Mike’s earlier pace around the court slowed a notch, Ryan got more confident, and the match telescoped into a five game epic. It eventually went against Mike 15-11, 15-8, 12-15, 8-15, 10-15. Next time, next time…