Melbourn lost 5-20

Melbourn 2nds travelled to Spalding for what turned out to be a particularly demanding contest.
Liam Murphy (1) went on first to play Scott Chuter who displayed great control and power and made few unforced errors. Liam was playing well but could not match Scott’s impressive performance and he lost 0-3.

Thomas Higginson (4) put in a characteristically strong performance and there was a flow of very entertaining rallies. But Thomas’s play was matched by Martin Pettitt’s consistent stroke-play which forced Thomas into making errors at crucial points in all 3 games. Thomas lost 0-3 but competed very well with the scoreline not really reflecting how close this match was.

Roger Woodfield (5) started strongly and dominated the first 2 games with some well crafted rallies and drop shots. The crunch came in the third when Roger was 13-11 ahead. His opponent, James Bowser, came back strongly and was able to win the game 15-13. James then gradually took control and won the next 2 games so Melbourn lost this string 2-3.

Roger plays a typically crafty drop shot

Gareth Jones (3) struggled to get into his match making several errors and lost the first game. To his credit Gareth responded well and convincingly won the second game with some attacking squash. His opponent, Gary Slator, also recovered well and played consistent squash which Gareth could not counter and he lost 1-3.

Colm O’Gorman (2) was in good form taking the first game in style. Although he lost the second, he restored control to take the third. It seemed that Colm was set to win the match but Clyde Finch had a different agenda and really dug deep to win the next 2 games. Colm lost 2-3.

Colm in action at Spalding

Skipper Roger Woodfield said "Although we were beaten by a stronger team, it was disappointing not to come away with more points, particularly as we were so well placed to win the second and fifth string matches"