Melbourn lost 17-7

The 2nds last match of the winter season [what, already – yep, the downsides of an 8-team Division that] pitted us against Spalding.
There was little to play for in terms of league position as the visitors were mid-table and we were sure to finish 7th after results from the penultimate week, and will have to wait and see if that means we are back in Division 4 next season. So this was potentially a last chance for a while to test ourselves against Division 3 standard opponents.
The first to try were Roger Woodfield (5) against Philip Blake and Sean Hamilton (4) vs James Bowser. Roger started his match slowly, falling 7-1 down in the first game, and was always up against it from that point on. Philip was getting forward well and picking up Roger’s drops, and then countering for winners. Despite Rog using all his guile to try and figure out a method, he was simply overmatched here and lost 7-1, 6-15, 9-15.
Sean also started slowly, losing his opening game, but gradually worked his way into it as he chased and harried James. The Spalding player took the second to add to the opener, but Sean was really in the match now as James was visibly tiring, the Melbourn player’s retrieving allow him to turn rallies around that he often seemed to have no right to win. 2-0 became 2-2 to take us into a decider… which followed the pattern of the match as James came out hard and caught Sean cold for a 6-1 lead. At 13-7 down things looked all lost, but a one-rally-at-time approach and laser like focus on no errors was getting Sean back – all the way to 11-13. This was the turning point rally as Sean scrambled across to a drop shot in his front backhand corner, lobbing an out-of-position James. Except the Spalding player somehow not only leaped high enough to get his frame on a ball that was seemingly over him, he also managed to direct his desperation volley into the nick! 14-11 rather than 13-12 was a massive momentum shift, and one Sean couldn’t recover from as he lost the next point as well to fall 10-15, 14-16, 15-9, 15-8, 11-15.
Whilst this was all going on Colm O’Gorman (3) had got underway against Gary Slator over on Court 1. The first game was nip-and-tuck as Colm scrambling and movement matched up with Gary’s attempt to hold the ball to get space for kills. However some clutch rallies at the death saw Colm through 15-13, and from there on it was relatively plain sailing when Colm was on it as Gary looked increasingly lost in the search for winners. One brief interlude in game 2 where Colm attempted to beat Gary at his touch game aside, the Melbourn player was bang on the plan and won 15-13, 15-10, 15-6.
Liam Murphy (2) looked to continue his good form following his convincing win in the last match. However, it became clear early on that his opponent, Clyde Finch, was going to be a tough competitor. Liam was the most impressive when he attacked with his powerful drives and deft drop shots. Clyde’s style was more measured and consistent. The first game was tight but Liam edged ahead to 13-11 and was able to hold off Clyde to win 15-12. The second was just as close until Liam forced a 10-7 lead. Clyde recovered and 11-11 became 14-14 but Liam, impressively, took the game 16-14. By now, Liam was visibly tired and could not keep up with Clyde’s relentless pressure and the third game was quickly lost 5-15. The next game was crucial. To his credit, Liam found new energy and competed well but was always just short of points and Clyde efficiently wrapped up the game 15-13. The final game followed a similar pattern and, despite giving it his all, Liam lost 10-15 and the match 2-3.
Jan Brynjolffssen (1) was up against Scott Chuter. Jan arrived at the game in good form, and the opening rallies featured some clean up-and-down the wall Squash from both players. The only problem from a Melbourn perspective was Scott won them all (well nearly, 15-4!). Encouraged to break the play up a bit by his teammates, Jan made more headway in second game catching Scott out with a number of drop shots. But even so he still trailed all the way through. The third game was more comfortable again for the visiting player as Jan slipped to a 4-15, 10-15, 7-15 defeat.
That made the final score 17-7 to Spalding, which is a rather standard score for the 2nds this season. We have competed and given other teams good games… but only to ultimately loss most of them. Just 3 wins and 11 defeats overall, and 2 of those 3 wins were against a Cambridge Uni side a little out of their depth.
Skipper Roger Woodfield said “Another tough match to finish our league campaign. The highlight was Colm’s impressive 3-0 win. Sean and Liam battled well and were both unlucky to lose 2-3. There’s no doubt that our first season back in Div 3 was very challenging! We ended up in 7th position but would always argue we are better than that!”