Hart Squash

The team:-
1) Simon Wood
2) Dave Wroe
3) Steve George
4) Sohail
5) Mark Corr
Aided and abetted by Stephen, Jan, one working PA system and a flip
chart score board.

First off was Sohail who ran and ran, got fairly worked-up but couldn’t
convert his changes against his former rugby-player opponent.  Even
Jan’s (who was sitting next to the beer) microphone-enhanced dodgy
marking couldn’t save Sohail who went down 1-3 (I think)

On the flip-chart scoreboard court Mark raced into a 1-0 lead – well he
was about 7-3 up and finally clinched it 10-8.  Unfortunately it was a
bit of a struggle from then on for him, as his opponent’s tight lobbing
ground Mark down and he too succumbed 1-3.

Dave followed Sohail and swiftly took the first game 9-0 and proceeded
to drop the next 3.  His opponent got better but Dave didn’t so that was
a fair result really !

Steve, who initially talked-down his chances, played a steady safe game,
with economical leg use and some tidy strokes. He never looked
particularly troubled (apart form a wobble in the 3rd game) and came
through a comfortable 3-1 winner.

Simon’s opponent was aiming to double (to 2) his points tally from their
previous encounter. With iron-fisted marker Steve on hand signals, and
Jan on flip-chart, Simon cruised through (on a sore ankle) to a slightly
scruffy 3-0 win.

Overall a 2-3 defeat for Hart old gits.

The thirds were up against it again! They were playing Bounty, top of the table and {on paper} it was a fair way from being our strongest side. Still we did beat them before Christmas – which was very satisfying. Could history repeat itself?

The team – Mac – Kerry – Ashley – Pete – Paul

Well, not a great start – Mac was on first and was up against a young feller who was fit and got everything back – not the sort of player Mac likes playing! The outcome was not therefore unexpected – a 0~3 loss.

Pete was also on but unlike Mac, the signs were good. After dropping the first game, Pete came back and (from the balcony) looked as though he was playing some decent squash in taking the next 2. Afterwards he reckoned it was not ‘pretty’ squash – no change there then!! The match was not over and his opponent was playing a pretty steady game, getting to 8~5, but then Pete dug in, squared it, and kept his nerve to win the game 10~9 & the match.

Didn’t see much of Kerry’s match, but we know that he had played his opponent before and lost, but was usually hampered by injury. The signs were not so good again as both of his legs were fully covered in elasticated support bandages. His opponent took a game to remind himself of Kerry’s style, and then won the next 3. 2~1 down.

Ashley’s form has been improving since he came back from mid-season injury. It all came together last night as his older opponent was unable to cope with the power and accuracy that Ash produced. Lots of shots tight to the wall contributed to his fine performance in a 3~0 win.

So unusually it was all down to the 5th string match where Paul, unbeaten so far playing for Hart, had his personal record severely tested. All the games were tight and his opponent was far more experienced. Paul lost the 2nd, leaving the match evenly balanced and in the 3rd Paul was losing 5~3 when he suddenly strung a series of points together with mistake-free squash, taking it 9~5. So to the 4th and there was a similar pattern with Paul playing well but unable to get on top – until he was 8~5 down. They swapped serves a few times and then Paul did it again – 5 points in a row to take the match. Cool & calm, Paul showed a great deal of maturity – and what do you know? – Hart had completed an extremely satisfying double over the league leaders.

The seconds were again weakened considerably because of the unavailability of 1st team players, so the team was:

Paul K
Jason K
Elliot S
Phil (Prof) E
Tom M

Phil & Paul set off first, played Ok but against stronger opponents, ended with defeats that failed to trouble the scorers. They handed the respective batons over to Tom (making a welcome comeback) and Jason, and here we saw some of the deficit overturned.

Tom thought nothing of his shortage of full match fitness and piled on the pressure from the start, dominating an opponent who was slow out of the blocks and never managed to catch up. A 3~0 win that closed the gap.

Jason looked very determined but against an opponent who had beaten Simon 3~0 in Hungerford, it was to be a tough match. The first 2 games went the way of his opponent, but Jason bravely dug in and played good controlled squash to edge the 3rd. Unfortunately after a tight start, the 4th slipped away, and the baton was handed to Elliot with no chance of catching Herongate.

Nonetheless, Elliot is no quitter and gave his all. He played excellent squash to lead 2~1, but he then thought he saw the finishing line and started to ease up. His opponent had more left in the tank and started to close the gap, first to make it 2~2 and then by maintaining his form, he managing to overtake Elliot in the final strides. Elliot had no answer and it was a 2~3 defeat. A 4~1 loss overall, with just one match to go this season.

The team for this match was:
1 Dan Long
2 Stefan Stanton
3 Rob Barker
4 Ian Smith
5 Simon Wood
This was not going to be an easy game against the champions elect and the task was made even harder when Jesse Englebrecht showed up to play at 1 for them !

With most of the first team absent or already playing elsewhere (hmmm!)….. It was left to these 5 Harty players to fight the battle against Charters.

First up was Simon against a player who was saving himself for the game the next day at Canary Wharf. Anyway at least Simon got to enjoy a curry and a couple of bottles of Waggle Dance beer! He accepted defeat (3-0) and savoured the realisation that he had paid £2 per point (1-9, 0-9, 4-9).

Rob on the other court was being beaten all ends up and I don’t mean the squash. People have been sent down for GBH for less. Rob faced questioning from his other half as to where all the marks and bruises came from. At 1-1 in a dirty match, this could have gone either way. Had Rob actually played any squash lately, it might have made some difference. However he could not find the consistency and lost 3-1. Still a point for Hart.

Ian started well & raced to a 2-0 lead playing some good squash. If you had seen Ian before the game, you would not have believed this, what with his back problems. However his opponent fought back and took the next two games 9-2, 9-2. At 8-8 in the deciding game, his opponent just had the luck and squeezed the last couple of points. Ian lost 3-2.

Dan with obvious bowel problems, was emitting far too much green gases. In accepting defeat before he even got on court (who wouldn’t when you are playing Jesse!), Dan fought well and managed to play some aggressive squash. Despite a 3-0 loss, he did manage to get 7 points in the second game. A minor victory.

Stefan going on last had nothing to lose (except a bit of weight). Sorry. This was a good game with some good rallies and equally deft shots. At one game all, the 3^rd really was the crucial one but Stefan just fell short and then could not raise his game in the fourth. Stefan losing 3-1.

4^th March 2010: Match report – Berkshire League Shield Knockout Semi Final against The Marlow Club

The team for last nights match

1) Rob
2) James
3) Simon
4) Jason
5) Paul

Its always a worry when you get a phone call at 3pm, a few hours before the match… Anyway Ian became the p0rnstar and pulled out at the last minute.  A quick call to Simon and he was now back in the team.  I think Mrs Wood was looking forward to a romantic night in with hubby.. but those plans were ruined.

Then a distressed call from Jason to say that he would not be there until 9pm…. anyway his team mates came to rescue… James and Simon picked up the bling and Rob picked up Jason..  At least Jason was not late!

As for the match … well… firstly I have to say how well attired the team was… the new name for the team is now the Hart All blacks.. apart from Jason.. in different coloured shorts. It was Mrs Jason who has packed his kit though!

Paul went on first against a Bisham Abbey old timer…  and despite a few moments with loss of concentration and frustration about his opponent’s slow game, took this one easily 3-0.

Simon on the other court was up against a young opponent who had the measure on him.  Simon battled away but got nowhere and went down 3-0.

Jason took the advice to concentrate on a long game, no mistakes and no cross courts… with the new racquets in hand, took the lead 1-0.. however fell away and went back to a very loose game.. lots of mistakes and lots of bad cross courts.  Jason lost 3-1 and after the game took to the running machine to seek solace.

Rob started well but just was not running against his opponent. at 2-0 down, things were not looking good.. However the “tough guy” instinct clicked in and he battled back to win the next two games 10-8 and 9-7.

………. meanwhile James on the other court was thrashing his opponent 3-0…….. so really with the match score at 2-2 and Rob’s game score at 2-2… it was all down to the last.

However Rob could not get over the line and lost the fifth.. to lose 3-2.

Unlucky guys a narrow 3-2 defeat and no cup final for us..

Back to the league action next week.

Rob