The curtain has come down on the 2007/8 Winter Squash season, with Hart Squash Club having had a season to remember. For many years their first team has occupied a place in Division 2 of the Berkshire League, but without the depth of talent to mount a challenge to reach the next level. However, now for the first time in its history “f5” Hart, will have a team in Division One next season.

The team climaxed a great campaign at the Beechdown club in Basingstoke with another resounding 5~0 victory, their 7th ‘whitewash’ out of 14 matches stretching back to last September. The team captain, Rob Barker, pointed to the continuity in the team, which led to a great team spirit “Chris, Ashley, Pete, Ian and myself played most matches, which enabled us to build a great rapport between us. On the odd occasion when one of us was unable to play, Stefan filled in and he never lost a game for us”.

Both Ashley and Ian played all 14 matches, but pride of place this season must go to Ian who won all his matches. It was his consistency that was another contributory reason, why the team was able to win their division by a massive 46 points.

Hart’s first team was the only one of their 3 teams to win promotion, but the others only narrowly missed out, with the seconds and thirds both finishing in third place in their respective divisions.

Whilst the “f5” Hart Second’s won most of their matches, they did encounter 2 clubs, Wellington and Esporta that stood out, and when the last match of the season arrived (against Esporta), there was really only pride left to play for. It turned out to be the teams best performance of the season, with James’ enthralling 3~2 win against their best player being the highlight of the evening.

“f5” Hart Squash manager, Adrian Pepler, was delighted that all the teams had performed so well “Clearly the success of the first team was fantastic, but I was particularly pleased that the “f5” Hart third team played so well throughout the season, even though they finished a few points short of promotion. It reflects the strength in depth that we currently have in the Club”. For the third team, the penultimate match of the season against Bounty who were vying for promotion was crucial and whilst the match was very close, the bonus points that Bounty received for winning the match made the difference in the final calculation.

The “f5” Hart Squash teams play at Hart Leisure Centre in Fleet and will also have 3 teams in the Summer league, commencing in May.