Melbourn won 16-9

Christmas is approaching, and that means the opening half of the Cambs Division 3 season is on the wane. The 2nds penultimate game before the festive season sent us away from home to take on Hunts County 3rds. This was a rarity given the imbalance in our fixtures – just the second away game of the opening, compared to six on our own courts.

Despite having to travel, we had a strong team out, helped by the presence of not one but two Squash-playing Bradshaws. Well, actually three as Charlotte was also there at Hunts, but she spent most of the evening doing her homework rather than watching Mum Kate or brother Will playing – clearly Charlotte’s efforts in Comberton colours in the Ladies League on Monday evening had left her Squashed out.

Instead it was down to Kate (1) to take on Sean Brodderick and Will (5) to try and upend Marcus Lattimer. Kate delivered on it as she got a significant scalp, beating Brodders 3-2. Reports from those watching were that Kate was initially struggling with her control, nicking the first game whilst not playing at her best and then picking things up a bit to claim the third. The fourth was tight as hell, Kate having matchballs before losing it on an extended tie-break… but rather than get down about this instead Kate appeared to have got herself into the zone as the decider was a masterclass of stepping in and racket head control – inch perfect lob serves were mixed in with millimetre perfect kills, often volley drops, as she raced out into a 9-0 lead. That was always going to be decisive, Kate cruising home for an excellent 15-13, 8-15, 15-8, 16-18, 15-4 win.

Meanwhile Will (5) was on the low-ceilinged court next door. This would have taken lobs away from him… if he had shown any inclination to play them. But not tonight – tonight Will was trying to smash the glassback merely by hitting a Squash Ball against it very, very, very hard. Opponent Marcus had a different plan, dropping from deep, and this worked as Will wasn’t his usual dynamic self with his movement, repeatedly trying to predict which side Marcus would go in game one, the Hunts player consistently choosing the opposite side from the one Will was covering. Game two was much better from Will… up until a wobble when 14-10 up, when his desire to end the game in a single shot bite him to the tune of needing a breaker. However, in this he played more patiently, forcing two errors from Marcus to level up. That was as good as it got though, Will not really get any traction against Marcus in the next two with his head gradually dropping as he lost 8-15, 16-14, 11-15, 7-15.

Following on from Will we had Colm O’Gorman (3) taking on Paul Goodwin, widely known as ‘Doc’ (…on account of his profession). This was a match that pitted two players with a similar style up against each other [in your author’s opinion: really annoying to play against!]. Both move about the court very well, getting more than they should back, and are then able to find angles for attacking shots that really shouldn’t exist. It was an interesting question of which was going to drive the other more up the wall. In game one it was Colm, edging it narrowly, but in the next two Paul got his game going with court coverage and trickle boasts to claim them, despite Colm bitting back at him at one stage of game 3. The fourth was the critical game as there was next to nothing in it. Coming to the dénouement Colm had a narrow lead, earning himself a game ball at 14-13, but not converting. Doc then gave him a booster at 15-14 as he choked on a match winning kill… but Colm wasn’t able to take advantage, losing the next two points to fall 15-12, 15-6, 15-9, 15-17.

Back over on the exhibition court, Matt Walker (4) was taking on Rick Watson. Again, similar styles of players as both hit a hard, low, crisp, ball, but with Matt maybe having more about him with his volley-drop kills. One other similarity was a bit of a struggle to clear the ball, with many strokes given and more eschewed by the players as each took on shots they really didn’t need to play. One key difference was mental resilience though, with Matt getting tougher as the games progressed and Rick seeming more to fade away, with the first two both reaching about 8-all before Matt pulled clear to 14-10 up. Game one saw Matt having conversion problems, letting all four game balls go past with too passive play, but he then up the ante in the breaker to win it, forcing errors on the next two points. Determined not to do that again, he finished the second clinically at the first opportunity. Game three seemed to be going OK for Matt up until 6-all, but from here he tried to be too precise and managed the precise opposite, losing 9 straight points to give up the game. This was an aberration as the fourth showed with the players situations reversing, Matt powering away to complete a 16-14, 15-10, 6-15, 15-6 win.

That took it all down to the final string, which pitted Jan Brynjolffssen (2) against Emily Fuller. Emily had been on good form recently, moving her Squashlevels ranking up to close to breaking into the top 150 women in England, and there was a pretty close encounter last season between the pair, Jan edging things 3-1 and rather relieved to have got off court at that point as Emily was fighting back hard. However, on this evening Jan seemed to have Emily’s measure as he found a pattern of holds and reverses that kept the Hunts player off-balance for extended periods – crosscourt volley drops from the high backhand were one particularly successful source, with Emily shouting at herself “don’t put the ball there” at one point as another cut across her movement towards the opposite front corner for a winner. Things got slightly tighter at the back end of the third game, Jan seeing a 12-9 lead clawed back to 13-12, but from there he was able to induce two errors from the home player’s racket to complete a strong 15-10, 15-9, 15-12 win that meant victory for the seconds by three strings to two (16-9 overall).

Post-match Matt observed “We don’t usually win the top strings when we win 3-2” A true enough observation rooted in the Seconds being more about strength in depth than having super-skilled players at the top of the order… but Matt happened to verbalise this thought whilst standing next to Hunts No.1 (who generally has a good winning record at #1 in Div.3, but had lost on this particular evening), with our #2 close by (just collected his first win in a while). Matt is probably best advised not to apply to the FO for that job as a diplomat…

Melbourn lost 5-17

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Melbourn won 18-8

The 2nds picked up their first win in three matches as they saw off Division 3’s bottom side Frank Lee 1sts… but only just, the 18-8 win going down to a deciding game in the final string on court before breaking Melbourn’s way.

Things started well for the hosts, ever improving teenager Will Bradshaw (4) making light work of a very experienced county league player Mat Williams. Will won 15-4, 15-9, 17-15, initially overpowering Mat and then riding things out when the Frank Lee player got his great attacking boasts going in the third.

However Frank Lee struck back as Sean Hamilton (5) ran out of gas when two games up against Liam Stubbington. Liam didn’t really have the shots to trouble Sean on the attack, but he defended well and as Sean’s legs tired he started to attempt to force, making mistakes where he had previously been clean. Sean even had a match ball in the fourth, but having not converted saw the match escape him 16-14, 15-10, 7-15, 15-17, 13-15.

Next on court was Moises Estrelles Navarro (3) in an all-Spanish affair against Nick Balon. This pairing upset Moises as it meant to he couldn’t swear as much as he wanted too… not that it turned out he needed to as Moises speed around court was just too much for Nick to cope with, the Melbourn player rattling out a rapid 15-3, 15-7, 15-6 win.

The next match on court was Jan Brynjolffssen (1) against Dan Foster. The first game saw Jan struggling to cope with Dan’s attacking play, but a step up court to be more dynamic and go for his shots before his opponent could saw Jan turn things around to win the next two. The fourth was nip and tuck, with a touch of controversy thrown in, with Jan ahead late on in the game but finding himself leaving the court regretting tinning what should have been two simple backhand drop shots at 12-11 and 13-12. He lost the game, and then couldn’t re-assert himself in the fourth, going down 11-15, 15-5, 15-10, 14-16, 13-15.

This meant it was all up to Matt Walker (2) and James Hustwayte, though the players didn’t know this as they started. Matt got off to a flier, but then lost his way and looked in trouble as James, by far the younger man, built a two games to one lead. However Matt is a cussed dog, plus he was also enjoying the challenge of playing second string for once, and he dug in to take it to a decider. By now I think the players knew it was all on their shoulders; Matt handled the pressure better, seeing out the game and letting out a roar of victory. Both his and the teams. Matt’s game scores were 15-9, 8-15, 7-15, 15-10, 15-8.

The win kept the 2nds nicely ensconced in fifth place in the Division 3 table – the middle spot, but on points way closer to the top of the standings (leaders Cambridge 3s have 99 to our 81) than the bottom two places (St. Ivo 2s, who are in 8th are on 41 points, i.e. 4 behind us).