Melbourn lost 5-18

The 2nds got their season back underway after a pause for half-term with a trip into the fens to take on Swavesey 2nds. We were expecting a tough match here as Swavesey had come down from Division 2 last season, and so it was to prove.

First on court were Moises Estrelles Navarro (4) against Nathan Clark and Will Bradshaw (5) versus Henry Miller. It took only three rallies of Moises match for a dispute to arise about a let/stroke call, setting a tone for the evening which could be characterised as “feisty”. Moises pushed hard in his opening two games, but Nathan was too clean, taking them narrowly, and then racing away with the third as Moises fell to a 12-15, 13-15, 8-15 loss… that, worst of all, impacted negatively on his Squashlevels. #ALittleBitObssessed.

Meanwhile, next door, Will and Henry appeared in a competition for who could burst the ball first. The hitting was hard, it was fast, it was furious. But don’t take my word for it – we even have video of some of the first two games.

First game and second game. Will is in the blue top.

These both went narrowly the Swavesey player’s way, but Will was in the battle and found his grove in the third and particularly the fourth, which he cruised through as it appeared that Henry was tiring. Will was also up in the fifth, racing out into a 9-5 lead. But, sadly, with the line hovering he got a bit cautious in his approach, whereas Henry was feeling the end and knowing he could expend the last dregs. This produced a late turn around that saw Will go down 13-15, 14-16, 16-14, 15-8, 11-15.

Next to start was Jan Brynjolffssen (1) against Kamrun Patel. This match featured some nice rallies, with the opening game going backwards and forwards. It looked like it would be Kam’s when he held a 14-11 lead, but Jan dug in and saved all three game balls. He then got a chance of his own at 15-14, but played the rally far too cautiously and lost it. This was compounded by two soft errors on the next two points to hand over a game he could have stolen… and which would also prove his best chance as a change in tactics from the second onwards put Kam into more control. It ended with Jan going down 15-17, 9-15, 6-15.

Next on was new recruit to Melbourn colours Richard Gouriet (2), who was playing his first Team Squash match for about a decade (he used to play for Haileybury in the Herts League, but has since moved up to our neck of the woods). If one was choosing an opponent for a comeback… it would definitely NOT be Marcus Tsui, who shows his Badminton origins with his lofts, floats and volley drops. A Squash-style rhythm is absolutely not on offer.
Richard battled hard for the first two, which had little in them, but rusty mistakes at key times left him two down, and then a lack of match fitness kicked in in the third. It added up to a 15-17, 12-15, 6-15 reverse… but a step back towards the level of Squash he is clearly capable of.

The match was over as a contest by the time Matt Walker (3) took the court against William Wilkinson, but this didn’t affect the intensity of this contest one little bit. It took Matt a game to get properly warm, but once flowing he powered through the second and third as his trademark volley drops came out. That took it to a fourth game, which felt pivotal. Matt was striving for the end, Will battling to keep things going. Matt had a couple of match balls at 14-12 but snatched chances sent it to a break. This saw Will have the first chance at 15-14, but Matt saved it with a clutch forehand drop. He then earned match ball no. 3 at 16-15, and drew an error in the deep backhand corner to convert, which was greeted with a great roar. Matt won 11-15, 15-9, 15-8, 17-15.