Archive for October, 2003

The team won! Unfortunately no reporters were at the match.

Paul York injured himself the day before this match so it was left to Richard Barker to find a replacement. Chappell and Hargreaves were unavailable so Rich went to the top and asked Tania Bailey if she could play but unfortunately she was going up to Manchester the evening of the match. Who else could he ask that could match Tania’s ability? – ah yes, Martin Brewin of course.

So, the team consisted of James Treweek at one, followed by Mark Smith, Jon Oakley, Richard Barker and Martin Brewin.

On first, was Rich playing Murray Jarvis. Rich started off well only to discover that the tin made quite an exciting sound – so he continued to hit it on a rather too regular basis – resulting in losing the first game, 9-7. In the second game Rich started off badly because he continued to hit the tin but he did make an effort later on and gave himself a fighting chance only to start hitting it out of court for no reason whatsoever – he lost the second, 9-7. Nobody could criticise Rich for not being consistent – he also lost the third 9-7. Clearly distraught with his performance, he said afterwards. “That’s best forgotten”.

Meanwhile on the other court Jon was playing Seth Broadbent – and some cracking rallies were had between the two of them. Seth took the first 9-5 and the battle continued into the 2nd game which was very tight but Jon took it 9-8. The rallies were long and some good shots were played. Seth just had the edge in the third taking it 9-7. Plenty of running was done by both men and Jon levelled it to 2-2 taking the fourth game 10-8. In the fifth, Jon took the lead only to allow Seth to claw it back and ultimately take if from his grasp, 9-6.

On the other court, Martin making his guest appearance, was playing Carole Page. Martin was somewhat rusty, this being only his second game of squash in about 4 months, and his back wall shots were just not accurate enough – leaving Carole plenty of space to destroy him. Carole won the first, won the second and won the third. Martin lost. Afterwards, he discovered that his team mates were having bets on how soon in the match he would hit it off the back wall – for the record it was on his fourth shot.

With the match over it was left to the top two boys to try and salvage some points. Mark was playing Matt Brown who showed some high quality squash in the first beating Mark 9-2. There were some good rallies in this match but you always felt that Matt had the edge and he took the next game, 9-5. In the third Mark dug in and tried a final push but Matt was having none of it and took the third 9-6.

Finally it was left to James playing Rob Baddeley. This was a match all about retrieving and both players picked up some great shots. James won the first and the second games. Many long rallies were being played by both men and clearly both were getting tired but in third Rob called it a day and James took the match.

To summarise, the boys got beaten but hopefully on the return match a stronger squad will be available and maybe the result will go the other way – lets hope so!!

Back Row: Mark Davis, Tim Prior, Adrian Chappell, Lawrence Ball, Mark Smith, Jonathan Oakley Front Row: Kim Cozens, Ferlin Barnard, Martin Brewin, Paul York, Richard Barker.

Eleven members representing the Club were Lawrence Ball, Richard Barker, Ferlin Barnard, Martin Brewin, Adrian Chappell, Kim Cozens, Mark Davis, Jon Oakley, Tim Prior, Mark Smith and Paul York. At the airport there were already complaints from Yorkie who was worried that he was going to be sharing a room with somebody who snored! Friendly banter continued and when reaching the hotel in the evening- it was a quick turn around to go out and appreciate the culture of Dublin. Now is it me or is there more to Dublin than Guiness?

Having enjoyed the previous evening it was time to face reality and play some squash. We were fortunate to be playing about midday so we had time to recover warm up and prepare for the match. We were playing Mount Pleasant and some good matches were had by all – though unfortunately due to the delay of this report not many more details can be remembered. So, if any of the tour members remained sober enough to remember the details feel free to enlighten us!!

The evening was most enjoyable starting off in a Thai restaurant then moving on to the bars and then heading home by either foot or for the lucky few, horse and cart!

The following day we were playing at Sutton Lawn Tennis Club. However, Jonathan Oakley seemed to be delaying matters by always being on the mobile phone – not only that but he had two, one on each ear – photos don’t lie!  Also notice how his instinct is to go and stand near a phone box!! Eventually we were off and arrived at the squash courts feeling fit and ready to go. Again some good matches were seen but alas no details remain of the scores! After the match it was time to recover and order the taxis to head back to Dublin airport and head back home.

Outside the hotel, (left to right) Richard, Mark Smith, Martin, Kim, Lawrence, Mark Davis, Adrian and Ferlin

Well done to Ferlin for putting a lot of effort into organising the tour. The question everyone is asking now is when is the next one!

Finally I leave you with pictures showing the evolution regression of man!!

…and for the fuller pictures see below.

First match of the season after being promoted from Division Two – a win here would be a good way to start life in Division One.

The match was set up superbly by Richard Barker and Jon Oakley – they were both on court first and both won there respective matches. As they said, the match was there for the taking.

What happened next, was not good. Mark Smith lost.

Then Paul York lost.

Finally, James Treweek lost.

The result being that the team lost. Rich and Jon were not happy!

The season will be a tough one. The mission this season will be to stay up – in Division 1.

Unfortunately the Captain, Simon Barker, is away for the first three weeks but he has roped his brother in to run the team during this period. Some old faces are back with James Treweek a new addition to the team and Adrian Hargreaves is also planning to play again. Neil Hodgkins (aka physcho) has offered his services for occasional games as he is a new club member.

This year players will be rotated (just like the Chelsea football squad!) to ensure where possible the lower order don’t dip out too much. Hopefully everyone should only miss about 2 games at most if all goes to plan. The Captain anticipates the team order to be – (subject to Barker brothers last deciding playoff game and any other best of three challenges to come):

James Treweek
Paul York
Mark Smith
Jon Oakley
Ade Hargreaves
Simon Barker
Richard Barker
Neil Hodgkins
Simon Richardson

***BREAKING NEWS*** SIMON BARKER HANDS OVER CAPTAINCY TO PAUL YORK