Stamford on a roll. Played 2 and won 2 with maximum points. Tougher opposition tonight though, with Oundle fielding a strong team though missing Chris Davey; (apparently he’d heard Yorkie has a new ‘intelligent’ racket and was last seen rolling around in hysterics).

So, onto the match. First up was Richard – newly promoted into the No 4 slot as Simon was still recovering from a week of alcohol abuse in Lanzarote. Rich settled into the first game against Phil Wallis, comfortably moving to a 7-2 lead. However, focusing hard on his new grip (which involves holding the racket on the shaft, thereby saving on buying new grips) Richard completely lost touch with reality and managed to lose the first game. After much coaching and top advice (hold the racket properly) Rich fought back overcoming a tricky opponent to win 3-1.

Opposite him was Jon Oakley who arrived at the court sporting a very fetching safari jacket – “It’s the height of fashion you know”. On court however, he moved with the agility of a monkey and was as aggressive as a lion (sort of) as he destroyed his opponent, Peter Izod. Some accurate shots along with excellent retrieving saw Jon a convincing winner 3-0.

Next up was Simon looking tanned and fit. Fully rested after his holiday saw him surprisingly sharp around the court playing accurate and aggressive squash. Dogged retrieving by both players made for some hard rallies. The 3-0 score line to Simon belied an excellent match (apart from the most appalling marking ever seen) and a strong opponent in Dave Reardon.

Meanwhile on the next court Mark Smith started comfortably, working hard but securing the first game. His opponent Nick Sims fought back and took advantage of Mark’s new ‘short and middle of the court game’ (which he played very well) to gain the upper hand and move a 2-1 lead. Again some top coaching and advice (lose, and you’ll never hear the last of it) proved the spark to rejuvenate Mark’s flagging spirit and he stormed back to win the next 2 games and the match 3-2.

Finally last on court was Yorkie with his new ‘intelligence’ head racket. (Someone was heard to say that “maybe Yorkie should start sleeping with it under his pillow and hope some of it seeps through” though I couldn’t quote them). A tough opponent for Yorkie in Neville Keir. Some quality rallies in the first game saw Yorkie work Nev very hard. This paid off in the second as Nev tired allowing Yorkie to command the ‘T’ and hit some outstanding shots. The third game going the same way with Yorkie a convincing winner 3-0. An excellent match result for Stamford winning 5-0 and taking 20 points again.

Next week is the big one against last year’s league winners Cottesmore. This one matters!