Posts Tagged ‘Cambs League Teams’

Stamford lose at home 3-2.

James Trewick 1 Chris Reeve 3 { 3/9 , 9/6 , 3/9 , 7/9 } (1sts)
Paul York 3 Mark Emery 2 { 7/9 , 9/0 , 3/9 , 9/6 , 9/7 } (2nds)
Mark Smith 0 Colin Usher 3 { 8/10 , 8/10 , 5/9 } (3rds)
Richard Barker 1 Keith Hackett 3 { 4/9 , 6/9 , 9/2 , 0/9 } (4ths)
Simon Barker 3 Tony Gay 0 { 9/0 , 9/5 , 9/3 } (5ths)

Stamford lost 3-2

Simon Gardiner 1 James Trewick 3 { 4/9 , 9/7 , 4/9 , 8/10 } (1sts)
John Hawkins 3 Paul York 0 { 9/4 , 9/4 , 9/3 } (2nds)
Frazer Allen 3 Mark Smith 0 { 9/5 , 9/0 , 9/4 } (3rds)
Paul Austin 3 Jonathon Oakley 1 { 9/7 , 9/3 , 9/10 , 9/3 } (4ths)
0 Adrian Hargreaves 3 {Walkover} (5ths)

After an enforced layoff (I won’t bore you with the details), the scribe is back. And with some gossip to catch up on it seems. The team for tonight’s game was James Treweek, Mark Smith, Jon Oakley, Richard Barker and Simon Barker playing in that order.

We all traveled down together and I caught up on previous matches. Played 4, won 2 and lost 2. A good average and seemingly on track to establish ourselves within the league and crucially to remain up in div 1. The matches appear to have gone well apart from the odd hiccup. A welcome new addition to the team this year is James “Psycho” Treweek taking the pressure of Yorkie (still suffering with major twisted sock injury – sorry, calf injury.

We all traveled down together and I caught up on previous matches. Played 4, won 2 and lost 2. A good average and seemingly on track to establish ourselves within the league and crucially to remain up in div 1. The matches appear to have gone well apart from the odd hiccup. A welcome new addition to the team this year is James “Psycho” Treweek taking the pressure of Yorkie (still suffering with major twisted sock injury – sorry, calf injury.

Anyway I digress, on with the gossip. Recently James was playing in the coveted number 1 slot, of which we all aspire to play at and where we often look to our talented players as mentors and ambassadors of our beloved sport. This was a difficult game for James and after some questionable decisions by the marker James became somewhat aggrieved. (Some would say the plot went completely missing). After some stiff exchanges of words between players (with the marker attempting to regain control of the fight match) the game was completed with James finally completely destroying a perfectly good teddy. Less than a week later playing for the second team at short notice again James was not on best form mentally and proceeded to have a very similar game with much teddy destroying. This was followed by a major sulk and no pub visit for food and drinks. 10.00pm now and transport was a major issue as Oakham is a fair way with no car (the team driver of course was at the pub). I’ll catch a train thought James – nope. Next one is 11.30pm. Ah! Taxi. How much?? Finally James managed to get home after catching a lift from a passing Samaritan (luckily). Which brings me to tonight and after some “mild” banter in the car James admitting he was exceptionally embarrassed by his last two matches behavior stated 1. “I will never question a call again” 2. “I’m too embarrassed to play for the second team again” (if ever asked!!!) and finally after overhearing his opponent talking about him in the dressing room saying that he was concerned that James was okay, James said, after slating himself again “……… and he is such a nice bloke”.

So back to the match tonight. Portugal Place were our opponents. Div 1 champions last year. Barker senior was on first against Rupert Jakes. A tough first game ensued with Simon working the hardest. Some good rallies saw a close fist game just taken by Rupert 9-7. The second saw Simon collapse with some dire squash allowing Rupert an easy 9-2 win. The third Simon finally got his act together and stormed through to take it 9-2. Another concentration failure saw Rupert runaway with the first 7 points and under serious self induced pressure Simon found some shots and started to claw back until finally losing 9-6 and the tie 3-1.

Richard was on the other court to tall Neil Raine. Richard never got to grips with the right game plan and played into Neil’s (large) hands. Unable to exert any pressure Richard last 9-1, 9-0, 9-6. The omens weren’t good!

Jon Oakley went next. Yet another disaster. Jon having the same problem could not apply any pressure to his opponent – Andy Whitam, and though some good rallies were played Jon could not get a game and finally went down 9-6, 9-4 and 9-7.

So with the match lost and some long faces about Mark Smith went on against Aqib Kadar. Aqib was a very handy player and from the off it was apparent that Mark was going to get intimate with the court corners. Sure enough, Aqib went on to win 9-1, 9-4, 9-2 playing some excellent squash and keeping Mark on the back foot. Lastly it was psycho’s James turn against a young lad (12 I think) Chris Killyard. This was tough one with some excellent shots from both players. Hard telling rallies with both players working hard saw a close 1st with Chris stealing it at the end 9-6 then going on to dominate the court and take the next two comfortably 9-1, and 9-1.

A great game but a disappointing match as we were well and truly stuffed. A little worrying was their number 1 was not playing!! However none of us really played to their potential – but we will be back. Can anyone afford to sponsor Michael Ferreira jnr a return flight from the States for the return match??

The team won and again no reporters were at the match. However, they have now won 2 and lost 2. The 2 they’ve won have been at home – will they be able to win away next week?

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!!

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!

This was Stamford’s biggest challenge of the season. Kimbolton, Cambs premiership team who finished 4th in the table arrived with a full strength team. Stamford knew the pressure was on and tonight would be a taster for what we can expect next season, now that we have secured promotion to the Cambs premier div ourselves of what the best of the premiership could offer.

First on was Simon Barker playing Pramjet Deol. Pramjet started well and from the off found his touch taking the pace off the ball well and playing some lovely touch squash. This forced Simon into a serious running game needing to cover the front of the court. Struggling to relax Simon made too many errors losing the first 9-4. The second saw an improvement but Simon still not able to get forward enough to have any time on the ball forcing either an error playing the drop or a loose shot to the back where Pramjet was waiting. 9-6 to Pramjet. The third saw a fight back from Simon as he finally got that yard forward and started to cover Pramjets short shots. Better drops from Simon and good recovery shots took him to 8-8. Disappointingly though. he was unable to capitalise and lost the third 10-8.

Next on was Jon Oakley against Matt Towers. This was the best game of the night as both players produced some outstanding squash. Matt starting better, worked the ball well causing a few mistakes from Jon as he lost the first 9-4. More relaxed in the second Jon started playing some fantastic squash. His movement around court was very quick as he picked everything up and hit a lovely length and width. Too tight for Matt the next two went to Jon 9-7 and 9-5. The fourth saw Matt get back in control as he edged it all the way himself playing some great shots. 2-2 in the tie now. As they started the fifth, Jon, showing great determination and concentration had a flying start storming to a 6-0 lead before Matt got a grip and began fighting back. As he picked the points up the tension rose, but Jon kept his head and took control again to take it 9-6. A great result for Stamford and Jon. Well played.

Next on was Adrian Hargreaves playing Gary Milner. Gary, obviously fired up for this, dominated the T and massacred everything Adrian hit. Gary playing some excellent squash, taking the ball very early, hitting very hard and to a good width kept Adrian at the back of the court under serious pressure. Gary, too strong in the first took it 9-0. the second started the same as Gary stormed away to a 5-0 lead. Adrian finally grabbed a point and suddenly found himself back in the game as Gary dropped his game hitting a number of tins and then it was 5-5. Adrian now, forcing himself to take the ball early, was battling well but Gary cut the errors out and started applying the pressure again forcing mistakes from Adrian. The second finally going to Gary 9-7. The third saw Adrian again having to work hard for everything but Gary, still faster to the ball, kept Adrian on the back foot and had a comfortable 9-0 to take the tie 3-0.

Mark Smith next playing Steve Davis (much more interesting than the other). From the first point it was apparent that Mark was going to have to win each point 3 or 4 times as Steve’s speed and outstanding court movement got him to everything that Mark hit with seemingly half an hour to spare. Excellent rallying saw a very entertaining tie. Both players running hard but Mark was always under intense pressure as Steve picked up anything that didn’t roll out of the nick. The first went to Steve 9-3, the second 9-0 and valiant attempt by Mark in the third to stop the rot failed as Steve wrapped it up 9-6.

Last on was Yorkie playing Steve Barlow. Steve having an awesome touch and a vast array of shots was to prove a handful for Yorkie. The first started evenly but then Steve started throwing a working boast in from the back of the court and with Yorkie forced to do a few shuttles the omens weren’t good. A hard first saw Steve have the edge to take it 9-5. The second, was dominated by Steve as he pushed Yorkie around the court, playing some lovely touch shots. Yorkie fought hard putting winners away when the opportunity arose but Steve was controlling the T and secured the second 9-3. A better third from Yorkie as it went evenly up to halfway before a couple of errors under pressure gave Steve the edge and he went through to finish it 9-6.

So a convincing win for Kimbolton but credit to the Stamford lads as they fought for everything making it a very entertaining evenings squash. My thanks go to all who came and supported us.

With the season now over, to recap: Stamford are division two winners promoted to the premier league and Cambs cup semi-finalists. An excellent first year in Cambridgeshire. As this is the last match and report of the season I would also, as team captain, like to thank the team that has supported me this year. Whether they played one, or all 17 matches their support has made my job enjoyable. I would also like to thank our sponsors for the year: Stamford Green Man (Tony Shilling and his staff, excellent food, service, beer – a top boozer!!) AWARE promotions for the team shirts and Movenpick ice cream – probably the best ice cream in the world! Cheers.

Comfortable win.

Yorkie beat Paul Burnett 3-0
Smithy beat Roy Pickerill 3-1
Jon O beat Jon Palin 3-1
Adrian H beat Bill McTaggart 3-0
Simon B beat Martin Cadel 3-0

…the next match is the cup semi-final.

Recent results had not been good for Stamford and tonight’s match saw another new face in the team, Adrian Hargreaves. Yorkie was back post injury but Richard B was still sidelined with a pulled calf. Tonight’s team order is Yorkie at 1, Jon Oakley 2, Adrian Hargreaves 3, Si Barker (captain) 4 and Si Richardson at 5.

Si Richardson was up first against Stewart McTavish. Simon, fresh from a weekends skiing, commented “I always play crap, straight from skiing so I got a game in yesterday and got the crap game out of my system” He then went on court and preceded to play crap! Seriously though Simon was up against a very strong player and as determined as Simon was to rally the ball up and down the wall Stewart picked the ball off putting it away consistently. Simon ran for everything but couldn’t contain Stewart who had a comfortable win 9-0, 9-4, 9-2.

Captain on next who was determined to seek revenge on his opponent Jaques Van Oorschot for the 3-1 defeat during the first half of the season. Jaques though had other ideas and Simon, making way too many errors, made the task easier for him. The first went to Jaques 9-3 by simply taking the ball early and keeping Simon under pressure. Simon played better in the second but with still too many errors inexplicably lost it 9-1. The third saw a valiant fight back from Simon as he finally managed to force some errors from Jaques, but couldn’t do enough to steal it as Jaques took the third 9-7. Stamford now 2-0 down and in trouble again.

Next on was Adrian playing Jaco Vermaak. Adrian had an excellent start with Jaco making unforced errors to allow Adrian an easy 9-3 in the first. The second saw Jaco tighten up, find a better length and take control of the rallies. Adrian’s turn to make the errors as Jaco took it 9-7. The third was an excellent display of quality squash as both players hit accurate shots around the court. Adrian though always just had the edge and took the third 9-2. The fourth was an almost exact copy of the third as Adrian sealed it 9-2 and the tie 3-1. Was the comeback on?

Jon Oakley on now, against Hussein Said, (who made Yorkie work very hard in the first half of the season). Hussein started slowly giving Jon time to settle in. Jon, looking sharp around the court was quick to pick up everything and caught Hussein with the short ball. 9-3 to Jon in the first. Hussein stepped up in the second and Jon, looking a little too casual made the errors to give Hussein the second 9-6. The third began with a much more focused Jon playing excellent length and width, retrieving superbly and even when under pressure finding a great shot to get out of trouble. Hussein had no answer to this as he buckled to a 9-0 defeat. The fourth followed on with Jon totally dominating for a convincing 9-1 win to take the tie 3-1 and square the match 2-2.

Finally Yorkie was on playing Ben Bradshaw. Pressure was on Yorkie as the match relied on his result. The first saw Yorkie a little cautious (technical jargon for moving round court like a slug on a go slow) which we put down to him protecting his recently injured calf. This allowed Ben an easy ride in the first to take it 9-6. The second, Yorkie came out on a mission and suddenly found that extra half a yard and massacred just about everything into a selection of nicks. Ben found himself moving up to two paces forward of the T just to give himself a chance of picking the ball up before it bounced for the fourth time. 9-1 to Yorkie. A nail biting third then commenced as Yorkie threw in a few tins as well as the nicks and with Bens confidence lifted his retrieving was awesome. Yorkie stuck to his game though and snuck the third 9-7. The fourth was a real battle and with Yorkie’s little legs starting to fade the tension spectating was high. It was very even up to 7-7 then Yorkie clinched a point to give him match ball – but couldn’t finish it. With Yorkie’s tank about empty he didn’t need a fifth and finally on his third match ball a winning kill secured it for him 3-1 and the match 3-2.

Well played the top three and Stamford back winning. That result secured promotion to Cambs div 1 next year. Brampton at home next week and then the following week the cup semis at home. Come on the big boys!