It’s been a tough start to the season and we needed to get things back on track. But with Steph away – highest win ratio in the team – and Brennan on a jet plane somewhere, we were going to have to produce the goods. So we drafted in Naren to play the role of veteran and went to battle.
No. 4 Naren vs Karen – Naren had to leave early so he got saddled with the ice breaker. The first game quickly went the right way, but Karen came back strongly with some hot drops from the back of the court. Not strongly enough though to break through Naren’s concentration and he played sensibly to win 3-0.
No. 2 Lyal vs Sean – Lyal had to play the ‘giant killer’. Well, that is, last time he cleaned me up so he must be a killer of giants. Wasn’t looking good in the first game as Lyal kept up the percussion beats on the tin and folded to 15-6. But a stern talking to set him right and he won the next game. Only to see-saw and lose the third. Lyal is a sucker for punishing 5 setters though and got the fourth back. The fifth was fairly even up to 8 all whereupon Lyal started daydreaming of his imminent trip to Colombia and the possible bevy of stunners waiting for him there. He woke up too late to save the game and it can be definitively concluded that serving out when you’re 12-14 down in the fifth game is a bad tactic.
Overheard from 8th B side on the court next door, “My squash is okay, but my real strength is in the showers.” I won’t name the culprit, but let’s just say that I’ll be making sure that Digby isn’t in the changerooms when I need to freshen up.
No. 3 Phil vs Adam – Phil was sporting shiny hamstring supports and was in a mood to make them work in his quest for squash supremacy. Didn’t work in the first game though as Adam powered his way through. During the break, Phil was given some gems of advice (i.e. don’t hit to the centre of the court) and these worked wonders for his squash. Helped by good length and an abundance of mistakes by Adam, Phil romped home in the next three games.
No. 1 Nigel vs Robert – Pressure was off and the evening had been won, but we needed the league points. I was playing someone with the same style as myself – we both struggled to kill the ball. So each rally was longer than the Paris-Dakar (or has this been renamed the Paris-Argentino?). First two games went my way, but then I let a lead slip to lose the third. By this stage I was gasping like a fish out of water and my heart was beating faster than a lost tourist’s in Hillbrow would. Luckily Robert was also pretty far gone and I pipped him in the fourth to take the match.
After the squash and a quick shower (making sure that Digby had left the building) we repaired for some decent grub and a Jaggermeister in Melville.
Summary
4. Naren won 3-0: 15-8, 15-13, 15-11
3. Phil won 3-1: 9-15, 15-8, 15-10, 15-7
2. Lyal lost 2-3: 6-15, 15-8, 9-15, 15-8, 15-15
1. Nigel won 3-1: 15-12, 15-10, 12-15, 15-12
Final result :12 - 9
