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| Report: | The long awaited Rodmersham 1 v’s Canterbury 1 clash took place last night with the home club putting out a pretty strong side and Canterbury turning up with a couple of reserves lower down the order, it looked as though Rodmersham at least on paper would be the winning side on the night.
Early arrivals from Canterbury meant the match got off to a start bang on time, with myself and Matt (Jenks) hitting the court first. In a re-match from November where it is no secret that I didn’t really enjoy Matt’s style of play, I made sure we had a marker who could make the correct calls when required - well most of the time… Feeling slightly fitter at the moment after actually playing squash a few times this month, and also partaking in ‘dry January’ well more 'damp January’, I managed to cope with the foot speed of Matt and react to the supersonic pace he slaps the ball around all four walls of the court - quite a lot of the time I just stayed put in the middle and waited for it to come to me! Eventually I managed to calm the game down and come away with a 3:0 victory and get point of the score board for Rodmersham. No arguments and no one getting cross made a refreshing change for me and Matt on court, maybe this was because I was winning though.
1:0 Rodmersham.
On the other court Gazza was taking on Dave in another re-match. Dave also a reserve for the Canterbury side played Gary earlier in the season and it would seem just as the previous match had just too much fitness for Gary again. Gary normally likes to play with John Brewer at his side, but this is singles and not doubles and so Gazza was on his own. The usual effort and heavy breathing and collapsed pose against the side wall in between games just wasn’t enough to knock Dave off his stride and Canterbury pulled one back - These pesky younger, thinner and fitter opponents…
1:1
Next up John v’s Adam - Adam is a competitive person and has a history of competing in tortuous environments, constantly battling against everything that is in his way come rain or shine. Normally his determination and will to get over the finish line results in a successful outcome, but on this occasion the constant torrent of 'power flick’ backhand drives, the relentless pace, coupled with the delicate cutting in of volley drops and the inevitable ‘Brewer boast’ proved too much of a challenge for Adam and saw John put Rodmersham one step closer to completing the challenge with a convincing 3:0 win to John.
2:1 Rodmersham
Next up Sam v’s Olly - Squash levels says Sam should win this relatively comfortably, but a week away on the Piste skiing was telling Sam’s legs otherwise. Having never seen Olly play before, it was clear to all that he knew his way around a squash court, and he knew his way around pretty swiftly - picking up all sorts of shots that seemed almost impossible to reach, winning the first game on a questioned (by Sam) pickup where a last gasp lunge saw a tight drop just up and which saw Sam hit the next shot right back at himself in disbelief. 1:0 to Olly. The next game went Sam’s way with Olly starting to look very tired at points due to a few tougher rallies and it looked like the squash levels God’s were going to be correct. Sam then took a bit of control and took the 3rd game, so 2:1 Sam.
However Olly obviously hadn’t checked the website before the match as he had completely different ideas and started to push Sam all over the court and staged a comeback, taking the 4th at a canter, so now at 2:2 and with Duane and Neil on the other court with Neil 1:0 down the ‘on paper’ result that was spoken about earlier looked like we were going to need some tip-ex to re write it.
The fifth game started at the same pace as the end of the 1st was played, and Sam with a more attacking approach pulled out an 8 point lead to get match ball 10:2. Serving from the right Olly on his last legs pointed to the front right hand corner nic, Sam served a high serve which was going tight onto the side wall, and Olly used his reach to smash in the shot if the night - a cross court volley nic that not only rolled out at Sam’s feet, but the spin on the ball made if banana across the floor. Olly thought he deserved two points for it - I also did, but rules are rules and Sam closed out the match in the end 11:3 int he fifth, meaning Rodmersham had sealed victory on the night.
3:1 Rodmersham
Last on and overlapping Sam and Olly’s match were Neil and Duane. These two must have played 1000’s of times over the years in both matches, friendly’s, 3’s and any other type of squash game you can have. Again squash levels would tell you that Neil should win this, but squash levels doesn’t know Duane personally and doesn’t know the determination and will to win he possesses. Neil looking slightly tired from recent events at home - the birth of baby Ruby - has finally realised he’s not the most important person in the world and hasn’t been hitting the gym or training quite so much, coupled with the added calories from the consumption of Christmas Ale and returning to work this week after paternity leave, he was maybe not feeling quite as sharp as he did before Christmas - that said Duane has two teenage children which isn’t easy either, drinks Peroni like an Italian at a Christmas party and is slightly more shall we say experienced in terms of years on the planet. Having turned over a 16 year old in a tough match earlier in the week Duane looked to be defying the time and space continuum again and more importantly squashlevels for the 2nd time in a week.
The highly competitive match saw Neil manage to get to a 2 games to 1 lead, but not without tie breakers. As I walked past the door after showering, I saw Neil serving at 2:7 down - an upset looked like it may be on the cards… After visiting the bar for a ‘damp January’ pint of Cider, I got to the balcony to see Duane game ball up, at I think 10:5, and looking to take it to a fifth. Neil though dug deep and pegged the game back to 10:10 and another tie break. With the calories from the Christmas Ale out weighing those of the Peroni, Neil managed to close out the 4th, much to the clear frustration of Duane who’d thrown pretty much all he had into the match and almost he racket - but the racket stayed in his hand, and within a split second it had been replaced with a nice cold Peroni, all was quickly forgotten and we all hit the bar.
So another victory for Rodmersham, the 8th match of the season and the 8th 4:1 victory for the team. Shepherds pie and veg followed, one like my dad jokes was cheesy and one not, all was eaten though with Matt having 4th’s of the ‘juice’ at the end and Gazza not eating any of the carrots because they were cooked.
A great nights squash, another 4:1 win for the home team and squash levels can just about hold it’s head up still in public.
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| Author: | TW |
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