26/11 Squash Ladies v Wolverhampton II 3-2 win
05/11 Racketball Men v Edgbaston Priory I 4-0 defeat
03/11 Squash Men's II v Edgbaston Priory II 3-2 defeat
26/11 Squash Ladies v Wolverhampton II 3-2 win
The team had not yet recorded a win but with Leonie Holt making her first ladies’ team appearance of the season, hopes were high.
Nicola Brown got the side off to an excellent start with a comfortable 3-0 win over her opposite No.5, but the 3-0 defeat suffered by no.4 Maxine Holt levelled the score. Number 3 Jen Ross was unlucky to lose 10/8 in the fourth, so victory depended on the performances of the club’s Nos.1 and 2.The inform Ali Bate beat a previously unbeaten opponent 3-1. Ali lost the first game 5/9 but then by imposing her style of play in the next three she took them easily 9/3, 9/0, 9/0. In the first string match, Gayle Kerrison for Wolverhampton had the better start and despite a determined come back by Leonie, Gayle won the first game. In the next two games, Leonie was always in control and soon led 2-1 but in the fourth Gayle’s lob and drop game prevailed and she levelled. The fifth was a fairly one-sided affair and although Gayle saved several match balls, the outcome was inevitable and both Leonie and Leamington had won 3-2.
05/11 Racketball Men v Edgbaston Priory I 4-0 defeat
On 5th November Leamington racketball continued its shock introduction to West Midlands Division 1 with a 4-0 loss to the experienced Edgbaston Priory 1.
Playing at number 4 Andrew Thomas lost 3-0 but with the first two games both being 17-16 it could and probably should have been very different.
At number 3 Paul Holtby played well taking the second game but losing 3-1.
Alan Holder also played very well at number 3 going down 3-1.
At number 1 Dean Alder was up against Nick Hynes. After a very close game Dean lost 15-10, 15-13, 17-16.
03/11 Squash Men's II v Edgbaston Priory II 3-2 defeat
At 5 Barry Alder won 3-1.
At 4 Andrew Thomas lost 3-2.
At 3 Mat Holt won 3-2.
At 2 Robbie lost 3-0.
At 1 Mike Abbot lost 3-0.
22/10 Racketball Men at Cleaver 3-1 defeat
On Wednesday 22nd October we visited Cleaver at Nuneaton for our third match. Thanks to Dave we arrived half an hour early (never trust that bloke with anything to do with time or distance) and when they eventually arrived we got the 4th string off and running.
Dave played Paddy Barham, a very lively and fit opponent who liked to try and hit the cover off the ball, however Dave with subtle and very effective drop-shots managed to go 1-0 and then 2-1 up before fatigue and injuries took their toll and eventually lost out 3-2, a valuable two games in the bag.
Andrew went on at 3 to play Dave Clarke, a big but very skilful opponent who had Andrew all over the place with an array of deceptive shots, but with the help of my advice (you’re playing like an idiot sort yourself out or you’re dropped) went on to win 3-2 after going 2-0 down, no mean feat by any standards, a brilliant result and valuable points gained keeping Andrew’s un-beaten run intact.
Paul, who had arrived at the normal time, straight from work, playing at 2 then went on to play Richard Woodroofe, a very accomplished opponent and also a very good squash player. Unfortunately Paul still carrying a dodgy back, couldn’t do much against a very consistent opponent who was obviously prepared to stay on court all night if required, Paul was not and tried to finish the rallies early and succumbed 3-0.
I went on at 1, playing James Bowden, a player with a reputation for being an excellent racketball player. I started well running him all around the court, at one time I thought he was going to pass out he was so exhausted but he managed to get some lucky nicks at the right time and just edged the first game. The second game was very similar with me playing all the quality shots but again he managed unbelievably to snatch that game as well. The third game was all about attrition and he was definitely tiring, but in this game I have to admit I made my first mistake and let him win a point on merit and the game ran away from me. He shook my hand and said that was the hardest game he had ever played. Then I woke up!
A good night overall and a final well done to Dave and Andrew for the well earned points.
20/10 Squash Men's II at Knowle 3-2 win
After last week’s loss to Esporta, Leamington 2 bounced back with a 3-2 win away at Knowle.
At number 5 Barry Alder won an extremely tricky match 3-1. The match was not a great spectacle as Barry got to grips with his opponent’s unorthodox style before eventually winning.
At 4 Andrew Thomas had a close match losing 9-6 in the fifth.
Martyn Langston won convincingly at number 3 despite dropping the third game.
At 2 Mat Holt had a tight match winning the fifth 9-7 clinching the tie for Leamington 2.
At number 1 Mike Abbott lost 3-0 but with scores of 10-8, 9-7, 10-8, it could have been very different.
Squash Ladies v Cov & N.Warks 3-2 defeat
The Ladies squash team have had an unsuccessful start to the season, losing their second match 2-3. They travelled to Cov.& N.Warks. where no. 1 Ali Bate had the match of the evening. She had started well and had won the first game 9/3 but then squandered at least 2 game balls before losing the 2nd 9/10. The third was over as quickly as the 9/0 scoreline suggests. In the fourth and fifth Ali took the ball much earlier, putting her opponent under pressure and she was therefore able to force the errors or play some excellent dropshot winners and in the end she was a very worthy winner. Jade Holt at 5 had a very comfortable 3-0 victory but the rest of the side lost in three.
Racketball Men v Stourbridge 3-1 defeat
On Wed we lost 3-1 to Stourbridge but put up a good fight.
Dave F lost 3-2 and did well to come back from 2-0 down but he was
always just that bit behind in the 5th game.
Andrew T won 3-2, our first winning game of the season, although he
did his best to lose it being 13-8 down in the fifth game before
deciding that he'd better start playing as he had earlier in the match.
Alan H lost 3-0 to a fit young man who was never going to tire but
also had the shots to go with it. He was almost machine like and
probably ran back to Stourbridge!
Dean A lost in a well contested match with some great rallies once
Dean had remembered that he was not playing squash and had to serve
under arm! The deciding second game was lost 17-16 before Dean won a
game back, taking it to the fourth before blisters started to affect
his game and his opponent Duncan seized the opportunity to win 3-1.
Next game is Wed 22nd Oct Cleaver away
13/10 Men's II v Esporta 3-2 defeat
On Monday 13th October Leamington Men’s 2 entertained Esporta 1 in the opening fixture of the 2008/09 Warwickshire winter league in division 2. We’d finished runners-up to Esporta in the summer league so a close match was expected.
Playing at number 5 Barry Alder won comfortably 3-0 against Graham Schofield to get us off to a good start. At 4 Andrew Thomas narrowly lost to Paul Chadwick 10-8, 10-8, 6-9, 9-8 despite having game points in all games. At 3 Tony Bobath lost 3-1. Next up was Mat Holt playing at number 2 against James Bogle. Mat quickly went 2-0 down before deciding a Mars bar was needed before eventually winning 3-2. In the deciding match Mike Abbot was outclassed by Nick Englert losing 3-0.
So the not the best start to the season but with a few players unavailable this week the only way is up.
Leamington 4 Sutton Coldfield 1
Leamington 3 Kings Heath 2
Leamington entertained Sutton Coldfield in the first match of there Warwickshire Division 1 campaign.
Leamington included world number 33 Chris Ryder in there ranks and he managed to win 3-1 against Suttons Jamie Haycox (world ranking 130). There were also wins for Dean Alder, Peter Staunton and Nick Staunton in a 4-1 win.
The second match of the season took place at newly promoted Kings Heath in Birmingham. Leamington were without 3 regulars through injury and work commitments. On his debut Robbie Fortune got the side off to a winning start with a 3-2 victory at number 5 seed. On the other court Dean Alder came back from 2-0 down to score an important 3-2 victory at number 2 seed. With Kings Heath winning at number 3 and 4 it was left to the number 1 seeds to battle it out for the match. Leamingtons Colin Whitney scraped home 3-1 to preserve Leamingtons unbeaten start to the season and win the match 3-2.