A League
After last week, Cannell Print remain in the top place of the A league followed by Team AON and Argosy.
It was a tough night for Josh’s Jaguar’s as their winning run was ended by Team AON. Jaguar’s captain Josh Green managed their only win as he sneaked past Jason crease. Man of the match went to Daffyd Lewis of Team Aon as he beat his opponent with some great angles on his way to a 3-0 win.
Cannell Print continued their strong season by sealing a 3-1 victory over Crazy Billions. First on saw Thomas Whiteway and Rob Colquitt of Cannell Print secure 3-0 and 3-1 victories over Ashley Sandyford-Sykes and Mike Hayler respectively. Mark Webster-Smith pulled one back for Crazy Billions with a 3-0 victory. Last one saw James Ramsey of Crazy Billions take on Damien Loughrey of Cannell Print. James took a 2-0 lead and could seal the win for his team but a fight back from Damien saw him take the match 3-2 and the team win for Cannell Print.
The final matches of the night were between the Global Monetary Solutions Junior Academy and Argosy. Team Argosy took a 3-1 win, giving away one point due to the match not being played. The match between Magnus Lamprecht and Ben Leith was particularly close. It went to 5 long games with Magnus of Argosy eventually taking a 3-2 win.
B League
Currently top of the B league are Alta Group Arrows followed by MES Mavericks (Formally known as Nedbank Supernovas) and Derivco Sharks.
First up was MES Mavericks against Atla Group Arrows. Most exciting game of the night was between Rob Colquit of MES Mavericks and Harvey Douglas. After both winning two games, the final one was the decider and it was definitely a close one. At 14-14, Harvey gained the last point, taking the win for Atla. Both Chris Walton and Clare Townsend of MES Mavericks took 3-0 wins for their team. Magnus Lamprecht of Mavericks and Mike Fernandes of Atla had a very tight game too with Fernandes taking the win in the 5th game by just a few points. Rich Cretney got another win for MES Mavericks after winning his match 3-1 to Macklin Wilson. Therefore, after some great matches, Mavericks took a 3-2 win against Atla Group Arrows.
The other set of matches on Monday night was between Racketeers Pioneers and Outcasts. Away team Outcasts took a 4-1 win. Dafydd Lewis gained the only win for Racketeers after winning his 5th game by just 1 point. Another very close and hard fought game.
C League
In the C league, Buchanan and Pitts are the current leaders followed by Hansard Racketeers and Island Exhaust Vets.
Firstly, the C league saw Buchanan and Pitts Misfits take on the Falcons last week. Due to player shortages Misfits were not able to field a full team, leaving Natasha Jones of Falcons at string 5 unplayed and able to take the 3 points. First match of the night saw number 3 strings, Stephen Pitts (Misfits) & Jon Cox (Falcons) return to court. Pitts took the upper edge in the first game and Cox struggled to get back, losing the match 3-0. Second game of the night was Elliott Henson (Misfits) vs Adam Jones (Falcons) playing at 4. Jones who is relatively new to the squash league, put up a good fight but lost 3-0. Third on was number 2 string Patric Russell (Misfits) vs Vusimbe Zivave (Falcons). Visumbi came close in the second game but Russells experience took all 3 games to get the win. Match of the night saw Misfits Ian Barnes vs Falcons ever improving Sarah Simpson playing at 1. Barnes took all the games but Simpson wasn’t far behind coming within 2 or 3 points in each game. Simpson is one to watch. Final score was Buchanan & Pitts Misfits 4 – Falcons 1.
Next up was Island Exhaust Vets against Hansard Racketeers. Rob Smith for the Vets made a welcome return to squash and worked hard for his 3-0 win over Racketeer’s Mark Harrop. Next on court was Vets’ Phil Shaw against the ever improving Dave Johnson. Dave never let Phil settle into his running game, winning 3-0. Racketeer’s Lucy Kerr was next on court against Mark Stratford. Mark’s ability to play drop shots from anywhere on the court was the deciding factor in this match and he won 3-0. Coach Les Callow for Vets was up against one of his pupils Harry Douthwaite. Harry put his lessons to good use winning 3-0 however Les took 2 of the games to set point. This made the match score level at 2-2. Last on court in the deciding match were Vets Pete Sharples against Racketeer’s Andy Brown. Andy plays a great length game and although Pete tried to match him Andy’s better hard hit lengths gave him a 3-0 victory and Hansard Racketeers the overall win 3-2 to put them second in the C League.
Global Monetary Solutions Juniors played Strix Squash Squad last week. The newest team vs the youngest team led to some competitive games and some tough competition from both sides. The first game of the night was George Rumney of Strix vs Amaline Batty playing as the number 2’s for their teams. Amaline started off in the lead with a 14-15 win in the first game but George came back even stronger in the next game and unfortunately for the Global Monetary Solutions Junior Team, George found his stride and won 3-1. The second game of the night was Sam Elliot of Strix against a young number 4 Robbie Lapsley. With brilliant serves and court movement, Sam secured a 3-0 win for Strix. For the next game, Aaron Rumney of Strix played Callum Larkin. Callum Larkin’s movement was very strong and so he won 3-0 for the Global Monetary Solutions Junior Team. The last game of the night was Strix’s Clare Townsend vs Richard Webster which were a great few games to watch. The first two games were evenly matched with both sides putting each player ahead with some excellent rallies. Unfortunately, Richard’s experience and court presence gave him the upper hand securing a 3-0 win for the Global Monetary Solutions Junior Team. This gave Strix the win for the night as GMSJ’s number 5 player was unable to attend.
The final set of matches in the C league were between the Dragons and Crazy Jacks Squash Team. Dragons’ Stuart Highy, Phil Whittam, Andy McLarney and Jamie Biddulph all won their matches 3-0, resulting in a 4-1 win for them last week.
Strix Squash Squad (Left to right): Andrew Igoea, George Rumney, Ewan Cannan, Clare Townsend and Sam Elliott.