Summer League - 2012

 Summer league Week 1

The rust was evident all over the place as the post-Christmas summer league got under way this week, and one or to players were heard to express a few regrets about not playing all those games they really really meant to over the holiday period.

An awful lot of time was spent way behind the T, watching opponents play shots up the front that were never going to be retrieved, but of course that will all change after a couple of games, and everyone will again be bounding around the court, right on top of their games.

Yeah, right.

To the action: Paul (Rounthwaite) must have been keeping his eye in, he put four games on Louise, Jordie produced surprising form to knock over Robbie comprehensively, Marie has been playing a bit and it showed, beating Jenni in straight games, Linda had no answers to Rebecca’s game, while Bill made life a bit tougher for Rebecca and they fought out a 1-1 draw.
Chris usually has the wood on Jock, but coming back from surgery he wasn’t anywhere near full strength, and Jock isn’t one to dish out mercy in large quantities, and maybe there was a little bit of revenge in that 4-zip result as well! Wayne from Mayfield doesn’t usually play the after-Christmas league so he’s made a welcome return, but Bruce wasn’t quite so welcoming and won their encounter 2-1, Pat found some form first-up and was too good for Billy on the night.
Carmen and Lucas had a couple of close games before Carmen stepped it up and ran away with the match, Paul R came back for another bash and beat Chris Thompson 2-1; Chris did have the handicap of a hugely bandaged left hand to contend with, Quinton and Craig bashed their way around the court, with Quinton having the edge at the final whistle, and while the scoreboard read James 0 Paul 4, every game went to 14-15, can’t get any closer than that!
Warren and Sandy fought out a 1-1 draw, Doldie was another coming back from injury but showed no ill effects and put Blair away 4-1, Jane took one game off Carmen but couldn’t handle the big hits in the end, and Kirsty and Maria produced one of the best games of the round, both putting in maximum effort, with Kirsty eventually winning 3-1.

Summer League 2011

   

  Round 9                                                                     

 

That’s it - the last round before Santa makes his own rounds - and we’ll do it all again at the end of January, when it will still be far too hot for such silly games.

In the final round of the year Billy and Jock were giving nothing away to each other, and duly finished up with one game each on the board, Blair and Wayne From Mayfield also had a draw, but they found time to score two games each, Robbie played a good game to take out Chrissie 3-1, while Rebecca and Marie produced yet another draw, two games each.

Paul brought out his best game to be the first (I think) to knock over Wayne this summer, not a bad effort at all, Craig and Fly somehow found room on the court to get around each other, and Craig finished one game better, Lucas is back in his best winning form, this time Jenni was the victim, and Louise put one game on the scoreboard, but Phil put on three.

Paul’s serves, when they go in, are unplayable among the lower order batsmen, as Jane found out, Carmen produced her best form for ages to knock over Maria, Quinton beat Bill, but Bill got his own back by giving Quint a fat lip (or maybe two), with a return of serve that whistled in right on target, and made a bloody mess; James found that indeed Sandy could run around the court, and play some very good shots as well, enough to leave James with nothing on the board at all.

Jordie found that Chrissie still has plenty of petrol left in the tank; a two-nil result was the result of maximum effort, Di just had too many guns for Linda, Doldie is on the recovery trail from injury and Bruce took full advantage of that, while in the last game of the year Pat was just a wee bit ahead of Warren for the whole game, winning 2-1.

And that’s that for the first half of summer!

Round 8

Only a couple of weeks to go and its Christmas - how did that happen?!!

At least it was a little bit cooler on the court this week, summer is here with a vengeance, and it sounds like that’s how its gonna be for a few months yet.

Billy and Warren started off this week with a battle that saw Billy come out one game better; Blair found that Bruce has plenty of tricks up his sleeve, and couldn’t get his name on the scoreboard at all, Rebecca must have been keen, first up she dealt to Sir Robbie in four straight games, then went on to knock over Chrissie in three of the same!

Paul stayed just a step ahead of Jock and won 2-1, Craig bounced back from last week and put three games on Wayne From Mayfield, all close ones though, Lucas’ bubble finally burst, after beating most of the ladies he came up against Marie who wasn’t letting him get to smash the ball, and also wasn’t letting him on the scoreboard; while Carmen won the battle of the Thompsons over Chris, also in straight games.

Paul (R) fought bravely for half an hour against Steve - then for another half hour because someone didn’t turn up, and was suitably shattered at the end of that; James and Micky fought out a thriller - James was two games up, Micky fought back and won the next won, the fourth game was brilliant, point for point, and James had the chance to take the win when he set up a winning shot - but smashed it into the tin, and a draw was the end result (I think the Guardian got that result wrong). Nigel was determined to at least get a game off Steve, but close in every game wasn’t quite good enough.

Pat kept Sandy at bay, despite lots of super running and retrieval, Jane was very happy to take a game off Jordy, while Lucas was back in the winner’s circle when he took on Linda and took the victory 3-1.





Summer League Round 7

Billy and Jock started the week off the right way - with a 1-1 draw. That means massive rallies, lots of lost sweat from two guys who know each other's games rather well; Robbie and Carmen also went the way of the draw, this time two games each; Maria had another go at Marie, this time getting a little closer with a 1-2 scoreline, while Blair was too good for Wayne From Mayfield, winning in straight sets.
Chrissie had too much experience on Chris, but he's going to be up a level next year, Kirsty became Lucas' latest victim, going down 1-3, Lucas will be lining up his big bro any time soon, Bruce and Craig fought it out with Craig scoring three games and Bruce registering only one, while Sandy announced a return to his best with a hard-earned victory over Paul, who may have forgotten just how much Sandy runs and runs around the court.
Paul (Rounthwaite) kept Louise down to one game while he put three on the board, Carmen beat Jenni three-zip, but every game was within one or two points, Quinton and Fly fought the Battle of the Big Guys, there's not much room left on the court with those two running around, and there were a few cringes from upstairs when the word Let should perhaps have been uttered - once or three or ten times. James was just the latest to find out that Wayne is still the most frustrating player on earth; his placement of the ball hasn't deserted him, not at all. Ask James.
Mick and Pat have scrapped to at least a hundred draws over the past few seasons, so there was no reason to expect any other result from them; Nigel and Craig left nothing on the court, two super-close games, both going Nigel's way, Linda found an extra gear and held off Di 3-1, while Jordy's game is in a bit of a slump, and Steve took full advantage, putting four on the board.





Round 6

Marie's form is up and down like a yoyo at the moment; good victories followed by big losses, this week Rebecca had too many guns, Bruce held out Graham 2 games to 1, Pat and Jock both put it all out there, and both finished up with two games on the scoreboard, Chrissie took one game off Linda, but Linda won two, and Robbie and Kirsty also went the 2-2 draw way.
Louise and Chris had a good game, Chris just proving too strong, Lucas put up the result of the round, bringing out his best game to knock over Jenni 3-1, probably his best result to date, Fly was just behind the eight-ball all night in his match with Craig, and had chances to win games but the tin got in the way on vital shots, and Wayne again proved to be the master, frustrating the hell out of Paul this time, and winning in straight sets.
Sandy still has his pace around the court, but the rust is showing in his shot selection, with ‘drops' coming out half-court, which James gleefully accepted and put away for big winners, so despite a huge effort Sandy went down 0-3, Bill found Quinton in angry mood, and while he couldn't quite put the ball through the front wall, he tried valiantly to do so, and the pace was just too hot for Bill, Maria and Steve had some long, long rallies, and it was Maria who cracked first and started finding the tin too often, while Jane was producing some very good shot-making which Paul was countering just a little bit too well.
 
Looks like we're having an Annual General Meeting on December 2, which is a Friday night, so I suspect a Social Night will be in order, all members are most welcome to attend!

Summer League Week 5

Anyone seen Jordy recently? He's taken to defaulting games, this time against Louise . . . Linda and Jenni fought a huge battle which Linda won in the end, Doldie is definitely back to form, alhough Fly sneaked a game off him, and Pat found out that Wayne has most definitely still got it.

Sandy and Jock ran and ran and ran around the court, and couldn't be separated on the scoreboard after it all, Bill took one game off Wayne (Vessey that is), but Wayne came back and took two of his own, Maria just can't seem to handle Marie, Paul scored a good 2-1 victory over Chrissie, Kirsty was too good for Carmen, Quinton tried his best to hit the ball through the wall but couldn't do it, so Bruce won their game.

Billy and Paul went at it for 30 minutes at a million miles an hour, and Paul was always just quarter of a step ahead in every game except one, Craig and Nigel battled it out as well, with Craig edging home, Di is still too good for Lucas, while Steve and Chris had some super-long rallies, resulting in a one-all draw.

Summer League Week 4

Rebecca and Jenni kicked off with their usual close battle, this time the reigning club champ beat the former club champ 2-1, Blair and Fly finished up at 1-1, you know the rallies were long and exhausting when that scoreline turns up, James has been showing a bit of form recently, and this time Billy found that out first-hand, not bothering the scorers at all while James notched up three.

Carmen had the easiest of victories - Jordie didn't turn up, Marie took a game off Bill but he rallied bravely and took three of his own, Wayne (Vessey that is) had the same scoreline against Bruce, while Jock took two games off Paul, but that wasn't enough either as Paul put three on the board.

Di had too many guns for Chrissie, winning 3-1, Steve had to run about a bit more than he would have liked to beat Kirsty 2-1, Bruce came back for more punishment, this time Nigel was on the other side of the court and in a much tighter game emerged the 2-0 victor, and Mick and Warren battled it out for the closest of results, a 2-2 draw.

Sandy's not taking long to get back to his best - he pushed Paul right to the wire, Paul had to dig real deep to get home 2-1 in a match with lots of running involved, Craig's in good form, not letting Bill get on the scoreboard at all, Di had the wood on Lucas, but he's improving all the time and that result may be reversed in a season or so, while Jane and Chris produced some good rallies, but Chris won more of them than Jane.

Yes, summer has arrived (sort of), and the summer squash competition is already well under way!

Reports have been at a premium, due to the time a certain Rugby Tournament has taken up in the last six weeks, but things WILL get back to normal, real soon.

   
We'll catch up with the first two week's action eventually, but from this week's round, Sandy made a welcome return from his working sojourn in Christchurch, and while Steve took the first game, Sandy remembered how to play, and run, and promptly took the next two; Louise couldn't find a way past Chrissie, losing in straight sets, Blair and Bill had a fair ding-dong battle with a 2-2 draw the result, while Rebecca kept just a few points ahead of Maria for four whole games.

Jenni and Kirsty were oh-so-close, but Kirsty finished with one more game on the scoreboard, Wayne spent 30 minutes frustrating the hell out of Warren, who came close but couldn't quite grab a game, and Steve lost to Bruce in five sets.

Quinton bashed and crashed his way round, but Nigel played it straight and that proved the winning of their game, Steve and Di drew one game each, lots of rallies there, James brought out a good one to keep Micky off the scoreboard, and Paul lost to Steve in straight sets, with the tin being a major player.

Linda is keeping Lucas down while she still can, beating him in straight sets, Jordy drew with Chris 1-1, Doldie showed some of his old form when he knocked over Craig 3-1, that's a strong result, while Pat and Paul played out a high-energy match, Pat coming out the victor 3-2.

Winter League Round 22

Only one week to go in the winter competition - how did that happen??

And there's some more surprise results to go with last week's lot, there's no lack of interest in what's happening on the ladder, and there's plenty of movement, as players strive to get their names sitting as high as possible over the summer months.

Pete suffered another loss, this time it was Craig who knocked over the previously unbeatable one, in straight sets, Lucas couldn't quite handle the current ladies champ; next year might be a bit different, new boy Chris took a game off Di, and Glen brought out some of his unorthodox shots to beat Pat in three.

Chrissie beat another newbie Phil in four, Robbie was the latest to find that Carmen is in a fine run of form, Linda inexplicably let Jordie make a huge jump up the ladder, losing in four, and Robbie was too good for Paul.

Steve beat Greg Price in five (10/9 in the fifth), Bondy found that Big Ed is in superb late-season form and was unable to make a dent in the scoreboard, Paul and Jock fought out a massive game to go with the one they had last week - this time Paul took the chocolates (another long game in the fifth).

In the mother-and-daughter battle, Jenni may consider herself a little lucky to come away with a five-set victory, Louise was really putting the pressure on, Maria and Mark (Shera) had what was probably the longest match either had ever played - and Maria eventually took the honours in that marathon effort.

Steve and Nigel had a huge big-hitting battle (Nigel got sucked into the big hitting), Steve in four, Carmen spent a lot of time keeping out of the way of John's big backswing and lost in five, while Steve had another go and was very happy to take one game off Chris, who's a long long way above him on that ladder.

Winter League Week 21

Is that really 21 weeks since we started this competition??

No wonder there's a few weeks been missed in this forum, they are just going round too quickly . . .

But we're still in business, and while it looked like the season was winding down a bit, suddenly this week the ladder got a real shake-up, it looks like only the very top spot is safe!

Jane started the mayhem, scoring her best victory to date when she upset Robbie in four, Carmen came on and knocked over Jordie in a long five-setter, Linda beat the reigning ladies champ in another marathon five, and Pete, who doesn't lose many (any??) lost his way against Bondy's top game and lost in three!

Now that's a volatile round all by itself . . . but wait, there's more!

Billy took a ride to somewhere near the top of the table with a five-set victory over Chris, Doldie finally got back on the winning trail by beating Bill in straight sets, Jock and Paul went toe to toe for over an hour with neither giving an inch, Jock eventually took the honours there.

When you put Quinton and Big Ed on the court together there's not a hell of a lot of room left, and a big contest is what you might expect - and that's what transpired; both left nothing on the court, it was all on for five huge sets, and Quinton took his own ride up the ladder with a hard-earned victory.

Pat had Warren covered, Craig was in the same position with Graham, Paul beat Louise in three and Di did the same to Lucas, just to calm things down a bit.

All Mick's efforts were in vain against John, Greg continued his good form to take out Blair in four, Biddy couldn't quite get a game off Marie and Brendan had to work a bit to beat an improving John in four.

Mick came back to battle with James, and must have learnt something from John because he won in five, Kurt brought out his A game, which was too good for Fly, Nigel predictably beat Terence in straight sets, while Carmen made it two for the week beating Jenni in a surprising straight sets win.

Interclub                                         

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

First the good news - we are interclub champions!

On Thursday night (August 11) our Division II team ventured to Mayfield to play Collegiate in the final.

Chris beat Bruce Leslie in four sets, Nick beat Ken Thomson in straight games, Glen dropped one game on his way to defeating Paul Cunneen while Micky couldn’t quite handle Braden Kenny - but it didn’t matter, by that time the pennant and the cup belonged to Celtic.

Congratulations to those players, and all the others who turned out in the course of the season; John, Billy, Paul, Pat, Jock, a fantastic effort to win a massively competitive grade.

The Bad and The Ugly - Division III.

This division was jinxed for Celtic from round one, when a communication mix-up left us waiting for a draw while everyone else started - and therefore a huge handicap to make up.

But after a magnificent effort from all the players our guys caught up, and passed everyone, and leading into the last couple of weeks looked to have the title in the bag.

THEN - the rules changed and all those hard-earned points were ditched, in favour of a top six-bottom six arrangement (we narrowly missed having both teams in the top six and a shot at the championship quinella - with some points from the first round it would have happened).

We were still heading for a final showdown with Pleasant Point, but on the last night of the round they were at their place and our team was at our place - the goalposts had shifted yet again and a new draw had been issued, changing the home teams.

Somehow the new draw had still worked ok up till that point, even though none of our team had seen it - Sandy’s email files had a copy (Sandy being away on earthquake duty), Steve had a copy buried in amongst his emails but hadn’t dug it out, as the teams had always got all their information already without his assistance.

So despite a hundred phone calls on Tuesday night, Wednesday and Thursday, everyone else found it ‘too difficult’ to replay the round so Point made it through to the final.

Leaving our guys out in the cold.

It’s like the World Cup - the best team hasn’t won it for the past three editions.

The whole deal, shonky competition and all, has exposed some communication channel issues within our club (funny after all these years it’s never been a problem before), but it happened, and the front office has let the players down - for that I unreservedly apologise.

Steve Devereux
President, Celtic Squash Club August 2011

Winter League Round 18

Carmen extracted revenge for a club champs loss to Maria with a 3-2 victory, although 10-8 in the fifth means its about as close as you can get, Craig pushed Mick hard to go to five but just couldn't quite nail it, Nigel dropped one game to Rebecca but was too strong in the end, while Graham took a game off Mick but couldn't keep up with the constant accurate rallies that Mick is so fond of.

Billy found that Pat was on top form and consequently went down in a big five-setter, Doldie has had about a million close five-setters this year and can't take a trick, this time Craig was his nemesis, Kirsty welcomed Robbie back to the court with a three-zip beating, while Biddy and Mark fought out a huge five-setter, with Biddy getting the important points at the end.

Pete Blacklow doesn't get beaten very often at all, so Ed's accomplishment (in a suitably lengthy marathon five) is all the more meritorious - and it puts Ed into the A grade ladder!

Marie took the game to Bill and for a while a huge upset was on the cards, but Bill finally remembered how to play and took the last two of four games comfortably, Nick had the wood on James with some super shotmaking, Bondy found Kurt on a good day, which spells disaster because in this grade Kurt beats anyone when he's on song, despite playing with a foot that recently had a television dropped on it.

Paul continues to improve and took some good points off Steve, Fly and Blair had a torrid battle, with Fly taking the honours in four, Jenni came in fresh from a break and was playing some good stuff which meant Chrissie had to fight back from two sets down, but that task proved too tough, Jock and Chris had two highly competitive sets before Jock lost the plot and let Chris in for an easy third set, Bruce is still in a happy place with his squash and was too good for Bill, while Wayne came back for another run around and his impeccable lobs and drops (and everything else) were just way too good for Steve.

Winter league Round 16

I think we missed a week in there somewhere, what with tournaments and things all over the place, but we’re back in business, and there was one game of note in round 16. Chris put in his best work to have John (and the position at the top of the ladder) in real danger, in fact John had to survive several match points that Chris just couldn’t quite convert into what would have been a notable victory! I seem to recall that last year Chris spent some time at the top, with a big target on his back, obviously trying to do that every year now.

Quinton and Blair went at it hammer and tongs, with Blair making a big move up the ladder with a 3-1 win; Kirsty was too good for new boy Chris Thompson, while Carmen and Marie fought out a five-setter, with Marie getting the big points at the end.

Paul has a good game going right now, hopefully he’s in the Mid Canterbury champs, knocking over Warren in straight sets, Ed had too many guns for Graham, Pat is another who has struck a rare patch of form, beating Nick in three and heading way, way up the ladder, while Di took a game off Nigel, but he lifted his game to take it in four.

Doldie and Pete’s game started in a low-key sort of fashion, but that changed a fair bit as things went on, and in the fifth it was definitely all on, with both having several chances of serving for the match, and both producing some incredible retrieving to return winning shots by the other, but in the end Pete took the honours, in a super game.

Brendan was too strong for Chrissie, Jock beat James in four sets, Louise and Lucas had a good battle which Louise won in four, Billy took the first game off Micky and thought his day had come, but as usual Mick only got stronger as the game went on, and finished up winning in four. Paul and Maria both turned on their best games to provide a highly entertaining match, which Maria won in four sets.  

Annual Ray McBeth Memorial Tournament, 2011

On Saturday evening Phil Hurley, now from Collegiate, came back to where he learnt to play the game to finally achieve a long-held goal - winning a big trophy on his 'home' courts.

The occasion was the annual Ray McBeth Memorial Tournament, and top-seed Phil, now a B2, had no trouble moving through to the final of the A grade, getting past Jock in the semi. Jock decided to drop everything, which worked sometimes, and sometimes didn't . . .

Alex Smith from Rakaia was seeded second, and lived up to that billing by beating Paul in four sets, and Micky in a semi-final that was only three sets, but included a massive number of exhausting rallies.

The final went pretty much to script for the first two games, with Phil being always half a step ahead, and producing winners that were just too good for his younger opponent.

But that all changed in the third game, with Alex upping the tempo, retrieving some amazing shots and applying real pressure to the top seed which forced Phil into unforced errors that should have been winning shots.

Alex took the third in a long game, and it looked to be game on, but in the fourth set Hurley came back to life and poured on some pressure of his own, and when he hit the match-winning shot at 8-4 he was delighted, you could tell because everyone could hear it, loud and clear.

Paul won the plate over Pat in straight sets (he can play pretty good when he puts his mind to it), while Garry Mayne beat Steve Symonds in the special plate.

Another young player on the way up, Steve Hands from Collegiate, was top seed in the B grade, and beat Quinton and Kurt to make the final, where he met Andrea Grover (Ashburton) who had to get past Wayne Vessey (Mayfield) and second seed Bruce to book her spot.

Andrea put all her experience into trying to play good length and keep her opponent on the back foot, but in the end Steve had enough petrol in the tank to keep retrieving Grover's best shots, and did best in a highly entertaining final.

Bruce beat Kurt in a marathon see-saw battle for third and fourth,  Bruce won the first two but Kurt came charging back with some good stuff to take the next two, and the fifth was a cracker.

Quinton beat Wayne for the plate and Steve beat Logan Ford in the special plate.

Todd Cameron came from the middle of the pack to meet Ashburton's squash veteran Terry Hutchinson in the final of the C grade.

While Terry did his level best to talk his way to victory, Todd was too strong on the day and took the title in four sets.

Vanessa Loe and Shannon Notter were the beaten semi-finalists playing for third and fourth, with Loe proving the stronger on the day; Mitchell McLauchlan beat Carmen Thompson in the plate, while Mitchell Stoddard and Corey Smith produced yet another five-setter in the special plate, with Stoddard emerging the victor.

A low-key tournament, with club champs just being completed and a bit of opposition from the All Blacks, but still some good squash on show.

Big thanks to sponsors Pat Summerfield, Pete Blacklow, RX Plastics, Robbies Bar & Bistro and Anstiss' came to the party with some good stuff again, which is vital for the continuance of our tournaments, and Bruce won the raffle, which he swears wasn't rigged.

Winter league 2011

 
Club champs 2011

Club champs are done and dusted for another year, and we have one champ completing a superb hat-trick, while on the other side of the gender divide last year’s champion has been dethroned and there’s a new name on the cup.

Starting from the lower grades, new kid on the block Terence Stack will get his name on a trophy in his first year, after going through the round robin competition without dropping a set. He met Louise in the final, and despite her turning on her best squash to make the first game go long, Terence was just too good in the end, and will be finding himself in a much higher grade next year.

The men’s D grade was torn by injuries, with Bill, Stratty and Robbie all not making it through the first round, and eventually Jordie and Blair met in the final.
Jordie had psyched himself for days, and indeed played near his best for parts of the game, but Blair weathered the storm and too out a fine contest in the end, ironically to get his name on the cup for the second time (the first was back in 2008).

The C grade was as competitive a contest as you will find, and top seed Craig had to work overtime in the semis to knock over a fired-up Ed, even though the scoreline read three-zip, while two unseeded players fought for the other final berth, with Bruce taking the honours off Doldie in a remarkable five-setter.
In the final Bruce dug into the determination well, and found enough there to take the title in straight sets, which is no mean feat because Craig was playing some pretty handy squash. Big Ed thought all along he may have been playing Doldie in the final; as it transpired they met in the third and fourth playoff, and Ed got his wish of finally getting the better of Doldie in a big match.

Chris beat out Pete’s challenge to make the B grade final, while Paul held out Steve in four to lodge his claim, and in the final Paul proved to have the better skills, and was always just a half-step ahead, taking out the title in four games.

Defending champ Jenni beat Kirsty and Marie to get to the ladies A final, where she met Rebecca, who held out Chrissie and Maria without dropping a set.
Jenni took some time to get her lethal serves and lobs going, and in the meantime Rebecca had been running hard for everything and building up a big lead, which Jenni just couldn’t put a dent in.
Marie’s early prediction that Rebecca had the form on the board to take the title was spot on, and a straight sets victory was a fair indication of the superiority she had on the night.
Marie beat Maria in the third place playoff.

The top seeds fought out the final in the men’s A grade; John had a big scare in the quarter-finals when Glen held the lead for a time in the fifth set, but he made it through that one, then dropped one game to James in the semi.
Nick had to get past Billy and then Mick to secure the other final berth, and did so without having to go to the extreme distance, but in the final was simply outclassed as John tore through the first set 9-0. Nick fought back in the second and took six points off the champ, but in the third John dominated and produced some amazing shotplay that left Nick with nowhere to go, despite some excellent retrieving and super running all over the court, and the A Grade cup will go to the jewelers to get John’s name inscribed for the third time in a row.
Mick and James battled in out for third spot in an excellent five-setter, Mick coming back from way behind to take that prize.

The tournament itself ran reasonably smoothly despite the injuries and unavailabilities, mostly thanks to Mick’s skills at crunching the numbers to get all the games fitting into the allotted timespace; Bruce made sure the fridge was always stocked for ‘rehydrating purposes’, and Chrissie outdid herself with the goodies on the table (especially those pikelets) on finals night, making sure everything finished on a more than happy note. The club’s tournament was a fine fore-runner to the annual open tournament which will be held this coming weekend July 22-23. Entries for that can go on the board upstairs at the club, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

2011 Honours:

Men's Champion:

John McDonnell

Ladies Champion:

Rebecca Abernethy

Junior Boys Champion:

Lucas Hooper.

JuniorGirls Champion:

Louise Ryk.

Interclub:

Congratulations to Div II and Div II Celtic interclub teams: finishing (the first round at least) of the Mid Canterbury Interclub competition in top spot! Brilliant stuff.

Action from Round 12:

Doldie pulled out all the stops to beat Graham in five, Warren took one game off Billy but Billy just keeps at it, Carmen turned in a good warm-up for the champs to beat Linda in four, Pat tried everything he could think of but still lost in straight sets to John, Craig kept Blair at bay in three, and Jenni beat Kirsty in four.

Chris put a rare tick in the loss column when he met Paul, that finished in four, Quinton and Ed fought the battle of the big fellas, but Ed had too much experience to fall for the million-mile-an-hour stuff, Rebecca surprisingly fell to Nick in straight sets - He is improving a lot every game!

Glen and Chris fought one of the battles of the season, Chris had his chances in the fifth but couldn’t quite nail it; Pete and Fly also went the long way home, with Pete the victor, and Fly joining the injured list, hopefully not for long, Paul played both the Ryk girls; lost to one and beat the other.

James and Micky went all out in a match that seemed longer than the four sets it took for James to win, Kurt had to produce his best stuff to keep Greg to one game, and Terence battled bravely but Marie just kept pushing him back into the corners with good length shots.

Bondy took a long time to warm up after an earlier basketball match; in fact he didn’t warm up and all and Steve took full advantage in three, Jock tore into his work and made Nick work double overtime for his five-set victory, while Nigel and Marie were only on court for three sets, but it was highly entertaining as both were striving to get the better length - Nigel succeeded.

  Rounds 10 and 11

Last week Paul and Pat fought out a huge battle, inevitably going to five, with Pat turning on his very best game to get home, Linda and Chrissie went the long way as well, with Linda taking the honours, Mick took a game of Nick, but Nick took three, Greg and Bondy produced yet another five, Greg lost but will be moving up the ladder faster than most, and soon, Carmen won in straight sets over Mark (S), and John must have dug really deep to beat Jenni in three, big upset!

Chris lost one game but had too many guns for Warren, Bill had Graham covered - Just, Marie beat Kirsty in four, while Quinton and Stratty tore into a fascinating battle of styles; Quint all bash and crash, Stratty trying desperately to use all his old skills. It was going right down to the wire until Stratty injured his foot in the fifth, giving Quinton the final points on a plate. I see Paddy Kennedy’s name on the scoresheet! Great stuff, and he beat Paul in three, may he be back more often. Steve took a game off Billy, which he was very happy about, especially after losing the first 0-9. Louise and Terence battled away at each other for ages in a big five, Louise was the victor in the end, Jenni pushed Nigel hard with all her lobs and drops in another marathon, but it wasn’t quite enough,

Chris doesn’t usually have a zero beside his name on the scoreboard, but Micky didn’t allow him a game, Jock took a game off John, he’d be happy with that, Bruce won in three over Blair, he can play quite well when he puts his mind to it! Kirsty still has the wood on Maria, straight sets there, while Di had to bring all of her best shots to the game to keep Nick out - A super five-setter. If we can work out how to make Nick retire from rugby we’d soon have a very good squash player on our hands.


This week was marked by a lack of players!

Heaps have chosen to find sunshine in other countries for a few weeks, and there’s an unfortunate number of injuries, all leading up to the club champs too.

Kirsty again knocked over Maria in straight sets, that might change soon, Paul did well to take out Lucas in three, and Doldie had to revert to some of his wonder shots to keep Bruce out.

Rebecca is showing good form at the right time, a straight-sets win over Marie is good at any time, John dropped one game to Nick, Blair and Bondy went to five with Bondy taking the honours. Quinton took on Warren but came second, Fly had his chances against Steve; up 2-0 and 7-2 in the third - but couldn’t get those last vital points, Steve in five, Mick was another in fine form right now, Pat was good but Mick was simply better on the night, Louise took a game off Nigel! Well done, while Jenni and Linda clashed for another five sets, Jenni finished best, and Bill found why Pete remains the best of the twos.

Quinton came out for another round, this time against Craig, but despite producing a hugely entertaining, high energy match couldn’t quite keep the ball in play enough to get those big points, while Chrissie kept Lucas off the scoreboard. James brought his A game along, which you need to knock over Paul, and John (S) is another on the improve, beating Terence in straight sets.

The club champs draw will be taken off the ladder as of yesterday, so if you think you’re in the wrong place call Steve, quick!

And the interclub news is STILL good, with two teams leading their divisions, and that's despite getting no points in the first round after a communitications mixup with the competition organisers.

  Round 9

Missed a couple of weeks' action, will try to catch up!

Interclub teams travelling well, especially Div II, who are at the top of the tree at last count.

From this week: Glen too good for Pat, Craig the latest victim for Pete, Robbie had to be on his game to get the better of John who’s improving plenty, and Carmen made a big move up the ladder (with club champs looming) to beat Chrissie in four.

Paul threw everything at Nick, who returned everything with interest and won in three, Ed took two games off Bondy, who would have been very pleased to take the big fella down in the competition arena, Louise did well to take a game off Robbie.

Billy tried hard but John just had too many guns, Blair took a game off Stratty, but again huge experience counts for plenty, and Rebecca kept just ahead of Maria for the whole match.

Jock and Micky produced a marathon match, and it was only four games! Micky is better at marathons. Bruce found that Greg is indeed one of our fastest-improving players, just managing to survive a huge five-setter, Marie was exhausted but ecstatic to come off the court with a victory over Jordie.

Kurt just had enough to keep in front of Graham in three games, Steve beat Nigel in four, and Brendan was too good for Jane.

Billy must have learnt from his battle with John on Monday, after a mammoth battle he emerged the victor over Chris and took a suitable trip up the ladder for his troubles, Quinton is back and bashing! You have to be really on your game to overcome that, and Bill wasn’t quite there on the night, Steve got a hurry-up from Linda and had to work hard to take out the fifth game, while John scored yet another victory, this time over Mark.

Week 6

Paul had a look at where Micky had got to on the ladder, and thought he might be able to top that, which he did, in four games.

Jenni will be annoyed at losing to Jordie, Pat will be annoyed at losing to Chris in four, but Bill won’t be at all annoyed at taking down Adam in four sets.

John proved he still belongs at the top, knocking over Glen in three, Pete held out all Graham’s best shots and returned them with interest to win in three, James scored another notable victory, this time over Billy in four, that’s a very good scalp. Stratty had the experience factor over Kurt, Di and John went long and hard for a 3-0 result, could have been the other way, Steve stopped young Nick’s winning run, but only just - Nick had match ball-4 in the fifth . . .

Mark beat Terence in three, Bruce returned to winning form at Graham’s expense, Lucas took one game off Paul, Nick (Marshall) (Old Nick?) beat Pat in a high-speed four sets, and Chrissie did well to take a game off Nigel, who predictably has taken only five minutes to return to his previous form, which wan’t bad at all!!  

Week 5

So what happened in Week 5? James finally got his name on the big board, with a super victory over Pat, a big five-setter that will surely mark many more wins, now that he’s remembered how to go about it!

Mick provided the upset of the week with a five-set victory over Glen that moved him way, way up the ladder, Rebecca and Jenni also did the five-set thing with Rebecca winning that one. Paul and Billy battled it out for four games, with Billy taking the honours, Bondy too many guns for Bill, Kurt and Adam had a five-set battle of the young ones that Kurt prevailed in, Marie beat Maria in three, but it looked like it could have gone to five easily at the start.

Jock went the distance with Sandy, and won the chocolates, Bruce found that Ed still has some squash skills, and was ambushed 3-0, Megan too good for John, but then John bounced back and knocked over Robbie in straight sets! Remarkable.

And young Nick continues to cut a swathe through the ladies ranks; this time beating Carmen in straight sets. 

Round 4

First up - a huge apology to Craig, who somehow slipped through the cracks and doesn’t appear in any winter league teams - If you’re a number two and can’t play, (or even a number one!) call Craig! I’m sure he’d appreciate some casual games outside league nights as well - besides we need him sharp for interclub . . .

There’s a couple of names that have kept popping up in the positive column this season; last year Greg was determined to get up to be a two, now he is, and he’s still winning! This week Grahame, who has been doing a bit of winning himself already, was Greg’s victim in four games, which means a substantial move up the ladder. The other one is Fly, who last year was on the wrong end of a series of big five-setters, he just could not find the line at all. This year he’s reversed that process, and has a string of five-set victories to his name already, this week he met the new and revived version of Blair, and true-to-form came home the better in a marathon match.

On Monday night James met yet another just a little better than him, going down in four to Nick, Kurt and Bondy ran around a whole lot to produce a long five-setter which Bondy won, Mick filled in for Lucas which gave Nigel a somewhat tougher workout than he may have expected. Sandy worked his hardest and was rewarded by taking a game off John, Jordie was seemingly in charge but just gave Robbie too many chances, which Robbie unsuprisingly took, and Terence and Mark tore into their work with a passion and obviously enjoyed their match, with Mark emerging the victor.

Chris is still on the right side of the ledger, Jock took one game off him but that’s not enough, Bruce and Bill took the long way home, with Bruce the winner there, Linda had too many guns for Jane, while Nick turned on too much hustle and bustle for Marie and upset her 3-0.

Warren worked hard to take a game of Mick, Di dropped one game on her way to victory over Jenni, Louise couldn’t handle Megan at all, Billy and Pat turned on a high-powered five setter which Pat took out, Doldie didn’t let Adam get any games at all, Carmen beat Paul in straight sets, and Jordie lost again, this time to Brendan (although it did go to five).

Sandy came out firing again in the zillionth time he’s played Paul this year, with the same (2-3) result, Pete had to dig pretty deep to hold out Ed in five, Kirsty beat Mark in four and Rebecca was too good on the night for Biddy.  

Round 3

Kirsty kicked the week off the wrong way, losing to Jordie in a long, long five, Carmen had too many guns for Jane, Nick did well to get a game off John, while Rebecca and Brendan put in a marathon effort, with Rebecca taking the deciding points in the fifth.
Paul beat Warren in straight sets, although Warren was never all that far off the pace, Ed was put in the completely unaccustomed position of losing two in a row when Graham put him away in three, Lucas and Terence produced an excellent five set battle that went the way of Terence in the end, and Blue got one game off Robbie, but that's not quite enough, Pat couldn't do the same against Nick no matter how hard he tried, and Adam found that Bondy is quickly coming back to form, losing in four.
Billy had the wood on Sandy, taking that one in straight games, Doldie was yet another to find that Pete is real difficult to get past, Jordie scored another victory for the week, beating Mark (Shera that is) in four, while Linda couldn't match the power game Nigel brought along on the night.
Jock and James fought out a huge five-setter, with Jock finishing up the latest opponent that pulled out his best game for James, Nick McKain's enthusiastic game brought dividends with a 3-0 win over Paul, Sandy had another go, this time against Mick, but still couldn't find the winning shots, Fly has finally found that winning feeling (last year he lost a whole lot of real close ones), this time Greg was on the receiving end in a big five, Marie was too good for Louise and Jenni and Megan tore into another huge five setter to wrap the week up, with Megan the victor on this occasion.



Round Two

Greg was welcomed into the No. 2 ranks with a torrid battle with Bill that went the distance, with Bill just keeping half a step ahead to win 3-2, Maria showed her determination to move up the rankings by knocking over the current ladies champ in four, Marie wasn’t having any of that sort of upset and kept Chrissie off the scoreboard, while Terence would be encouraged by taking a game off Robbie.

Carmen took a game off Nigel, but it won’t be long before he’s right back to where he was, Kirsty was too strong for John all over the court, and the same applied when Rebecca played Mark. Graham has some nice shots in his repertoire, but came up against Pete in his first game in the league, and that’s one of the toughest assignments around, Billy took one game off Nick, and Stratty had to call on all of his vast experience to extract a victory from his battle with Bondy, in a long five.

Another big five-setter came from Jock and Pat, and neither left anything on the court with Pat having the edge at the finish, and Bruce showed he can still beat some of the young fellas, at Adam’s expense.

John had too many guns for James, Blair tried everything he could think of but still couldn’t get a game off Kurt, one of those ones where a 3-0 scoreline doesn’t tell the true story, Robbie had Lucas’ measure in straight sets, and Jane took a game off Paul but couldn’t stop him recording a victory.

Sandy took the first two games off Paul, whose direction was just a little bit off and when you’re playing a greyhound in top gear you can’t do that, but Paul fought back and ground out the next two, saving four match balls at 9-9 in the fourth, and that gave him enough momentum to take out the deciding set.
Another battle of the big fellas ensued after that when Fly and Ed took the court, there’s not too much room left when they are both charging about at high speed; Fly finished up recording one of his best wins in a huge five-setter, resulting in an equally huge move up the ladder, Chrissie would have been very happy to dispatch Jordie in straight sets, while new-boy Nick brought enormous enthusiasm to the court but it wasn’t quite enough as John took out a five-setter, but he surely knew he’d been in a real tough one.



Round One

It’s back to the real stuff, after a summer of bouncing around the courts, and there’s excellent numbers up for the winter competition.
There’s a few old names making welcome returns, as well as a few brand new ones, and we look forward to a great season, not to mention some serious battles for ladder positions, with some folk determined to make an upwardly mobile move over the coming weeks.

Monday night was as even as you could get, with every round a draw!
Billy had Warren’s measure early in the night, Bruce didn’t allow Fly to get a game, Kirsty had a 3-0 scoreline over Lucas, while new boy Terence showed he is determined to learn plenty about the game, after a 0-3 game with Carmen.

Pat would have been happy to get a game off John, Blair and Adam produced the first five-setter of the season, with Blair just having the edge in the fifth, Rebecca was too strong for Chrissie, while Kirsty’s second game of the night resulted in another clean sweep, this time at Jane’s expense.

Chris carried his winning form from summer over the the winter game, but had to work double overtime to do that, as Paul had other ideas on the matter, and a big five setter was the result, Bill had too much trouble getting round the big fella, Ed taking that one in straight games, Brendan brought out his best game to down Megan in four, while Biddy went the other way, losing in four to Maria.

Pete is hard to beat, everyone knows that, and even though Fly was doing his best work Pete took it out in five, Glen’s shot-making hasn’t deserted him, Sandy had the legs but the shots were just too good, and Di found Adam too good on the night.

James and Micky unsurprisingly turned in an exhausting five setter, Mick had just enough in the tank to last out in that one, Jenni and Marie will be playing five-setters forever, and there was no reason for anything else to occur on Wednesday night, Jenni took the honours on this occasion, Nigel is back after a layoff to do the family thing, and Paul did well to get lots of points of him, but not lots of games.

Nick showed a bit of rust, and Jock took it to him, but Nick finished best in yet another five-setter, Bruce found that Bondy was a bit rusty too and took full advantage, while Robbie finished off proceedings with a fine match against Linda, another big five, going in Robbie’s favour.





Summer’s a wrap - winter has begun already!

Results from the first week’s competition will be up shortly, but first the end of summer, and Team 7 took the money (pity there’s none), the line-up was new boy James McCloy, old boy Pete Blacklow (did anyone beat him this summer??), another new/old boy Blair Horrell, and Linda Bullock to hold it all together at the bottom of the order - no wonder they won!

Team 9 was second, by a mere two points, and that team consisted of Sandy Richardson, Wayne Vessey, Rebecca Abernethy and Chrissie Stratford, while Team 5 was a single point behind them, that’s Paul Cousins, Warren Mackenzie, and Brendan and Biddy Sheehan.

The results were carefully collated by Sandy Richardson (so shouldn’t his team have won??), and that’s that. Roll on winter!  

Summer league Final Week

That’s it for summer! No more ball bouncing all over the place, the real stuff is just around the corner, we’ll have just a week off then into the winter league.

This week Sandy and Mick finished up at 1-all, a fine indication of lots of rallies with lots of running, which is exactly what both players are noted for; Wayne’s last outing for us (hopefully he’ll be back next summer!) resulted in a hard-fought win over Kurt, Rebecca somehow let Jordie get a game off her, but she made amends by getting two herself, and Chrissie had to work a bit to subdue Lucas, who took one game off her.

Robbie brought his A game along, which he needed to get close to Di, and the bell rang with the score at 2-each, Jane’s getting better, but she found that Maria is still getting better too, and that scoreline finished at 0-4.

Jock was doing plenty on court, but too many shots were finding the tin, and Chris was making less mistakes, which is always the best way to the finish line, Warren had enough in the tank to be just half a step in front of Bruce for their whole match, Brendan was another to bring out his best game, and despite Marie giving it her best shot the scoreline read 2-1 at the end, while Biddy is another on the improvement trail, but Chrissie had too much experience and finished a 2-0 victor.

Billy and Pat tore into their work as you might expect, and a 2-2 result was a fair one, Mitchell and Craig knew they’d been in a battle when they dripped off the court, at the final whistle Craig had one more game on the board, Megan kept Jenni’s lobs and drops under control and produced some of her own to go with her power shots and that was enough to take that match, while Paul made the winner’s circle with a victory over Louise, but some of her new-found power shots left him flatfooted, so he had to work hard for the win.

Doldie and James were in the middle of an intriguing contest when Doldie’s buzzer went and he was off somewhere to keep our electricity going; Bill and Pete had a titanic struggle - Bill played some fine shots all over the court, but found like many before him that Pete never gives up. Never. End result 3-1 to Pete. Corey found that Blair has re-discovered his old form, and more, and that match was surprisingly one-sided, while Carmen started well against Linda and looked to have it sewn up at 2-0, but Linda must have been watching Pete, and came back in determined fashion with a wide range of shots (especially the drop in the right hand corner though) to take a fine victory to wrap up the summer competition for another year.  

 Summer Week 10

Only a week of summer left, but there’ll only be a week or so break between seasons, so if your name isn’t up on the board, it should be!

That counts for interclub too; we’ve entered Div II, Div III (two teams) and Div IV (which we’re reigning champs), so hopefully everyone will be set and raring to go when that lot begins.

Paul and Mick kicked off this week’s round; Mick had just enough petrol in the tank to last and win 2-1, Bruce was in fine form and dished out a 4-0 beating to Kurt, Di couldn’t quite get the winning break on Jordie, and they were locked at 2-2 when the bell rang, and Maria had too many guns for Lucas, although he took one game and scored lots of points in the others.

Mick had another round, this time with Sandy, and with the same result, Wayne and Bill battled it out with Wayne demonstrating that he still had plenty of the shots he’s played for, er, some years; Rebecca found that Corey, despite being off the court for a few weeks, still remembered how to play the game quite well, and Chrissie and Carmen fought out a 2-2 draw.

Warren was in ‘no mercy’ mode and Mitchell was the recipient of that mode, Brendan and Megan went hammer and tongs for half an hour and didn’t even know what the score was when they dragged themselves off the court (it was 2-2), and Biddy was just a little bit better then Paul, winning 2-1.

Chris bounced back to form, taking a fine scalp as James continues to find opponents just a little bit better on the day; Bruce took a good scalp too, not many have beaten Pete this summer, Marie and Blair fought a fascinating battle, with both trying to dominate from the T, and the scores were level at the finish, and Linda played her experience card to vary her shots and keep Carmen guessing, until the final whistle went at 4-1.

Jock claimed that he really didn’t feel like running, but his actions belied his words as he caught up with everything Pat could throw at him, and returned it all with interest; Steve had revenge on his mind after losing to Fly last week and when a return match was offered he took his chances, although a 3-0 scoreline truly wasn’t a reflection of the match, with game scores of 15-14, 15-13, 15-14; it appears that Jenni will never, ever ever be able to beat Robbie, even though she should be able to, this time the scoreline read 2-1, while Jane and Louise clashed at the bottom of the order with Louise having the better range of shots, despite Jane having her running shoes on.

 

Summer Week 9

Only a couple of rounds of summer to go, and the lists are up on the board for both winter league and interclub, so get your names up there now!

In this week’s action Chris suffered another defeat, that’s two in a row after a tremendous run of victories, this time it was Sandy who delivered the knockout blow, Wayne and Bruce had a huge Battle of the Old Guys (just don’t call them that), with Wayne coming out the winner, Rebecca and Marie fought out a draw - I think they’ve done that before, once or three times - and Chrissie took a game off Marie, but that wasn’t quite enough.

Mark (H) and Doldie also fought out a dramatic draw, it was all go on the court, Di welcomed Corey back after a few weeks off by handing him a 2-1 defeat, and Maria took a game off Carmen, who responded with her big serves and better shots to take three.

Paul and Pat were also unable to be separated at 2 games each when the bell rang, and both knew they’d been in a huge battle, Brendan and Jenni drew (I think!!! results sheet a bit dodgy there) while Biddy was too good for Louise, but not by a whole lot, as Louise took one game.

James again showed that he’s quickly getting back to somewhere near C grade form, but on the night he met Billy who was in the mood to run, and play some superb shots as well, which he kept doing all night, running out a 3-0 victor; Mitchell must have been watching that game because he came out like Jahangir Khan and wiped Bruce in the first two games - Bruce nabbed one back and was going to serve to try and salvage a draw when the bell rang, Blair is another on the return-to-form trail, Carmen took one game off him but he was too strong all over the court, and Linda beat Paul in straight sets, but Paul scored lots of points in every game and is going to be beating people very soon.

Mick won the first game of his encounter with Jock, but after that had to take a back seat as Jock took over, bit of a surprise result there, Fly must have brought his running shoes, because he covered many miles on the court chasing down Steve’s best shots, and it was all worth it as he came out a 2-1 winner, Robbie was chuffed to knock over Jordie in a high scoring game, while one of the best battles of the night was at the bottom of the order when Jane and Lucas went head to head, lots of good running from both players, with Lucas having his nose in front at the winning post. Great stuff!!

Summer Week 8

Some interesting results turned up in this week’s round, as summer continues on with only a few weeks to go. Sandy brought out his best running shoes and ran down everything Billy could throw at him, Wayne had to work hard to get two games over Mitchell, Rebecca and Megan had a close one, with Megan coming out on top, while Chrissie just had the experience over Paul, but he’s still on the improve and results will start turning around soon.

Chris’ winning run had to end eventually, but it was a little surprising that it was at the hands of Mark, who hasn’t had too many entries in the win column himself in recent times! Quinton came back from a few weeks off to smash the ball into submission (and Bill along with it), Di had way too many guns for Marie, and Carmen had to resort to her power serves to hold out an ever-improving Maria.

Paul had to put in the overtime to keep Jock at bay, but it worked, Fly made Warren work for all his points as well. Robbie started like a rocket in his match with Brendan, bringing out some shots that weren’t even in the book, and they all worked while Brendan was left standing, but Brendan came back in fine style to grab victory in the shadows of the post, while Biddy put three games on Jane. Mick had the edge on Doldie, and Jordie picked up one game off Steve, as did his little brother Lucas.

James (McCloy) demonstrated that it doesn’t take long to shed the rust of a couple of years absence from the court; Pat brought his best game along on the night but couldn’t take the win as they battled down to the wire in an exciting draw, Craig was the latest to find that Pete just doesn’t give up, anytime, Jenni found that Blair was getting his game back in order, and despite her best efforts to lob him out of the game it was two games each when the bell rang, and to round out the week Linda beat Louise in straight games, although she knew she’d been in a match afterwards.  

Summer League continues . . .

Missed a couple of weeks reporting due to various factors, but there’s been some super games throughout that time, as folks get back into things after the Christmas break, and in fact there’s already questions in the air about this year’s interclub competition, which has gotta be a good thing; maybe we can even manufacture a team in every grade this year, which would be a superb achievement right there.

A couple of weeks ago in round 3, Billy had his thinking cap on to negate the best of Doldie’s odd shots, Wayne (Vessey that is) found that its real, real hard to get past Pete on any day of the week and had to share the honours, Linda found it necessary to bring all her experience along to hold out Chrissie 2-1, Quinton appears to be in a sad patch of form and couldn’t sneak even one game off Warren and Paul (Rounthwaite) was more than happy to take a game off Steve. In fact it wasn’t a flash round for the latter at all, Carmen then proceeded to take more games than he did at the end of their match.

Chris remains in startling form, knocking over Jock in straight sets, Robbie and Marie put up a super fight to the finish, going point for point with games (and even points!) being all square at the end, Mick had the better of Pat after their battle, a suprisingly big 3-1 scoreline, they’re usually 1-1, Kurt and Craig indulged in a titanic battle which Craig emerged victorious, and Robbie maintained his stranglehold over Jenni notching up yet another victory.

Round 4:

Sandy and Jock kicked off with a match big on long rallies, as the 1-1 scoreline would suggest, Wayne and Warren had a major battle of their own, with Warren the victor in the end, Rebecca found Brendan on a good day and couldn’t register even one game, while Chrissie was too good for Biddy on the night.

Pat was back to form in bowling Mark 3-1, Quinton scored lots of points, but Craig scored more in every game, Jenni held out Di in a close one while Maria overpowered Louise in straight games. Fly and Pete fought the battle of the big fellas, with Pete taking the honours there, Blair showed he’s getting back into it with a good win over Robbie and Linda didn’t give Jane any quarter.

Billy and Mick hit the court running and neither stopped, with Billy playing just enough better shots to take the win, Mitchell and Kurt hurled themselves around the court in a highly entertaining encounter, Megan dished out a thrashing to Jordie, while Paul and Lucas went toe to toe, both determined to register a victory, but in the end neither did - although Paul was serving at 14-12 in hte fifth when time ran out and the buzzer sounded.

Chris handed Doldie another defeat, hopefully Chris’ form stays solid for the rest of the year! Bill just couldn’t find the shots to get past Bruce, Marie took one game off Steve, and Robbie and Carmen produced a close encounter, Carmen having the edge at the important time - the finish.



Junior coaching

  Tuesday March 1, at 3.30; 9-10-11 year olds welcome to come along, have a try and see if they like the game, at no cost.

Summer League, Round 1

First competition games after the Christmas festivities, and the rust was showing a little bit here and there. Some interesting results turned up though, even if it IS summer, and its all just for fun and fitness in the end result.

Pat came out and found that Chris had certainly been keeping his fitness up over the festive season (guess he’s gotta!), Craig must have been doing his exercises as well, he took Bruce to the cleaners and that isn’t easy; Jenni was back to her usual tough battle with Marie, this time she took home the chocolates, while Louise found it even tougher against a previous ladies champ!

Mark (Holmes) found that Sandy could still run around a bit (or a lot), Quinton found that playing at number two was just a teensy bit easier, although not much when Wayne Vessey turns up on the other side of the court, Di was a step behind Rebecca for their whole match and the result showed, while Maria pushed Chrissie hard but couldn’t quite match the experience factor.

Jock and Billy went hard at it, with Billy doing better, Fly and Mitchell both covered a mile or three on court, with Fly edging a 2-1 victory, Robbie would have been very pleased to hold Megan to a 2-2 draw, and Paul made a winning return from an injury break, beating Jane 3-1.

Mick and Nathan’s scoreline was 1-1, which tells a story all by itself; Warren and Pete hit the first game at a million miles and hour and neither ever let up, and a draw was a very fair result, great to see Blair Horrell back on court, although he couldn’t quite handle Jordie, and young Lucas Hooper made a very promising beginning to his career, pushing Linda hard in all three games they played.

Paul and Doldie fought a huge battle; Paul took ages to figure out he was being sucked into Doldie’s weird style, but when he got back to line and length his fortunes improved dramatically; Brendon had too many guns for Corey, while Carmen had to rely on her good serve as Biddy gave her a good push along.  

Round Six of the summer comp, and the temperatures aren't going down at all . . .

Craig took a game off Pat, but that wasn't quite enough, Pat scored 3, Di did well to restrict Bruce to 3 games, but Mark (Shera) couldn't manage to keep Olive down to that score, at all!

Chrissie and Tash fought out a 2-2 draw, Greg was too good for Robbie, not one of Robbie's better nights, and Chris kept Sandy right off the scoreboard, definitely an achievement.

Nathan had too much speed around the court for Mark (Holmes), while Rebecca just had enough to keep Corey out, winning 2-1.

Billy and Jock produced yet another fascinating and even battle, with the 2-2 scoreline reflecting just that, Fly would have been most pleased to come off the court 2-1 up over Pete, and Linda was way too good for Jane on the night.

Kurt picked up one game, but Paul picked up four, that's a high paced game, Ed was just too good for Brendan, Ed's been playing some pretty good squash over the last year, Steve had to work double-extra-overtime just to snatch a draw before the bell rang against Greg, while Maria gave Marie a good game, but couldn't quite turn it into a victory.

In fact its five weeks in, and the heat has been on in more ways than one on the courts, with one or three surprise results.

Mark Shera held Rebecca to a draw early in the piece, he'd be happy with that one, Paul scored a decisive 4-1 win over Wayne, that's a lot of points right there, Billy was in fine form knocking over Mark Holmes 3-zip, but then met Quinton on a day when his head was in the right space, and all those 'tin' balls were just going up, a real upset there!

It won't be long before we see Lucas Hooper on deck properly, he took a game off Mick one night, Carmen was chuffed to beat Mitchell, Olive showed she's still got it with a commanding victory over Linda, and Robbie, who can be, er, patchy in places, has still got the wood on Jenni, she can beat lots of people, but just not Robbie.

The Annual General Meeting is on Friday November 26 (postponed from the 19th), we'll be having a barbecue, and a proper presentation of the cups from the champs, and cheap drinks!!!! So be there . . .

 End of the road for Winter League

The last round of winter league for 2010 – another season slips into the history books!

Mick and Billy were first up, and once again an established C grader had to work overtime to hold out one of the young guns, Mick getting there in five; Greg and Craig also went the extreme distance, with Craig taking the honours, Jenni and Carmen just had to do the five-set thing as well, and Jenni lasted just that little bit better.

Jock and Sandy had another fascinating battle of styles, Jock’s the better shotmaker, but Sandy will always run and pick up so many of those shots! In the end Jock kept up the barrage of winners and prevailed; Ed finished an excellent season on a high note, taking out Bill in straight sets, Marie was on her best form when she met Di, and consequently won in three.

Pete took one game off Chris, but one isn’t enough to win a match, Quinton did the same against Bondy, Robbie and Linda had another marathon match, Linda won that one in a long five, while John was too good for Jane.

Pat and Mick met yet again, both filling in for other players, and played their compulsory five-setter – this time it was Pat who came off the court after a massive match wearing a winner’s grin, Kurt had a heap of chances to put Steve away, but kept finding the tin at all the wrong times, and a much-improved Mark made Marie work for her victory.

Warren brought his best game along and had the better of Mark (Holmes that is) all over the court, Stratty used his vast experience to keep Quinton on the defensive for the duration of their three set match, Corey found that Robbie was having a very good week, and couldn’t get near him, and Greg Price continued his own run of fine form, dominating the T and not letting Maria get her game going at all.

Mark and Rebecca had a super battle, Rebecca having to dig deep to stay on top, while Megan made it three five setters against No. 2 players when she took to the court with Mitchell, and this time she went really close, but Mitchell came back from two sets down to clinch a thriller – look out next season though.

A highly competitive match to finish up a highly competitive season, right across the board, with so many players looking to improve their game; combined with our excellent interclub results its all looking good!

Interclub update: our Div 4 team are the champions; In Div 3, Celtic 2 missed winning by the tiniest margin and Celtic 1 was fourth, while Div 2 finished in a fine third place; fantastic results as every division was extremely competitive and hard-fought.

Jordie’s victorious Div 4 team included Chrissie, Di, Kirsty, Kurt, Robbie and Megan.

Sandy’s Div 3 team usually consisted of himself, Jock, Billy and Warren; on occasion they called in Fly, Bondy and Craig to fill in the gaps.

Bill had a few players in his Div 3 team; there was Bruce, Quinton, Eelke, Craig, Bondy, Ed, Fly and maybe a couple of others in there somewhere.

The Div 2 players, who missed out on second by a mere five points, were Paul, Micky, Nathan, Doldie, Stratty, Pat, Glen and Chris.

Congratulations to all our players who took part over the season!

At the prizegiving the winning Div 1 Mackenzie guy said that the Mid Canterbury Squash interclub competition was above and beyond anything he'd played in under the NZ Squash/Midlands umbrella, it's a super competition we're in, and we're pretty good at it! 

Winter League Week  6

Two of the whiz kids fought it out first up this week, with Billy’s better shotmaking being the difference, despite the greyhound on the other side of the court picking up many of his best ones, Craig continues to knock over many of the ‘middle order’ players - this time it was Bill on the wrong side of the score sheet; Carmen didn’t have her best day on court and Marie took all the chances on offer, while Louise lost to Tash in straight games.

Megan had another decent go at one of the number two guys, and this time it was Kurt who had to pull out all the stops to beat her in five; Rebecca also went to five sets, this time getting the better of Jordie, which she enjoyed immensely; and Mark got a lesson from Marie, hopefully he’s taking it all in!

Mark (Holmes that is) didn’t have the answers to Jock’s vastly improved game, while Maria and Biddy fought out a big five setter, with Maria continuing her current habit of winning more than she loses. When Pat and Mick (sounds like an Irish joke) get on court, you just know they are going to be there for a while, and this week was no exception - this time Pat took the honours after an exhaustive marathon; Brendan regained some of his form to knock over Jenni in style, and Robbie beat Louise with the same 3-0 scoreline.

Sandy found that Chris’ really annoying habit of being in exactly the right place at the right time hasn’t gone away, and consequently lost in four; Fly recorded one of his more illustrious victories when beating Bondy in four sets, and Greg, who will never be a number four again, didn’t have too much trouble getting past Jane.

Paul had too many guns for Pete no matter how much he threw himself around the court, Mitchell’s form deserted him against the wily Bruce, and Robbie took the court yet again to give John some tips on the finer points of the game.  

Winter League Week 5

Billy started this week off in style, beating Mark in straight sets, Quinton and Craig fought out a huge battle, with Craig emerging the victor in four, Robbie and Carmen fought out an even huger battle - it must have been getting serious because someone on the other court remarked there was none of the usual raucous banter from Robbie - and Carmen won it in a long, long five, then Maria provided a big upset by knocking over Chrissie in three.

Sandy ran around Doldie, not even letting him get a set, quite a feather in his cap, Marie proved once again that among the ladies, anyone can beat anyone on their day; she beat the reigning ladies champ in straight sets, while Tash was too good for Louise on the night.

Jock brought out his best game, and Chris was on court to witness it; end result Jock moved a fair distance up the ladder, after slipping slipping slipping from the top spot he had mid-season, Ed also brought his best game along, he needed to as Bondy had a superb recent record, but that counted for nought as Ed went on to win in straight games.

Bruce didn’t let Kurt get into his high-speed runaround game at all, cutting him right off at the pass and winning in three, Robbie and Carmen had a rematch only two days after their last marathon, and yes, it was another hour-long epic, with both having their chances, but Robbie coming out on the right side of the ledger, and John couldn’t handle Marie’s power and good shot placement at all.

Pat and Micky produced an epic of their own, they had to score around 90 points to actually find a winner - and every game followed the same pattern. Pat would roar into it and gain a seemingly unassailable lead, but Micky would finally get into gear and chase the lead down, after five massive games Mick took the honours. Shoulda been declared a draw. Megan gave Steve a huge fright (after a slow start), and that one went to five, Brendan beat Rebecca in a highly entertaining four sets, and Robbie was on court again(!!) to do battle with Mark (Shera that is) and that one also went the extreme distance.

Warren went on court determined to give Paul a run for his money, and did so - Paul had to pull out a good one to stay ahead of the game, Fly had the edge on Mitchell and won in four, Robbie stepped on court yet again (a tiger for punishment) but this time the tank was running dry and Marie took full advantage, Greg played Mitchell and showed why he will be moving up the rankings considerably next time around, bowling Mitchell in three.
Greg also put in a ladder challenge recently; as a result his name moved up above Jordie’s. Top stuff!  

 Winter League Week 4

Chris showed that he’s fully recovered from the injury that kept him out of the club champs when he pushed Billy right to the limit this week, the 3-2 scoreline could very nearly have gone the other way; Bondy simply cannot get away from playing five setters (it’s not compulsory you know) - this time Craig was on the other side of the court, and this time Craig was the victor; Linda brought out her best game to bowl Carmen in straight sets, and Jane couldn’t match Chrissie around the court.

Nathan was in pretty good form after the Mid Canterbury champs, but that wasn’t enough to get more than one game off Micky; Stratty had way too much experience to get beaten by Greg (Walls that is), Jenni showed she is still the best of the ladies by beating Rebecca in four and Louise took one game off Mark (Shera that is!).

Sandy and Mark thrashed around the court for a very long time before Sandy ran out the winner (literally; he ran and ran and ran); Quinton and Bill also had a massive battle, but Bill kept his focus in the right place and won in four, while Robbie was very happy to take one game off Marie, but will have to concentrate on the basics if he’s gonna actually beat her.

Pat had too many guns for Pete, Bruce showed few signs of his recent time away from squash when beating Steve 3-1, and Robbie had another go, this time having a good hit around with Mark. Fly found Kurt on one of his best days; Kurt’s backhand drop shots were all working a treat, leaving Fly with nowhere to go; and Jordie was too good on the night for Corey (it WAS after 8, so Corey wasn’t at his best at all).

Jock came out all guns blazing against Paul, and had his chances in a super game, but Paul demonstrated that he isn’t a C grader for nothing and pulled out some super shots of his own to keep Jock at bay; Mitchell was the latest to find that Big Ed is actually playing some pretty good squash, that one was over in three, and saving the best till last, the battle of the sisters-in-law - Di won the first two games and looked to have things under control, but Megan came to light with some top power shots combined with good length in the third, and the match duly went the distance, with Megan taking the honours.

  Interclub 2010

If I’ve done my sums proper, then our Div 4 team’s narrow loss on a countback at Pleasant Point on Tuesday means they have enough points in the bank to take the trophy - fantastic! Jordie was the skipper of a team that included Kirsty, Robbie, Megan, Kurt, Di, and I’m sure there’s someone else in there who contributed as well - that's Chrissie of course! - congratulations to the lot of you, a superb effort in a tough competition.


Winter league week 3 

Jock had a good go at the club’s best player on Monday night, but couldn’t make a dent in John’s armour, Ed continued a fine run of form, this time managing to curb the high energy of Kurt, Di moved up the ladder a bit by beating Jordie in four, and Biddy and Tash had a good battle at the bottom of the order, with Tash taking it out in four.

Sandy and Chris went toe to toe for five exhausting sets, Chris had the edge in the important one, Bondy’s huge run of big wins in consecutive five-set matches came to an end, but it took an equally huge effort on Bill’s part to make it happen, Nathan carried on some good form from the tournament to only allow Pete one game, Rebecca proved once again that she has the wood on Robbie well and truly, knocking him over in straight sets again, while Mark Shera took a game off Chrissie, but found that experience counts for quite a bit on the court.

Mick took on his little boy, and actually gave up one game, which I’m sure he will never hear the end of, Quinton and Eelke went the long way about it and produced a mammoth five setter, with Quinton getting the chocolates, Jenni was out for revenge after capitulating to Robbie last week, but found that when he’s on his game he’s actually quite good - it went to five, and Robbie was the one making the celebration noises afterwards, and Maria has improved enough to give Louise no chance in their match.

Pat decided to bring out his A game for the night, and despite Sandy the Whippet tearing up the court with a huge mileage, Pat’s better shotmaking proved too good on the night. Fly had no less than six match points, in the third game, but couldn’t convert and let Steve back in to the match, which then went the distance, and in a season where many players have improved out of sight, Greg showed he’s not to be outdone, bowling Brendan in a stylish straight sets victory.

Billy proved that he’s one of those aforementioned improvers, taking on Paul and coming away with the honours in four sets, Mitchell found that Craig’s run of form isn’t a fluke, and was unable to get a single game off him, while Carmen came back in the third set but not in time to stop Megan wrapping up the win.

  Ray McBeth Memorial Tournament 2010 July 30 31

Another successful running of the club’s annual tournament, and a new name goes on the trophy.

Right from kick-off on Friday night there were big games all over the place, and apart from the Ladies A grade where Nicki-Lee Francis had a cruisy ride the whole way through without dropping a set, every winner had to work very hard to get their results.

Di was top seed in that ladies grade, and after beating Carmen in a tough four-setter, she cleaned up Kelsi Carrick to get to the final, but was just outclassed in that match. Carmen went on to take the plate, having to hold off a strong challenge from Maria, who beat Kelly McCullum in four to get to that final.

The men’s A grade saw some brilliant squash, with John beating Chris first up, then having to withstand a huge challenge from Paul on Saturday morning, when John didn’t quite look his best for some reason. Luckily a pre-match ciggy calmed the nerves enough to get through that one, and in the final he was always just half a step ahead of Dean Harrison, who still put up a magnificent fight.

Dean knocked out Pat and Micky on his way to the final; Pat finished up on the losing side of a big five with Chris, while Micky went on to contest third and fourth with Paul, producing one of the matches of the tournament (which is now par for the course for those two).

The men’s B was a very even affair from the start, with second seed Billy getting past Greg Walls to book a semi with Nathan. If the Micky-Paul match was the best, then this one must have been a close second, both players holding match point in the fifth set, with Billy finally taking it 10-8. He met top seed Garry Mayne in the final, and somehow had enough left in the tank to keep running and chasing down some shots that looked to be winners all the way, and returning them with interest, scoring a well-deserved victory. Kurt took out the plate after two very good wins over Wayne Vessey and Greg Walls, Jock and Nathan battled for third spot with Nathan getting there in four, and Steve beat Wayne in the special plate.

Gary was a late replacement in the mixed C grade, and went through to meet unseeded Andrea Grover in the final; Andrea threw everything at Gary with some excellent length and power shots, but Gary was up to the task and his immense experience meant he could counter anything Andrea could produce; a highly entertaining final that one. Jordie was taken out by Andrea in the semis and played Todd Cameron for third, but couldn’t get his best game together and missed out there.

Robbie, whose form is up and down like a yoyo at the moment, had his chance at glory when he played Ashburton’s super-veteran Terry, but after five big sets it was Terry who went forward to the semis, where he met Lachie Boleyn. Now Lachie is lots younger, fitter, stronger, faster around the court – but none of that takes into account Terry’s ability to talk his opponent out of a match, and Lachie was left scratching his head, wondering just how exactly he’d lost 0-3 to the elder gentleman. Terry lost in the final to Rob Coyle. Robbie won a five-setter to get to the plate final, where he met Mitchell, who cleaned up Logan Brown to get there. Robbie gave it his all in the final, but Mitchell dragged out some pretty good shots of his own and won a match where more than 80 points were scored.

The tournament was generously sponsored by RX Plastics, Twelve Wine Bar, Pat Summerfield Electrical, Paper Plus, Blacklows Tradezone, Harvey Norman and Robbies Bar & Bistro.

Results:
Men’s A – Winner John McDonnell, runner-up Dean Harrison, third Micky Hooper, plate Linton Muir, special plate Chris O’Reilly.
Ladies A – Winner Nicki-Lee Francis, runner-up Di Ness, third Marliesje Carrick (beating daughter Kelsi in five), plate Carmen Thompson, special plate Kelly McCullum.
Men’s B – Winner Billy Nolan, runner-up Garry Mayne, third Nathan Wall, plate Kurt Jemmett, special plate Steve Devereux.
Mixed C – Winner Gary Stratford, runner-up Andrea Grover, third Todd Cameron, plate Tom Wing, special plate John Hetrick.
Men’s D – Winner Rob Coyle, runner-up Terry Hutchinson, third Logan Ford, plate Mitchell McLauchlan, special plate Logan Brown.

  Winter League 2010 Week 2, second round

It was Billy’s turn this week to chase John around the court, and he did as good as anyone has, but still didn’t get the result he wanted, Kurt and Craig obviously both like big five-setters, on this occasion Craig was the victor, Carmen made some big steps up the ladder when she held out Jordie’s late charge to knock him over in five, and Marie was too good for Tash.

Mick and Pete battled away for hours, with neither giving an inch, but Mick prevailed in the final washup, Eelke caught Fly on a bad day and won in straight sets; in the result of the week Robbie put his best game ever together and took out the new ladies club champ, in three sets no less (there’s one happy boy!), and Louise scored a victory, moving up the ladder a few spots at John’s expense.

Mark is back on court, and fought out a (victorious) five-setter with another recent traveller in Pat, Bondy just loves those marathon fives - he’s won a few in a row, and this time it was Quinton on the receiving end; and Robbie instantly blotted his copybook when he forgot his moves and couldn’t handle Linda’s dinky little shots.

Jock gave it his best shot against Glen, and took one game, but under increasing pressure kept finding that tin, Steve took the first two against Ed easily, and fell into that most foolish of traps - never take your foot off the throat!!!! (lost in five), and Brendan and Biddy had a (friendly) family battle on the court.

Nathan warmed up for the tournament with a straight-sets win over Warren, Fly came back for more punishment and this time took Gary to five, a fine effort, Robbie must have fired all his guns on Monday night because he suffered another loss, this time Rebecca got him in four, and Paul had enough in reserve to hold out a whippet called Sandy, despite having to do a fair bit of running himself.

Timing is everything in sport, and on Wednesday night at Celtic the handicappers had it spot on; as the applause from a full gallery for a new ladies champ was ringing out, on the adjacent court the winning shot was just being played in the men’s A grade final.

John McDonnell was on court to defend his title, and after knocking out two previous champs Paul and Wayne on the way, stepped out to face the challenge of Glen Ralston, who had to get past Doldie, Micky and Billy to secure his spot in the final.

John took out a close first game, but Glen’s brilliant shot-making came to the fore in the second, repeatedly finding the nick and leaving John stranded.

Some of the shots being played, and the following retrieval of those shots, left mere mortals in the gallery shaking their heads in wonder.

In the third game John somehow stepped up the pace, and while Glen kept up with it for a while his best shots started finding the tin, and that trend continued as John took the fourth game and sealed consecutive championship titles, to go with the one he took way back in 1995 (I think!!!).

Paul and Micky fought out a monstrous five-setter in one of the plates, with Micky winning a battle that nobody deserved to lose with a weird off-the-wood shot that wasn’t in keeping with what had been a superb battle.

There was something of an upset in the ladies A, as Jenni, who had just scraped past Carmen and then won a huge battle with Kirsty to make the final, faced Megan, who had looked to be the favourite after victories over Rebecca and Marie.

Jenni’s trademark lobs and difficult serves won her the first game, but Megan imposed her own style in the second, playing straight with power and good length.

Jenni took the third after getting back to her own best game, although it looked as if she may have blown it after letting Megan come charging back from 1-8 and pushing it to a long game, but then worked hard to keep control in the fourth and took out the match, meaning there will be a new name on the ladies honours board after 13 years of dominance from Kaylene and Pam.

Marie and Kirsty came out to do battle for third spot, and right in keeping with the rest of the night went to five sets. It was a tough one for the umpires as both players not only wore similar colours, but also had exactly the same hair colours, obviously a ploy on Kirsty’s part. Both had their chances late in the fifth, but it was Kirsty who eventually persevered in a fine match.

Di took the plate from Rebecca after what had become a regular (for finals night) five-set match; both players found themselves caught up in up-the-front drop shot battles where any let calls would have produced strokes, but no, they decided to keep on battling it out, and Di proved just a bit better at it in the end.

Chrissie, somewhat nervous after newspaper reports had her title aspirations under threat, repelled a strong challenge from Maria to win the ladies B grade, but she had to call on all her experience to do so, Biddy beat Louise into third spot and Tash came out firing to knock over Jane in the plate.

In the men’s B grade, Jock  met Pete, who had somewhat of a charmed run through to the final with injuries to opponents and defaults, there was some (unconfirmed as yet) mention of bribery in getting to a final so easily.

Jock started like a rocket and took the first 9-zip, but well aware of Pete’s ability to come back in any game he kept up a high-intensity game to shut Pete right out of the match, ensuring his name will be engraved on the B grade cup.

Unseeded Bondy came through several tough five-setters, against Craig and Eelke in which he had to come back from two down both times, to meet Steve in the C grade final, and after yet another marathon match took out the grade, which will go very nicely with the D grade title he won last year, and obviously means he will be looking to get his name on the B grade cup next time around.

Eelke beat Mitchell, who has picked a bad time to have a bit of a form slump, in four sets in the battle for third, while Craig and Kurt fought out the zillionth five set marathon of the night, with Craig coming out the winner of a thriller in one of the plate sections. Craig has been on the wrong end a few big five-setters in recent times and will be well pleased to pick up that one, especially against a tearaway like Kurt.

In the men’s D grade Fly made it past Robbie and then had a titanic clash with Quinton to meet Jordie in that final.

After winning the first two games comfortably he let Jordie back into the match, never a good idea, and had to work overtime in the fifth set to claim the title.

Brendan beat Robbie in four in the consolation plate; Robbie was determined to put in his best work and did so for the most part, playing some excellent down-the-wall shots; Brendan had to pull out all stops to keep him out.

These were just the final night matches; this year with the standards improving across the board there have been massive contests from the very first round, so those who have made it to get their names on the trophies are deserving winners one and all.

Special mention of a few who didn’t make it to the tournament for various reasons; Paul, Chris, Bill, Mark, Bruce, Brendon, Nigel, Kaylene and Pam, maybe a couple of others even, roll on next year and they will add all extra spice to what has been an outstanding competition.

Winter Week 4

  A week where the ladder got one hell of a shake-up – suddenly everyone wants to move on up, and the biggest casualty was right at the very top.
The Likely Lads – Billy, Warren, Jock and Sandy – have been pushing the big guys hard in recent times, and this week the inevitable happened, and Jock’s name now resides comfortably right at the top of the pile.
  Billy started the week off the right way by knocking over Doldie, a huge scalp for him, Bondy had his hands full with Craig but managed to get there in five, Carmen was just one of the big movers on the board, beating Linda in straight sets, while Chrissie always had Jane covered.
Mick had enough in the tank to keep Nathan at bay, Elke was the latest to find that there’s plenty of bite in the old dog yet, not getting a game off Stratty, Jenni and Rebecca produced another big five with Jenni coming out the victor, and Louise took one game off Mark but he was too strong in the end.
  Mark Holmes discovered he was playing a greyhound called ‘Lightning’, and its really hard to chase one of those round the court all night, Quinton fancied his chances against Bill, but the experience showed in the end and Bill scraped in, in another five-setter, Robbie continued his new-found winning ways, he’s always chuffed when he beats Kirsty, especially when it’s a marathon five.
  Glen gave Pete no quarter (although Pete was still seeing headlights coming toward him after a long drive to get to the game), Bruce dropped one game against Steve, Brendan had to work overtime to subdue Robbie, who bounced back to beat John in four just to show he hadn’t really lost it.
  The big one – Jock took on the current numero uno Paul and after a blistering game of squash came home with the chocolates. A spectacular match, which neither player deserved to lose, but a superb breakthrough victory which showed the Likely Lads have arrived in the top echelon, and they aren’t going away anytime soon.
  Mitchell had a superb victory of his own, beating Jordie in four and being another to make a big shift up the ladder, Linda wasn’t having a good week, filling in for Megan (who’s wearing the shiner of the year, courtesy of a wayward racket), and found Di just too good, while Paul Rounthwaite is still on the improve, but just an inch behind his rivals, which Biddy took full advantage of.
  Sandy lost to John McDonnell in three, but the result was truly no indication of the match; John was on occasion stretched to the limit and had to produce some good stuff to overcome some amazing retrieving from the one they justifiably call Lightning.
  On a night when great games were standard offering, Fly had the spectators fearing for the safety of the walls as he hurled himself about to keep up with Kurt, who was more than happy to wrap it up in four, because a five-setter could easily have gone the other way; Corey took his chances when Jordie wasn’t quite at his peak and made his own leap up the ladder, and Greg had obviously been taking notes from the John-Sandy encounter, he came out all guns blazing in the battle of the number-fours-who-should-be-threes, and took the honours in a determined four-set win.

A week where the interclub teams all did the business, great stuff!

First up, Warren’s glory days of last week were a bit short-lived; somebody had written the result down wrong and he didn’t beat Micky after all, so his visit to the rarified air at the top end of the ladder was a little premature (perhaps by the end of the season?). 
 Jock started off this week by taking a hard-earned game of John McDonnell, Ed must have found some fitness somewhere, he managed to not only keep up with the tireless Kurt, he put in enough good shots to take the match 3-1, Di added her name to the list of people who can beat Jordie, although it took a big five-setter to do so, and Biddy took one game off Marie, who is busting to get back into it properly if anyone needs a number 3 reserve. 

 Sandy put in one of his best ones to knock over Chris, making a big jump up the ladder in the process, Bill had his hands full with Bondy but just managed to come up trumps in yet another five-setter, and Tash was too good for Jane on the night. 

 Nathan had a return shot at Pete after last week’s big upset, and wasn’t having any of the same, making every shot a winner, Gary and Bruce fought out a torrid encounter, Gary’s enormous stack of experience getting him through in five, Rebecca beat Robbie in straight sets, but Robbie was obviously just saving himself, and Mark and John put together a long five-setter with John emerging the victor.

 Mick wasn’t taking any nonsense from the up-and-comers and after a close first game put Sandy away in three, Elke showed Quinton that a bit of concentration needs to be added to raw power, in a straight sets win, and Jenni found that on his day Robbie can play some pretty handy squash; he took all of her best shots and returned them with interest. ‘No more Mr Nice Guy’ appears to be his new mantra, and with a couple of good victories in the last two weeks it appears to be working a treat! Maria was working hard in every game but Louise just has that edge at the moment. 

 Warren took a game off Glen, but was another to find that when he’s good, he’s really good, Fly’s big reach and occasional accuracy down the wall should have seen him beat Steve in four, but somehow he let that one slip, Corey started off well, but put in a few swishy shots and let Brendan right back into it – Brendan needed no second invitation and took the match in four, and Greg had Paul safely covered all over the court, although that may change as the season goes on too. 

 A couple of superb five-setters in the final round; Billy once again gave Paul a huge round-up, Paul had to pull out his best work to take that one, while Megan appeared to have Jordie under control, getting to match point in the third, and another match point, and another – but just couldn’t nail it, and Jordie came charging back to win in five, displaying some of his best stuff on the way, while Chrissie was just too experienced for Paul, but it was noted by several spectators that he’s just a few steps away from putting a few wins on the board.

 

Round 9

Final round for summer, winter’s on the way! There’s always something to look forward to . . .

First-up and amendment from last week; after praising Billy’s heroics in holding Paul to a more-than-honourable draw, I find that Billy didn’t even make it to the court; it was ‘Lightning’ Richardson who was dashing all over the shop and making life difficult for Paul, so the kudos can now go to the right person!

Jock and Chris kicked off this week in a battle royal, Chris managing to fend off the ever-charging Jock 2-1, Pete is proving to be quite good at this game, knocking over Bruce this week to finish off a very successful summer (possibly unbeaten??), while Jane and Louise battled it out at the bottom of the order, Louise proving too strong on the night.

Micky was good enough to keep Doldie in check, Laurence and Nigel had a ding-dong go at it, with Nigel claiming the victory, Paul had to work overtime to knock over Warren in a high-scoring match, Bill put three unanswered games on Jordie, and Corey would be pleased to take a game off Olive, even though she put three on the scoreboard.

Billy would also be happy with his improving game, taking a game off the Old Master, Quinton tested himself against Sandy and there was only two games completed – unfortunately for Quinton, Sandy had both of them beside his name, Rebecca bounced back from last week’s defeat to beat Jenni, and Paul is still feeling his way round this competition squash, this time Greg proved too good for him, but his time will come.

Pat and Nathan gave nothing away to each other and produced a draw for their troubles, Pete had another go and this time Mitchell was his victim, Brendan’s form has taken an upward swing in the last few weeks and he put four games on Linda – nobody has done that in recent times, while Robbie, new racket and all, couldn’t beat Chrissie this time round.

A complete summary of the team standings will be produced just as soon as the man doing the counting sends it along!

Round 8:

Jock finally took a big scalp this week, under huge pressure Doldy’s weird shots weren’t quite coming off and Jock managed to finish the job after winning a series of super rallies, Bruce couldn’t get a winning break on Laurence who just kept coming back, a draw was the fitting end result there, Carmen brought her A game along to play the in-form Rebecca and duly took the honours 3-1, Robbie is showing the benefits of coaching and lots of on-court time, comprehensively shutting down Tash, no mean feat because she’s been on the improve as well, and they produced an excellent match.

Chris can’t be called a giant-killer any more, he’s joined the giants’ ranks, this time knocking over Pat in a high-scoring match, Pete once again showed how deep he can dig, Elke is playing a good game but couldn’t get near Pete, Kirsty found that Brendan is coming back from a form slump and is nearing his best form, even arriving an hour early for her game didn’t seem to help, while Jane took one game, but Louise was better on the day and took three.

Billy held Paul to a draw, now that’s a huge result, Bill and Kaylene battled it out with Bill edging to a 2-1 victory, Corey and Rebecca produced another draw for the round, and Jane and Paul must have thought it was the thing to do, when the buzzer went they were also locked at two games each.

Nathan reversed the trend of upsets, keeping Warren at bay 3-1, Mitchell somehow let Jordy beat him, what were you thinking Mitchell?? Olive was too strong all over the court for Linda, while newcomer Craig did well to beat Chrissie 2-1.

Wayne got back on the winning horse, holding out Mick narrowly, Sandy ran and ran and ran (again) to keep the rallies going and Nigel couldn’t quite match the pace, while Maria is another rapid improver, taking one game off Tash, who lifted her game and put three on the board, and Sandy had another go this time with Jenni, who couldn’t get her lobs and serves going well enough with ‘Lightning’ tracking down every single ball and returning it with interest.
 

Round 7

Warren found that Chris’ current form isn’t all talk, not getting a look in at all, Sandy did all his usual running everywhere around the court but like many before him found that Pete can dig very deep when he has to, especially when there's a revenge motive in there, and Olive had way too many guns for Kirsty.

Doldie’s back on court, and had a huge battle with Pat with nobody ahead when the bell rang for time, Elke showed that he’s another well in form, holding out Laurence 3-1, Brendan caused a bit of an upset when Rebecca couldn’t even get one game, while Tash and Jane were also locked at 2-2 when their time was up.

Paul turned giant-killer for the night, ending a super run of wins that Wayne had fashioned, Bill made Sandy work hard in a close 2-1 battle, Corey has yet to learn how to handle Jenni’s horrible serves and lobs (but he’s getting closer), while Robbie’s improving record went on hold for a bit when Greg dished up a 4-zip hiding.

Billy would be well pleased to record a hard-earned win over Nathan, Corey was back on court but didn’t have the answers to Mitchell’s strong game, while Linda and Marie produced an absorbing struggle – when the scoreline reads 1-1 at the end you know there’s been some awfully long rallies in there somewhere.

Jock continues to pound away at the top guys but can’t quite knock them over (yet), this time Micky had the job of keeping him under control and did so 3-1, Nigel and Bruce also went the 1-1 way in an intense clash, Robbie took a game off Carmen, but she had 3 in the bank at the end, but he finally scored a win for the week when he got past Maria 2-1.
 

Round 5

Chris didn’t want to upset his formline so he sent Nick in to bat against Wayne, but the result stayed the same, Pete threw everything he had at Sandy, but it wasn’t enough to stop ‘Lightning’ haring around the court and picking up a 2-1 win, when Kirsty and Jenni came off the court you’d think they had gone ten rounds, but it was actually the result of many a long rally, with Jenni doing best – just.

Billy got his revenge after losing to Steve a few weeks ago (but it wasn’t easy), Laurence played a much-improved game this week but still couldn’t match Sandy’s court speed, while Rebecca had her chances but Marie’s shot selection was too good on the night. Pat was in top form, knocking over Mick in straight sets, Sandy’s run of wins came to an end at Elke’s hands, and Jane and Maria battled it out with Jane emerging the victor.

Jock and Warren had their own high-powered battle, and Jock still can’t quite take that one, despite being a couple of points higher on the grading list, after an early setback Bruce came roaring back and swamped Jordie 4-1, Carmen and Olive and three close games which all went Olive’s way before she ran away with it at the end, and Robbie’s on-going attempts to beat Chrissie had another chapter, and he’s definitely getting closer to his goal.

Nathan and Paul hit the ball to each other a lot in the first game, but it was Paul who tightened up his game first and went on to take the spoils, Corey tried everything he knew, but Linda knew a lot more and consequently won 4-0, and Chrissie and Robbie had another round, with the same old result.  

Round 4

First-up: who's got Robbie's rackets?? They were left in the changing room on Monday night, and 'disappeared' sometime Tuesday. Whoever kindly picked them up as a security-conscious favour could perhaps pop them in to Robbie at Robbie's Undercar Specialists, or just leave them at the courts next time they are out.

In this week's action, Warren had another shot at Wayne but like most other folks can’t get past that consistent accuracy, Sandy was always just a couple of steps in front of Laurence, winning 3-0, Jenni had to be at the top of her game to beat Rebecca in a thriller, while Greg proved he is still a bit too strong for Tash, on the court at least.

Chris’ winning streak came to a sudden halt when Paul found his own form and dished up a 4-0 lesson, Pete was also in no-mercy mood, as Bill found out, Kirsty and Corey fought to the end and were locked at 2-2 when the buzzer went, then Kirsty had another go, running all over the court to put Robbie away 3-1.

Mick was another to find that Wayne has still got it, going down 0-3, Nigel had to work overtime to knock over new dad Mitchell 2-1, Robbie found that Linda had a truckload of experience to call on when she had him covered in every aspect, and Chrissie was too strong for Maria, winning in straight sets.

Billy and Jock went toe to toe in a high-energy battle, Billy edging Jock 2-1, Steve couldn’t find a way to get a game off Bruce, Carmen started brilliantly but faded to let Marie finish strongly and force a draw, Paul lost to Robbie, but is already showing big signs of improvement.

Warren and Pat wore identical shirts to try and confuse the umpires, Jordie didn’t have a clue how to handle Elke, Olive took a long time to get into her match with Brendon, apparently trying to put a dent in Big Ed’s Sebco signage, but came back to salvage a draw, and Steve had to run a lot more than he wanted to, to beat Jane 2-0.

Round Three

Rebecca and Corey started off this round with a battle that went down to the wire, with the bell beating both of them with the score at 2-2, Bill just had enough in the skills department to keep Laurence at bay, Robbie had one of his better games to get the better of Tash, while Doldie and Paul produced the second draw of the night.

Chris continues to find the summer format to his liking, keeping Nathan right off the scoreboard, Bruce also dished up a 4-0 scoreline, over Mitchell, Linda’s experience was the key to holding a 2-1 advantage over Kirsty at the end of proceedings, while Louise did better than the scoreline suggests in her loss to Chrissie.

Billy formed a relationship with the tin in his battle with Pat that cost him dearly, Pat going on to win 3-1, Steve came back from 0-2 down to snatch a draw with Elke, Brendan is finally showing a return to form and it was at Marie’s expense, and new boy Paul found that if you hit the ball back to Tash she will always make you pay.

Micky came back from a weekend of running over mountains and things to hold out Warren 2-1, Nigel forced Sandy into a whole bunch of errors and took out their match 2-1, Robbie had no answer to Olive’s all-round game, and Chrissie had her work cut out chasing Kaylene’s shots all around the court.

Jock ran and ran and ran but it wasn’t enough to counter Wayne’s pinpoint accuracy, Sandy came back from his earlier defeat and showed some pinpoint accuracy of his own with some superb down-the-wall play to knock over Bruce in straight games, Carmen took one game off Jenni but gave up three, while Greg had Robbie well covered and the 3-0 scoreline could have been higher.
 

Round 2

Round two of the post-Christmas competition kicked off with Chris continuing his fine run of form, this time it was Warren on the receiving end; Pete Blacklow keeps on keeping on, to Nigel’s detriment, Robbie usually has an even game with Kirsty but couldn’t get near her this time round, while Maria was too strong for Louise.

Nathan was on his best form to put four games on Doldie, Rebecca also had her A game on show, comprehensively putting Linda away, and Tash had one of her better games as well, beating Chrissie in a big five-setter.

Wayne wasn’t giving anything away to Pat, winning 4-1, Sandy and Elke had a huge battle, with Sandy leading when the bell rang, Greg and Jane had an even game with plenty of rallies, Greg winning 2-0.

Jock caused probably the upset of the week, taking out Paul 2-1, Bruce didn’t let Bill anywhere near the scoreboard in five games, Carmen and Corey fought out a game of about six halves, and in the end both had to settle for a draw, and Chrissie had her work cut out as Jenni was in fine form, Jennie winning in straight sets.

Billy found that old people can still play a bit, losing to Steve 1-2, Mick took Jordie a little lightly and very nearly paid the price, salvaging a draw, Marie took on Jordie and they also produced a draw, while new boy Paul Rounthwaite learnt some good lessons from having a bout with Sandy.  

Round one, February 2010

Christmas has come and gone; even January seems to have disappeared and NOBODY can tell me where that's gone, so its no surprise that squash is back up and running for the year. The first week would probably have brought on some aches and pains for those who haven't been frequenting the courts, but I'm sure that will all change, and supreme fitness will once again be in evidence all over the courts (yeah, right).

In matches from the first round of the year, Wayne showed that he's not slowing down at all, putting four games on Warren, Sandy had no intention of being beaten by Jordie and duly kept a clean sheet, Jenny and Olive fought to the end but neither could gain the advantage, first draw of the night, while Greg showed he has improved to beat Chrissy 3-0.

Doldie couldn't muster up enough weird shots to keep out Chris, who won 3-1 in the end, Rebecca took advantage of the fact that Kirsty's sporting focus is on bicycling to take out their match, Micky and Billy played like fitness fanatics to produce lots of long rallies, with Mick prevailing 2-0, Nigel tried and tried but Kaylene's experience showed through at the end, Robbie talked and talked but couldn't talk Marie out of winning, and Maria and Paul had a fine battle at the bottom of the order, Maria edging a 3-2 victory.

Jock tried everything he knew, but it wasn't enough to knock over Nathan, Bruce overpowered Mitchell 4-0, Carmen and Linda went right down to the wire, a 2-2 result a fair indication of their equal skills, and Chrissie just managed to keep Robbie out.

Paul caught Pat on a bad day and dished up a 5-0 beating, Bill must still be in recovery mode after last year's on-court mishap, letting Elke get right away on him, Corey had too many guns for Brendan, while in the surprise result of the night Robbie's game deserted him as Jane took him on and took the match 3-zip.
 

Round 9

Micky had his hands full when he took on Warren in the first game of the round this week; Warren threw everything into it, but found Micky just a little bit too tough, Olive always had Jordie’s number, a good victory for her, while it was the opposite for Robbie, who was chasing Kirsty all over the court all night but couldn’t quite catch her.

Paul and Wayne had a huge, and high-scoring, battle, Wayne beating the buzzer to score a 3-2 win, Sandy had it all over Brendan, who is overdue to get back to his best form, Rebecca is already back to hers, giving Di no chances in a 4-zip beating. Nathan had to be on his best behaviour to keep out Billy, Mitchell and Quinton usually go right down to the wire but on this occasion Quinton brought his A game along and won 3-0, Linda and Marie battled away at each other until full-time, with Marie on the right side of the ledger at the end. Wayne found Pat on one of his off days and took full advantage, putting 5 games on him, Greg found that Kaylene’s barrowload of experience was too much to overcome, while Tash found all her shots were winners when beating Jane.

Chris O’Reilly filled in for Nick and came away with the chocolates, beating Doldie in a remarkable 1-0 result, must have been some serious rallies going on there! Elke and Laurence engaged in battle for half an hour but neither could beat down the other’s defences, all square at full time, and Maria was getting some good shots in but not enough to get near Chrissie, who was too good on the night.

Chris climbed in the ring for another round, this time having to counter Jock’s high-energy game, which he did – just. Jordie met Bruce again, but ended up with the same result as a few weeks ago (4-zip).



Round seven

Sandy had Greg covered all over the court in the first match of this week’s round, while Micky was well aware of all of Doldie’s tricks, and had the speed to pick up even the weirdest of shots; Laurence put four games on Olive despite her best efforts, and Chrissie wasn’t going to let Robbie score an upset no matter how much he talked it up on court.

Nick again had the edge on Chris in the battle of the bobbies, Pete again had to dig deep but found enough to keep out an energetic display from Eelke, and Carmen had way too many guns for Maria.

On Wednesday night Wayne led the way for his team by keeping Warren scoreless, Brendan couldn’t emulate most people and give Jordie a hiding, going down 1-3, and Jenni and Carmen fought out three very long games with Jenni taking the honours 15-14, 13-15, 15-13.

Jock scored a notable victory over Nathan, a good scalp for him, Mitchell couldn’t handle the experience Bruce brought to the court, while Linda and Kelly had a good battle, with Linda winning 3-1, Quinton had his work cut out to hold off Corey, who was charging at the end and was only beaten by the buzzer, and Marie dominated the court in her match with Jane.  

Chris O’Reilly kicked off the round with a hard-fought victory over Billy, while Sandy also had to pull out all the stops to keep Kurt out (also in five), but Quinton had no such issues, proving much too strong for Marie.

Warren didn’t have too much trouble either when he met Brendon, but Di clashed with Kirsty, who last week frittered away a 2-0 lead and wasn’t going to do the same this time round, and won in a long five.

Cory continued his ongoing battle with Chrissie, this time coming out on the right side of the ledger, and of course they went to five, Pete Blacklow found that Sandy had been playing enough to get into some form, while Wayne found some form of his own to beat Pat 3-1.

Glen and the newly-shorn Ginga went at it for hours, with both looking somewhat exhausted at 2-2, but Phil carrying that little bit less weight must have been enough to tip the balance in his favour, Jenny and Linda also went the long long way home, also both looking a little the worse for wear at 2-2, but it was Jenny who found some extra reserves to take out the fifth.

Pete Leonard started like a rocket in his clash with Nick, but Nick won the fifth game 9-0, Pam couldn’t handle Doldie’s weird shots, and David took one game off a rusty Steve.

Paul hasn’t been in the flashest form recently, but brought along his A game on Wednesday and gave John McDonnell the biggest fright of the season, only going down after a massive five-set challenge.

Mitchell and Quinton are another duo to have established an ongoing rivalry, and while Quinton looks stronger Mitch keeps producing the better shots, and produced enough of them to win on the night.

He almost blew it in the next match when he filled in and played Biddy, who won the first two games 10-8 10-8 and made it to 6 points in the third before he woke up and realised he was on the verge of the biggest upset of the year, and took the last three games.

Round 1 (again)

 After the dramas of the club champs have all settled down, its back for another round of winter league, before Christmas rushes up on us again. Some folks were ready for action again, and some maybe weren’t quite so ready. Billy was ready, knocking over Warren in straight sets, while Nigel had to work very hard to subdue Kurt’s energetic game, and Marie had too many shots for Di, winning in four.

 Pistol Pete Leonard maintained his spot in the top five with a hard-fought five-set win over Nathan, Kirsty was in full control and had a two-set advantage over David – but blew it and lost in five, while Wayne, who had been slipping down the ladder, has charged back with a four-set win over Mick. Bill Bullock and Pete Blacklow battled for five sets with Bill edging home, and Jordie was the big mover on the ladder, coming out the winner of a big five with Jon Bond. Bondy! What were you thinking!!

 It was another round of five setters, with Pat and Glen going the distance as well, Nigel navigated his way successfully around Big Ed, but Robbie couldn’t handle Jenny’s big lobs and serves and crashed in three.

 Kurt and Mitchell also took the long way home, with Kurt running out the victor, in a repeat of the club champs final John still had the wood on Phil, in a battle of the Irish O’Reilly beat O’Grady, Quinton has moved up to number three but was still too strong, beating Linda in straight sets, while Biddy was too strong for Jane in the final match of the round.

Club Championships 2009

Winter league 2009

Week 5

Tournament form proved to be good form for the winter league this week, with Nick Marshall easily accounting for Roger Lassen, Jock O'Connor having too much power for Ed Harrison, Phil Hurley beating Mick Hooper in three, Greta Jemmett scoring in four sets over Marie Kennedy, and Chris O'Reilly topping them all with a big win over Pat Summerfield, which gave him a big nudge up the ladder.
Kirsty Graham and Carmen Thompson had an even tussle with Kirsty winning 3-1, Brendon Sheehan was too strong for Jesse, but Jesse is improving and that result could be reversed before too long, Jenny Ryk's lobs and serves were too hot to handle for Di Ness, and Bill Bullock would be very happy to beat Kaylene Donaldson in straight sets.
Kurt Jemmett was too fast around the court for Linda Bullock, Billy Nolan gave of his best but was hopelessly outclassed by John McDonnell, Mark O'Grady dished up a 3-0 hiding for Jordie, and Bruce Moore was another coming off tournament play to score a good win, over 'Lightning' Sandy Richardson.
Game of the round was Jon Bond and Lawrence McCormick, with both players producing excellent shots and some superb running, but Bondy came out the winner in a marathon five-setter.

Week 4

Billy Nolan has been thrown in the deep end playing No. 1 this year, but is visibly improving, this week giving Nick Marshall a good game, Jordie would have been rapt to get a game off Stratty, while Marie Kennedy was in good form to beat Carmen Thompson and Chrissie provided the upset of the round, sneaking up (unfairly) on Steve Devereux and nailing the big points.
Ed Harrison won the battle of the big guys with Mark O'Grady, Tarsh McKenzie and Biddy Sheehan had a good battle with Biddy finishing stronger in the fifth set, Nathan Wall hard to work hard to keep Chris O'Reilly out in five, and Paul Cousins only gave up one game against Wayne, which would keep him happy!
Bondy brought out all his best drop shots to deny an enthusiastic Quinton a game, Glen Ralston and Pistol Pete fought out a long five, Jock was too strong all over the court for Pam, and Karina McKenzie scored a win over Brenda Kerr.
The best came last with three five-setters out of four matches as Bruce Moore's team narrowly downed Micky's outfit 10-8. Pat had match point in the third set but just couldn't finish it, and Micky came back to win in five, in a huge family affair Kurt and Greta Jemmett battled and battled each other to a long five, with Kurt more than happy to emerge the victor, while David McCormick ran out of petrol against Brendon Sheehan after playing one match already, and that one finished in a long five too. 

Week 3

Another round in which a volatile ladder again saw many changes, a good thing!
Sandy Richardson moved up several places with a good win over Bill Bullock, Warren McKenzie did the same when he beat Kaylene Donaldson in four sets. Quinton Parish scored a big win over LeeAnn Hart in a desperately-even five-setter, while Phil Hurley finally managed to beat Wayne Robertson in three, a rare event indeed.
Carmen Thompson had two tough games and lasted well to win both, and Marie Kennedy also made a big ladder move when she beat Kirsty Graham in straight sets.
Jon Bond had to bring out his best game to overcome Linda Bullock in five, Greta Jemmett just managed to hold out a late charge from the rapidly-improving David McCormick, while the best game of the round would have been the battle between Pam Feutz and Mark O'Grady, both players having their turns at dominating the court but neither being quite able to break away. Pam finally scored the winning points in a thriller of a five-setter. 

Week 2

Newbie No. 1 Billy Nolan very nearly scored an upset victory this week, Chris O'Reilly had to dig deep to keep him out in a marathon five; Alex Ferguson had the legs on Marie Kennedy, winning in four sets, while Chrissie Stratford beat Quinton Parrish in three, despite Quinton's somewhat 'athletic' efforts.
Di Ness and Kirsty Graham produced an excellent and very even battle, with Di prevailing in four, Tash McKenzie lifted her game immensely to score a good win over Jesse Sheehan, and Warren McKenzie registered a win and a loss, beating Roger Lassen 3-1 but not being able to match Nathan Wall's skills, going down in straight sets in that one.
Good to see Nigel Tew back on court, though he still can't manage to beat his nemesis Bruce Moore, Jon Bond had to work hard to counter the speed around the court of Kurt Jemmett, while Cory Ashworth did well to get a game off Brendan Sheehan.
Nick Marshall and Pistol Pete Leonard played out an odd match, Nick winning the first at a canter, then Pete had a turn doing exactly the same in the second, one more game each and then the serious business in the fifth, with Nick coming out the victor. Pete suggested that a huge roast meal before a match wasn't really the best idea, while Stratty pointed out that playing with a double yellow makes a huge difference to how people play the game! All the double yellows have now been suitably hidden away. Stratty had his own problems, with Pam Feutz getting two games off him, while Carmen Thompson beat a very rusty David McCormick in three, and Karina McKenzie will find herself not at all where she might expect to be on the ladder after beating Chrissie in three sets (all due to a rogue result at the end of last season).
Glen Ralston and Pat Summerfield had a topsy-turvy five-setter, Glen looked to have it all over Pat early, but anybody who has played Pat is aware he's not in the habit of giving it away and Glen had to pull out all the stops to win in the fifth. Jock O'Connor generously let Steve Devereux win one game, Jenny Ryk had a huge opportunity to pull off a major upset over Bill Bullock but couldn't quite get there in the fifth, and Brenda Kerr beat Jane McCormick in the battle of the newcomers.
Paul Cousins was knocked off the top perch by John McDonnell in four, Mark O'Grady showed he was right back into it by beating Laurence McCormick in four, Mitchell McLauchlan very nearly gained another big scalp by taking Greta Jemmett to five, while Biddy Sheehan was too good for Emily O'Connell.

Week 1

Kicked off this week (April 27), with some new faces (and some old ones returning) showing up to do battle on the courts.
John McDonnell, famous for interrupting Stratty's incredible run of club championships some years back, showed he will be right up in the top five when he beat Phil Hurley in a super five-setter, while Jordy found out that moving up a spot means getting a beating occasionally (this time from Sandy), although no doubt Jordy is talking up a moral victory in there somewhere.
Roger Lassen and Pam Feutz both return to the court, with Roger proving far stronger on the night, while Robbie Kok also found its tough to move up, with Jenny Ryk showing him the art of really nasty serves and lobs. Linda Bullock showed that experience can counter the enthusiasm and speed of youth, beating Kurt Jemmett 3-1, and Dave McCormick showed he's definitely not a number four!
Paul Cousins had the wood on Warren McKenzie, another to move up a spot, but it won't be long before Warren is giving some of the number one's a bit of a nudge, while Glen Ralston and Pat Summerfield fought out a huge five-setter, Glen taking the decider. Current club champ Wayne Robertson and Mick Hooper produced yet another five-set marathon, and if all the top guys remain off the injured list and in form through the season, the club champs are going to be a bookies' nightmare. Great stuff!

Club Background

The Celtic Squash Club was formed in 1978, after a progressive group from within the rugby club decided that a squash court would enhance fitness in the rugby players ranks. The single court notion was quickly upgraded to two courts after support for the idea gained momentum, and a meeting at the clubrooms on May 8 1978, chaired by Mr Don Summerfield, saw the first club committee voted in.

John Davidson was the inaugural club president, with Alan Davidson the first secretary/treasurer, with the committee consisting of Cyril Cousins, Stephen Devereux, Ian Dolden, Barrie Gilligan, Barry Hansen, Barry McCloy, Heather McLaren, Gerald Small, Lyn Small, Jim Small, Kay Walsh and Bruce Whelan.

Mr Cousins explained the proposed arrangements for the club, which would see the courts opening on Queens Birthday weekend. Subscriptions would be $15 until the first Annual General Meeting. The first club championship tournament saw Murray Arnst emerge as men's champion, Lyn Small was ladies champ, Jane Stratford junior girls and Shayne Jones junior boys champs.

It was apparent early on that the changing room facilities, built to support one court, had to go, and subsequently a major revamp of the downstairs layout took place, and it must have been a good job because that's how it looks today. When the courts first opened, the upstairs area was completely bare, and various building committees over the years added the bar, the seating gallery and furniture, carpets and drapes, with various fundraising activities helping the cause, such as the 50c raffle with a squash racket as the prize, which raised a mammoth $80.

The entry fee for the first tournament was $1.00.

After years of being known in local squash circles as 'the dungeon', the club finally splashed out and in 2003 installed an air-conditioning system, which heats the courts and the upstairs area in winter, and keeps the place cool for those who want to sweat it out in the summer months.

There is only one annual tournament held at the club now, a far cry from the years when at least three would be conducted, and entries would have to be balloted despite every court in town being utilised. The honours board has seen some interesting developments over the years, with Gary Stratford winning the men's championship in 1981, and holding the title for a staggering 21 years, except for 1995 when young John McDonnell produced the game of his life to take the honours that year.

Jane Stratford, after holding the junior girls title for five years, moved up to have her name in the ladies column for six years, while in recent times Kaylene Donaldson has won the ladies title eight out of the last ten years.

Ian Dolden held the post of secretary for eleven consecutive years, an admirable contribution to the club. The current honours board reads: President Steve Devereux, Secretary Kaylene Donaldson, Treasurer Mick Hooper.

2010 Honours:

Men's Champion:

John McDonnell

Ladies Champion:

Jenni Ryk

Junior Boys Champion:

Kurt Jemmett.

Squash Results

The weekly Ashburton Celtic squash results are displayed on AshburtonOnline.co.nz.  

Location

The Celtic Squash Club is situated on Keenans Road, Ashburton.

New Players and Members

We welcome any inquiries from anyone considering playing or wishing for their children to play squash. Call Kaylene Donaldson on 302-3091 or Mick Hooper on 308-8528. 

Sponsors

We are very lucky to have very loyal and supportive sponsors, including Pat Summerfield Electrical, Blacklows Tradezone, RX Plastics, Twelve Wine Bar and Tapas, Harvey Norman, Benchmark Homes, and Robbies, whom without their help we couldn't continue.