Grange 2 v Edinburgh University 2

27^th Nov saw GRG2 host Edinburgh University 2 at home.  A tough fixture against well-bred, bored-looking but well-spoken whippersnappers and with the usual captain of arms Sloan on first team duty Wallace stepped forward to captain Messrs Forbes (2^nd string), Stokes (3), Brown  (4), Whitelaw (5) to a victory … of sorts.

At 5^th String Whitelaw obviously drinking beforehand – or drunk with success from surviving his 9^thconsecutive game of squash in 7 days – dispatches his opponent Shaakir Salam with customary verve in the first game 9-5, and then I can only imagine goes on a mystic journey within, to lose the next two games in a matter of minutes.  Andy rallies in the 4^th to take it 9-5 and it looks like he’s done it again but loses out after digging deep in the 5^th.  2 valuable points to Grange.

At 4^th Brown wins the Silver Fox Man of the Match who must have tied an invisible string to young Neil Campbell who was in all corners of the court twice a rally for most of the match and never really caught onto the annoying well place dinky wee drop shots – sound thrashing delivered - 3 points Grange.

3^rd string Stokes mans up against Luke Park – I didn’t see much of this one and gladly wasn’t marking but did witness Stokes with a pint in his hand soon after claiming to have lost 3-1 ad the pizzas were ordered, but another crucial point in what I gathered was a hard fought game.

2^nd sees Forbes reinvent himself into an aggressive go-getter and bad ass that trumps Emmanuel Cedillo (who looked quite handy) in a straight 3-0, not without effort but I saw this and it was all Forbes Forbes Forbes.  Nicely done.  “Tres puntos por Grange, muy triste!” as Emmanuel says in his native land, I imagine.

1^st was the longest game of the night lasting 137 changes of serve.  Wallace takes 1st easily enough 9-5 to lose the 2^nd, win the 3^rd, lose the 4^th and be closed out in the 5^th  by a steady Luke Hardingham.  3-2 against.  Too many errors at the front of the court and a phantom referee from the balcony - but it was all over by that stage of the game – put paid to a traditional victory but read on…

11 points for GRG2 + 2 ref points = 13 points. 

9 points for EU2 + 3 match points = 12 points. 

So a victory (of sorts) for GRG2 and an enjoyable evening with great squash and good guys from EUS2.

AW