Friday 5 November 2010

Grange 5 @ Abercorn 2 (Thurs, Nov 4,'10)

Continuing our travels, this week saw Grange 5 Barbarians head to Jocks Lodge to play Abercorn. This time, it was my turn to sit out, so thanks to Richard Nisbet for taking on captain duties for the evening and to Dave ‘Meldrew’ Grieve for the match report. Read on ...

Bill Marshall began the evening at number 5 as a replacement for Captain Mike Douglas who claimed to be too busy at work. Bill's opponent Bernard however showed himself as a master of his own court by producing more drop shots and boasts than Rocco has done in a season. Bill struggled to adjust to his opponent's game and despite several service changes promptly lost the first two games 0-9. Just as the remainder of the team in team in the balcony were beginning to compose suitable rhymes Bill, Nil, etc, he rallied and for a while threatened to recover the third before eventually losing out 4-9. It should be pointed out to the reserves that just because you are stepping in for Captain Mike doesn't mean you have to contribute the same score. At least Mike gets a couple of refereeing points each week. (Editor note: quite unnecessary!)

Next up was Rocco. After taking the first comfortably (Forza Rocco Forza) Rocco managed to implode (Cattivo Rocco Cattivo) against his opponent Martin and managed to lose the following 3 games. Hopefully less wine and pizza will see the Italian stallion fit better into his National team jersey and resume his winning ways next week.

Steven took the court at number 3 and as I headed to my game was in the process of losing the first 2 games. Things were looking bleak.

I took the court at number 2 against Steve and strolled easily into a 1 game lead. At this point however the stomach upset I had been suffering from all week began to take its toll and I was instantly regretting the decision to wear white shorts. Thankfully I managed to hold things in however I also managed to lose the following 2 games, partially due to some interesting umpiring decisions. Somehow I managed to win the 4th from 5-8 down. During the break in games I passed Steven in the corridor hoping that he had lost 0-3 so I could happily lose the 5th without feeling guilty. However to my dismay he told me he had fought back to win 2-3 so I was obliged to try and win my match and square up the tie. I went on to win the 5th 9-8 after being 6-8 down and exchanging a few service points at 8-8.

Everything was now hanging on the last rubber with Richard playing at number 1. It was a brief affair with Richard playing some great squash to trounce his opponent 0-3, largely due to Rocco's prompting about needing to get a lift home quickly from the balcony.

Thanks are due to Abercorn for their excellent hospitality after the match and their interesting team selection which contributed to a close score on the night. (Report: David Grieve)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

One pair of brown Titans from David please Christy.
Al

christy said...

Ha ha, I'll suggest they develop a product like this. Victor Meldrew brown shorts, please, Titan?