19-Nov-02 Week FOURManchester 2-3 Hallamshire
Lee Beachill lt Anthony Ricketts 5/9, 9/4, 5/9, 9/5, 6/9
Nick Taylor lt Nick Matthew 0/9, 9/7, 4/9, 14/12, 7/9
James Willstrop bt Adam Stevenson 12/10, 9/2, 9/11, 9/4
Marcus Berrett bt Peter Billson 9/3, 9/4, 9/3
Janie Thacker lt Jenny Tranfield 2/9, 1/9, 3/9Sheffield Steel Points
Nick Taylor and Jim Quigley report ...
For the second match running Manchester-Pontefract were beaten 3-2, with the last two matches once more going the full distance. Nick Taylor and Lee Beachill were unable to capitalise on the 2-1 lead established by their team mates going down in five games to Nick Matthew and Anthony Ricketts, respectively, with both matches marred by controversy.
The evening started with the expected victories for Jenny Tranfield over Janie Thacker and James Willstrop over Adam Stevenson. Stevenson and Willstrop put up a great exhibition of attacking squash, entertained the Pontefract gallery while Jenny Tranfield had to much for Janie Thacker, who is yet to reach full fitness.
Marcus Berrett continued his unbeaten record dispatching Pete Billson 3-0. Billson had endured a six hour car journey to Pontefract, following a major hold up on the M60 in Manchester, but was always going to struggle against the pace of Berrett.
The Taylor / Matthew match was next on with a tough encounter expected.
Unfortunately, the match quite quickly became bad tempered, with constant on court collisions, and verbal exchanges between the two players. Matthew battled his way to 2-1 and 8-5 up, before Taylor managed to claw back and claim the game 14-12 to level at 2-2. Matthew got ahead in the fifth and managed to resist a late surge to level the overall match at 2-2.
So once again it was down to Beachill to play out for the match, his opponent this time, the rugged Aussie, Anthony Ricketts. Amid a flurry of lets and contentious refereeing decisions, the players struggled to develop any pattern of play. Beachill battled to take the fourth and had to coaxed back onto court such was his disgust at the quality of refereeing on display. He did return and continued to suffer at the officials' hands before going down 9-6 - match to Hallamshire.
Yawar Abbas adds:
As expected the league is too close to call, with Hallamshire now right back in it.
We could do with a few players being away, so our strength in depth could come to the fore! In every match we have lost the women's and won at three and four, with the match being decided by the one and two strings! Still a long way to go and we are by no means out of contention.
05-Nov-02 Week THREE
Manchester-Pontefract 2 - 3 Edgbaston Priory
Lee Beachill lost Stewart Boswell 9/4, 12/14, 11/9, 6/9, 4/9
Nick Taylor lost Del Harris 4/9, 8/10, 9/6, 9/3, 8/10
James Willstrop bt Adrian Grant 11/9, 9/4, 5/9, 9/5
Marcus Berrett bt Paul Lord 10/8, 9/3, 9/1
Helen Easton lost Sarah Fitz-Gerald 2/9, 3/9, 6/9Willstrop Win Can’t Stop Aussies
Yawar Abbass reports, photos from Jon Super
First National League outing for the National Squash CentreA great win from James Willstrop over his former team mate Adrian Grant was not quite enough to inspire a victory for Manchester-Pontefract, in the opening fixture at the National Squash Centre. Wins for the Aussie pair Stewart Boswell and Sarah Fitz-Gerald were enough to allow Del Harris’s inspired win over Manchester’s Nick Taylor secure victory for the Birmingham team.
In front of almost 200 people, the new world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald opened play on the all glass court, on which she claimed the Commonwealth Gold in July. Manchester’s Helen Easton put up a brave performance but eventually succumbed to Fitz-Gerald’s awesome power.
On the outside court, Marcus Berrett continued his unbeaten run with a straightforward win over Paul Lord. Marcus looks in great shape and two weeks ago beat Anthony Ricketts in Yorkshire League.
Next up was Willstrop and Grant, a greatly anticipated encounter between two quality young players. Grant started strongly, but Willstrop managed to edge the first drawing a couple of errors from the racket of Grant. He continued to dominate and looked in complete control in taking the second. However, Grant fought back to take the third before the best passage of play in the fourth, which Willstrop managed to take 9-5.
At 2-1 up Manchester-Pontefract were looking good and Nick Taylor took the court to a great ovation against Del Harris. Harris’s last time out in National League resulted in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Paul Hargrave and Nick recently beat Del 3-0 on the way to claiming the Motor City Open. From the start however, it was clear that Harris was focused. The ‘dead’ glass court takes a shot and Harris certainly knows where the nick is! With Harris storming to a 2-0 lead it all looked bleak for Taylor, but he rallied strongly and managed to level at 2-2, dominating an increasingly weary looking opponent. At one point Harris was bent double in the corner as the crowd acclaimed Taylor’s play following a particularly tough rally. As the match moved into the fifth Taylor looked the stronger, but crucially Harris managed to stay in touch, never more than two points behind. At 8-6 Taylor had match points to claim a team victory, Harris returned weakly and appeared resigned to losing the match, but Taylor feeling slightly impeded chose not the play the ball – a marginal let the decision! This proved costly as Harris managed to reel off the last 4 points and claim what looked a critical win.
So it was all on Beachill / Boswell. Boswell looked lethargic at the start and Beachill took control with great volley drops and faded drives. Having secured the first game, Beachill had to withstand a barrage of pace and power as Boswell turned up the heat in the second. All that the Aussie could throw at Beachill was matched and the players stayed neck and neck throughout the game. Boswell just managed to level saving three game balls. The pattern continued into the third with Beachill prevailing 11-9. Into the fourth game and the quality of the squash was maintained at the highest level, with both players attacking at every opportunity. It was levelled at 2-2 and we reached a deciding game for the tie and match. Neck and neck to 4 all, before Boswell put a final surge to take the tie 3-2 and match for his team!
A great night’s squash watched by a great crowd!
