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21/01/2004
PRIDE SALVAGED
UniSport Guildford avenged their first half drubbing against high-fliers Chichester ...
UniSport Guildford 3 beat Chichester 2
Steve Meads 3 beat Peter Genever 2 (4 - 9, 5 - 9, 9 - 5, 9 - 7, 9 - 4)
Stacey Ross 3 beat Tim Garner 1 (9 - 4, 9 - 4, 9 - 11, 9 - 3)
Tony Hands 1 lost to Tim Vail 3 (6 - 9, 9 - 6, 4 - 9, 3 - 9)
Neil Frankland 3 beat Tom Richards 0 (9 - 3, 9 - 4, 9 - 6)
Sarah Kippax 0 lost to Linda Charman 3 (3 - 9, 2 - 9, 1 - 9)
UniSport Guildford continued their winning run with a hard fought win over Chichester, who are currently second in the table. UniSport need the points and also to salvage some pride after a 5 - 0 drubbing in the away fixture on the south coast. Chichester came to Guildford with their youngster Tom Richards in their ranks and that opened the way for the result. Not ever noticeably weakened by absenteeism Chichester are never an easy scalp to claim.
Linda Charman opened the account for Chichester by re-affirming her superiority over Guildford youngster Sarah Kippax. Motivated by the desire to give a better performance than when they played in the early part of the season Kippax started brightly scoring 3 points in the first game which trebled her points haul when compared with early season. In the end Charman showed why she is so prominent in the world rankings and over powered her younger and more frail looking opponent.
Stacey Ross took on Tim Garner and looked impressively sharp after his recent tournament in America where he should have lifted his World ranking to the early 70s. He was remorseless in chasing Garner around the court and showed some good skill hitting winners cleanly when the opportunity arose. In the first 2 games Ross appeared to be able to hit the cross court nick at will and really offered Garner no way into the match. There was a brief aberration in the 3rd when his concentration lapsed and it co-incided with Garner's surge in form, however this was temporary and Ross re-asserted his authority to romp home in the fourth.
Tony Hands was returning after his niggling thigh injury and showed that his movement was unimpaired. Although a little rusty, his racket work was of the highest quality in the 2nd game. There were moments of sheer class as Hands struck some dead winners to the short straight nick, which left a player of Vail's ability scratching his head. This was not to last. Vail is solid competitor and rarely loses in National League and he was not going to be denied here. It was his movement and overall speed around the court that told in the end. He was able to turn what looked like winners from Hands into winners of his own by sheer speed to the ball. A worthy and enjoyable contest but the balance switched back to Chichester.
On the outside court Neil Frankland, the Surrey junior coach, was giving a lesson to his pupil Tom Richards. In a match that was scrappy and error strewn Frankland had too much savvy for RIchards and cruised to a comfortable 3 games win.
Now the match was 2 - 2 and Steve Meads was the man for the job. Now that he has retired from travelling the world and is concentrating on playing his league squash he is a greater force. Meads did not start too well hitting loose and going for winners unnaturally, he soon found himself behind to Chichester's Peter Genever. These two must have played each other many times not least in the League. For the most part Genever was controlling things in the first 2 games and was hitting winners of his own as he forged a lead. At no time did Meads create the impression that he could win a game, it was a strangely loose start. However in the 3rd he started to change his strategy and varied his play in pace and direction and the initiative began to change. His short game became more effective at the same time as Genever's made some uncharacteristic errors for a player of his calibre.
It came as something of a surprise to find Meads pulling a game back and then he found himself in a tight and edgy 4th game as the score inched nearer to 9. Despite criticising one of his shots with a 'that was the worst shot ever' Meads managed to steal the 4th and send the match into a decider. The shot in question was only poor in its execution and its selection otherwise it would have made Meads a hero had it worked. In the fifth it was anybody's game but the tide was turning and the Guildford man built a lead and clung on to it to give UniSport an unexpected win against their more highly rated rivals.
These points were hard earned but it keeps UniSport in with an outside chance of making the semi-finals. The next match is away to Lee on Solent in a fortnight which is a must win match for us to keep our eye on the play off places. See you there.
Contributor: Ian Robinson
Club: Guildford
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