THE BIG GUNS MAKE THE DIFFERENCE
With the standing’s in the league being very close we had to make sure of a win. Wolverhampton had struggled to field there full strength side so we saw the opportunity to close in and with a full strength side we did just do that.
Sarah Fitz-Gerald was first up against the National O45’s Champion Liz Brown and it wasn’t long before Sarah had taken control of the match as Liz was on the back foot retrieving as the ex world number one and 5 times world champion secured her 26th win for Edgbaston Priory 9/4 9/3 9/1 and that is some record!
Captain Del Harris was up against Liam Kenny on the show court first and the first game saw 18 let balls which Del thought most of them should have gone his way but, the ref didn’t. When it got to 8-8 and yet another let decision was made and yet again Del wasn’t happy he actually frustrated himself into making two errors which lost him the first game 10/8. This seemed to bring Del out strong for the next game as he hit some awesome boasts into the nick which keep Liam on the back-foot which let Del volley much more, 1-1. It was then Liam who was to change his game plan as he moved Del superbly and Del didn’t have any answers, Liam cruised though the next to games taking the win 3-1.
Back on court one Pete Barker was taking on Joey Barrington’s stand in Chris Ryder. With Pete firing on all cylinders and Chris just getting back to his game is wasn’t long before the 37 in the world had finished the match off with his strength and power. Chris’s leg had fallen off after the warm up! 3-0 to Pete.
With the match at 2-1 won Edgbaston were looking for the well in form Adrian Grant to make light work of the O35’s Champion Mark Cairns. After the first game being hard fought you could see that Adrian was relaxed but up for it moving extremely well and just proving to be far to much for Mark to handle. Mark said he didn’t play well, I say he wasn’t aloud to. Well played Adrian.
Then it was time for the number one’s and after the first game where Alex was chopping the ball in short as David struggled forwards. I could here some doubtful comments coming from the crowd as David lost the first. After regaining confidence in the break David started to show why he is one of the best players in the world. He started to play himself in the match keeping the rally’s going until he felt confident to play the volley short and when he did he opened the court up, 1-1. David's touch was now showing good form on the backhand as he repeatedly pushed Alex forwards then backwards as the welsh wizard showed signs of being completely frustrated, David finished Alex off, as Alex walked off court and finished his racket off (It was broken in 6 places, quite impressive really!). David had made sure of the semi’s place for Edgbaston.
Overall a great night which we hope the 180 tickets that we sold all enjoyed the spectacle of squash. It will get better in the semi’s as Broxbourne will have a quality side which won’t want to lose. We on the other hand will need to have a big win with our full strength side to take to Broxbourne in the return match. The Date is the 23rd so book early as tickets will go fast again!
