25/04/2006
SUPER LEAGUE 2006 ROUND 7
Exeter Diamonds extend their lead at the top of the table
ROUND 7, 24th April 2006
The 7th round of the NSSL took place on Monday 24th April, which saw
Exeter Diamonds extend their lead at the top of the table with a 2-1
home win against Bradford, whilst Winchester Southern Hygiene lost 1-2
to a rampant Fatra Cardiff.
ROUND 7, 24th April 2006
Exeter Diamonds 2-1 Coral Windows Bradford
James Willstropp 1-3 Nick Matthew 10/12, 5/9, 9/6, 3/9 (50 minutes)
Stewart Boswell 3-0 Simon Parke 9/4 9/7 9/5 (45 minutes)
Joe Kneipp 3-2 Alister Walker 9/5, 6/9, 17/15, 7/9, 10/8 (68 minutes)
Winchester Southern Hygiene 1-2 Fatra Cardiff
Scott Handley 1-3 Stacey Ross 9-11 9-7 4-9 4-9 (44minutes)
Alex Gough 3-2 Joey Barrington 9-6 6-9 3-9 8-4 retired injured.
(51minutes)
Mohd Azlan Iskandar 1-3 Anthony Ricketts 6-9 5-9 9-7 2-9 (36 minutes)
Exeter Diamonds 2-1 Coral Windows Bradford
A full house at the Devon and Exeter Squash Club saw Exeter Diamonds
keep their 100% undefeated record with a very narrow 2-1 home win over
Coral Windows Bradford in a match that seemed to last a lifetime.
3rd String - Joe Kneipp v Alister Walker
This was a match that took 5 games in 68 minutes of brilliant
squash, and was deemed as 'match of the season' by the Exeter Manager
Tony Snell.
2nd String Stewart Boswell v Simon Parke
Although Stewart won the match 3-0, the match lasted for 45 minutes,
which shows how hard the rallies were, and how hard Simon fought. But
fight as he did he was no match for a very 'in form' Stewart Boswell.
1st String - James Willstropp v Nick Matthew
This was new recruit James Willstropp's first outing for Exeter and
the crowd gave him a warm reception, but he was no match for a very in
form Nick Matthew.
Exeter Manager Tony Snell said, 'we just won, had Joe Kneipp gone down
in the epic 17/15 3rd game we would have lost. The match started
promptly at 7pm and finished a few minutes before 11pm. The full to
capacity crowd were delighted by an evening of squash that was played in
such good spirit that referees and markers were hardly needed'.
Winchester Southern Hygiene 1-2 Fatra Cardiff (Match Reporter - Gary
Hinton)
3rd String - Scott Handley v Stacey Ross
The match was delayed by 30mins due to traffic. With the match
starting at 7:30 the first rally lasted untill 7:45! Handley took the
initiative striding to a 6-2 advantage, Ross leaped back to 7-7. Wham...
Bham... thank you mam... GAME ROSS.
Scott then tightened up accompanied by Ross unable to access the
brilliance he had shown in the first game. It wasn't easy but Scott
'manned up' to take a tight second game 9-7 much to the delight of the
adoring crowd.
The 3rd game started with a barrage of magical genius from Stacey and
saw him stride away with the third, unfortunately there was nothing
Scott could do... 2-1 Ross.
At the start of the fourth game Ross' touch and vision was described by
a member of the crowd as being in a league of its own. Handley went 3-1
down and then at 3-2 Ross hit a drop shot that the same member of the
crowd described as ''pure squash genius''. Ross then raced away with the
fourth... 1-0 Cardiff.
2nd String Alex Gough v Joey Barrington
Winchester's captain walked on court to raptuous applause knowing
that he had to win to keep the tie allive. The opening exchanges were
very close with Gough edging into a 5-4 lead. Barrington made some
characteristic errors... game Gough 9-6.
Joey streaked ahead to a 5-0 lead, then tossed away his composure 6-5
Gough. Gough, seemingly surprised, then handed the game to Barrington
9-6.
The team talk during the interval benefited Barrington most (1-0 Cardiff
coaching staff) with Joey playing out of his skin destroying Gough 9-3.
The fourth started with Barrington looking one step off the pace and
Gough raced to an 8-4 lead.
Then Barrington retired.with a hamstring injury. The tie was set up for
a dramatic finish; 1-1.
1st String Azlan Iskandar v Anthony Ricketts
Ricketts came out firing on all cylinders and leapt into a 8-3 lead
before Aslan - the lion - could respond, but the roar was just a bit too
late...game Ricketts 9-6.
Once again Ricketts blasted into an early 6-2 lead showing some of the
form that took him to former World Number 1 several months ago. Azlan
played some awesome squash and fought back well but Ricketts was just
still too strong and won the game 9-5.
The tension in the crowd continued to build as Winchester realized that
their team were only 1 game away from defeat. With a tense opening
barrage of shots that took power play to a whole new level saw the
competitors level at 3-3. Displaying a dazzling array of shots, Azlan
worked Ricketts to the bone and pawed his way into an 7-5 lead. Ricketts
being the ultimate athlete fought his way back to 7-7 with some
unbelievable retrieving and shot making. Now it was time for Iskandar to
step up. After 2 awesome nicks Simba becomes King. Azlan taking it 9-7.
But Scar was far from defeated. Ricketts went ahead with some opportune
shot making proving that, at this level, it's about playing the right
shots at the right time. 7 unanswered points later Rickett's had won the
match 3-1.
The whole tie provided to be a delight to the capacity crowd, with many
wondering how this could be bettered...what about
when Winchester take on the league leaders Exeter, on 15th May, with the
likes of Peter Nicol taking on David Palmer!!!
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|
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NSSL 2006 LEAGUE TABLE |
|
|
Ties |
Matches |
Games |
Pts |
|
|
W |
L |
W |
L |
W |
L |
|
|
Teams |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Exeter Diamonds |
5 |
0 |
13 |
2 |
41 |
17 |
51 |
|
Linden Homes Winchester |
3 |
2 |
9 |
6 |
32 |
29 |
38 |
|
Fatra Cardiff |
3 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
25 |
24 |
31 |
|
Coral Windows Bradford |
0 |
5 |
4 |
11 |
25 |
37 |
25 |
|
Martlesham |
0 |
3 |
0 |
9 |
11 |
27 |
11 |
|
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