This was one of those juicy fixtures which everyone was looking forward to. RAF, for the earlier part of the season the whipping boys, had strengthened their squad with a couple of guys who once flew in an aircraft and so qualified to play for the RAF. Six matches unbeaten and flying (ouch, sorry) up the table. But then they met the Bears…
We were up for this one. Competition for places in the Bears was fierce and the quality high. Points and percentages were there to be proved and improved, especially with the Bulls captain in attendance to make sure we didn’t screw up against potential relegation opposition for them.
Ian needn’t have worried. First up was Lady Bear, still smarting after her first team loss of the season the previous week. She was up against a man mountain of a PTI Pete Fletcher, who must have been over 6’4”. It was almost as comical physical mismatch as when I played tiny Amy Jones of Chesham. Jo utterly cut the guy to pieces in the first two games with a stunning display of intelligent squash. I watched awestruck as she scented a weakness in the Hulk’s game (inability to deal with a floated ball into the back corners) and ruthlessly exploited it point after point. I could readily identify with the panic in the poor chap’s mind as he started to imagine the ribbing he would get on the way home for being beaten by a girl half his size. This did seem to galvanize him eventually – clearly he learnt as quickly as he moved around the court – and he fought back to level the match. But Lady Bear showed that grit which has characterized her game this year and finished the job off in the 5th. Hulk didn’t emerge out of the changing rooms until tempted by food. He had a face which foretold of the future I would have had if I’d been been beaten by 13 yr-old Amy…
Next door Olly was locking horns with the other PTI on the RAF team. Danny Batson is famous for two things: firstly being fit as a fiddle, and secondly having legs like a billiard table. However, he is also just coming back from a serious injury, which gave Olly heart. It was a tense and error-strewn match, but winning a very tight first game 9-7 gave Olly a vital boost and he really dug in to record a magnificent first win of the season in some style: 3-0. The man is back, and do I detect some of that old swagger in his backswing? Not before time, and very welcome.
So far so good. Dave Powell on next against Lee Cobley, whom Koko (on leave this week) had reduced to a gibbering wreck earlier in the season – “hadn’t a bloody clue which way the ball was going!”. He didn’t fare much better against DP, who was good when he was rusty and is now steadily heading towards the awesome. It’s an embarrassment of riches, I tell you. A trouble-free 3-0, with plenty of trademark flamenco backhands on display for good measure.
I was next door against their captain Len Brettell at 4. Typical RAF, built like an anorexic lamp-post, but I had more firepower at my disposal. Having just arrived back from a couple of brutal days skiing in deep off-piste (the perfect preparation, what are you talking about?), I had a bit of a wobble in the third as the tank wasn’t quite as full as I’d thought, so I went for bust in the 4th and upped the pace. Fortunately it worked.
That left the showpiece match of the top seeds. Adam was up against Ian Digby, who is no mug with over 20 years’ experience in the Bucks & Herts top divisions. Shuffled round the court in an almost apologetic fashion, yet had a sublime touch. Adam was perhaps guilty of underestimating his opponent. His frustrations at being made to work harder than anticipated boiled over in the second game when he shoved Ian out of the way when he thought he’d been baulked once too often. If looks could kill, Ian would be behind bars for life, and the balcony erupted into a whispered “fight, fight fight….” DP kept an admirable handle on affairs, however, and Adam soon realized he’d overstepped the mark and to his credit made a huge effort to play nicely for the remainder of the game. The schoolboys in the gallery were left disappointed at the subsequent love-in, and Adam eventually ran out a 3-0 winner.
So, a very satisfying evening which saw the eventual score 19-3. If the website ever gets updated, it would show us now a very healthy second in the table, and all eyes are turning to Tuesday’s encounter with the league leaders, our very own Seconds. Clash of the Titans – unmissable. Don’t worry Gareth, I’ll write the match report. Even though you’re the home team. You will clearly have far more important things to do…
By the way, quote of the evening came from Ian Digby, who is an old mucker of Chris Gildersleve from inter-county: “Chris is the only guy I know who can wear designer gear from head to toe and still look scruffy.”
Priceless.
Ian needn’t have worried. First up was Lady Bear, still smarting after her first team loss of the season the previous week. She was up against a man mountain of a PTI Pete Fletcher, who must have been over 6’4”. It was almost as comical physical mismatch as when I played tiny Amy Jones of Chesham. Jo utterly cut the guy to pieces in the first two games with a stunning display of intelligent squash. I watched awestruck as she scented a weakness in the Hulk’s game (inability to deal with a floated ball into the back corners) and ruthlessly exploited it point after point. I could readily identify with the panic in the poor chap’s mind as he started to imagine the ribbing he would get on the way home for being beaten by a girl half his size. This did seem to galvanize him eventually – clearly he learnt as quickly as he moved around the court – and he fought back to level the match. But Lady Bear showed that grit which has characterized her game this year and finished the job off in the 5th. Hulk didn’t emerge out of the changing rooms until tempted by food. He had a face which foretold of the future I would have had if I’d been been beaten by 13 yr-old Amy…
Next door Olly was locking horns with the other PTI on the RAF team. Danny Batson is famous for two things: firstly being fit as a fiddle, and secondly having legs like a billiard table. However, he is also just coming back from a serious injury, which gave Olly heart. It was a tense and error-strewn match, but winning a very tight first game 9-7 gave Olly a vital boost and he really dug in to record a magnificent first win of the season in some style: 3-0. The man is back, and do I detect some of that old swagger in his backswing? Not before time, and very welcome.
So far so good. Dave Powell on next against Lee Cobley, whom Koko (on leave this week) had reduced to a gibbering wreck earlier in the season – “hadn’t a bloody clue which way the ball was going!”. He didn’t fare much better against DP, who was good when he was rusty and is now steadily heading towards the awesome. It’s an embarrassment of riches, I tell you. A trouble-free 3-0, with plenty of trademark flamenco backhands on display for good measure.
I was next door against their captain Len Brettell at 4. Typical RAF, built like an anorexic lamp-post, but I had more firepower at my disposal. Having just arrived back from a couple of brutal days skiing in deep off-piste (the perfect preparation, what are you talking about?), I had a bit of a wobble in the third as the tank wasn’t quite as full as I’d thought, so I went for bust in the 4th and upped the pace. Fortunately it worked.
That left the showpiece match of the top seeds. Adam was up against Ian Digby, who is no mug with over 20 years’ experience in the Bucks & Herts top divisions. Shuffled round the court in an almost apologetic fashion, yet had a sublime touch. Adam was perhaps guilty of underestimating his opponent. His frustrations at being made to work harder than anticipated boiled over in the second game when he shoved Ian out of the way when he thought he’d been baulked once too often. If looks could kill, Ian would be behind bars for life, and the balcony erupted into a whispered “fight, fight fight….” DP kept an admirable handle on affairs, however, and Adam soon realized he’d overstepped the mark and to his credit made a huge effort to play nicely for the remainder of the game. The schoolboys in the gallery were left disappointed at the subsequent love-in, and Adam eventually ran out a 3-0 winner.
So, a very satisfying evening which saw the eventual score 19-3. If the website ever gets updated, it would show us now a very healthy second in the table, and all eyes are turning to Tuesday’s encounter with the league leaders, our very own Seconds. Clash of the Titans – unmissable. Don’t worry Gareth, I’ll write the match report. Even though you’re the home team. You will clearly have far more important things to do…
By the way, quote of the evening came from Ian Digby, who is an old mucker of Chris Gildersleve from inter-county: “Chris is the only guy I know who can wear designer gear from head to toe and still look scruffy.”
Priceless.
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