Bulls v Bears

Kevin Mears writes:

After the usual pre-match banter, side bets and positioning, Captain ‘cotton eye’ Joe was first to hold court with Joanne. Much was expected from an in-form Joanne but Joe’s pace and accuracy were too much for Joanne to handle. A lapse of concentration in the 3rd gave Joanne some hope, but this was soon quashed by Joe in the 4th.3-1

Next up was Olly against Captain Kangaroo (Fielding). The first game was eventually won by Olly having defended 8 game balls. Dave came back with gusto to take the second, but his determination was never going to be enough to combat Olly’s natural flare. Captain Kangaroo was dispatched in the next 2, probably wishing that he had taken the opportunity to sit on a sun kissed beach in Rio. 3-1

Having recently been promoted to the number 1 slot, Heather had another tough week, this time against Stefan Lubek, making a welcomed return to add strength to the Bear’s squad. Having lost the previous week, Stefan was keen to prove that he remembered how to play squash and he didn’t disappoint. Heather put up a credible performance, but the rejuvenated bear was too accurate, too fit and too strong. 0-3

Mearsy and Hicksie were next to lock horns. Kev lost the knock up 9/0 with Mike timing everything to perfection. The first game was a breeze for Mike, with Kev hitting too many mid court shots which Mike put away with ease. At 8/2 it should have been Hicksie’s game but somehow Mearsy managed to scrape back to finally win it 10/9. The next 2 went Kev’s way. 3-0

Finally young Harry “Hurricane” Wyld was pitched against Chris “county champion” Gilders. With a win incentive, Harry was focused on the victory, but Chris is too fit and too experienced to capitulate. Exquisite to watch, they battled well and Harry’s killing shots were absolutely outstanding (it’s amazing what happens when one practises). With the second game at 8-7, Chris mimicked to perfection a ‘Hurricane” killer nic, to level the scores. The remaining games continued at a high pace, but Harry proved too much for his senior, narrowly winning 10/8 and 9/7. 3-1

With the win bonus the Bulls won 16-6, the Bears will have to regroup for the return match on 24th March.
The following questions remain……..
Will Heather ever shout or argue ?
Will Harry ever win 3/0 and will he ever mark a match ?
Will Kev ever be quiet on court ?
Will Captain Joe’s bar bill ever be below £100 ?
Will Olly’s body hold up for an entire season ?
Will Stefan play enough to reach his potential ?
Will Hicksie get a full night’s sleep ?
Will Gilders ever be 10 stone?
Will Joanne ever beat Egan ?
Will Captain Kangaroo win a team match ?

Finally, a massive thanks to Sponsor Maximon Solutions (Richard & Lis Monson) for our quality new team shirts.

Bulls v Bears: Tomorrow: Tuesday 24 November

The Bulls v The Bears is always a feisty fixture.

It's thrown up some interesting fixtures.

Well worth a watch.

7.30pm

Tomorrow

1. Heather Joy v Steph Lubek

2. Harry Wyld v Chris Gildersleve

3. Kevin Mears v Mike Hicks

4. Joe Budzynski v Joanne Smalley

5. Olly Reeves v Dave Fielding

The Bull's Skipper Joe Budweiser writes:

A couple matches further into the season after the last report/update, the Bulls experiences have been a mixed bag......

Home against RAF

A late withdrawal from the Bulls roster by Harry Wyld due to illness was unexpected, but another junior player by the same name stepped into the limelight: Harry Chapples. He went on first and played very well, taking his match on a score of 3-1. On the other court, Olly Reeves was in trouble. No matter what strategy he tried to employ, his opponent was able to match it and took the string for RAF at 3-0. All square after two strings.

Heather went on court next playing at 1 and, similar to the match against Chesham Bois Juniors, found the level of opposition a bit too strong. Quick work by her opponent set the score at 3-0 in that string, meaning Kevin and I had to both win our matches to get the team win. Fortunately, we were both up the task. Matching string scores of 3-0 for us took the Bulls over the line for the victory, if only just.

Final Result:

Beaconsfield Bulls: 9 games, 3 matches won

RAF: 7 games, 2 matches won

Overall winner: Beaconsfield Bulls

Away against Aylesbury 2

A sad tale of player availability was the order of the day for this outing. Both Heather and Kevin, two key contributors to the cause thus far this season, were unavailable for the trip. Luckily, a couple of John's (Catchpole and Bullard) were able to step in and keep up the numbers for the squad.

First on court was John Catchpole at 5 against one of the two junior players Aylesbury had on their squad. John made a game of it for the youngster, but his opponent was a bit too skilful and ended up with a 3-0 win for Aylesbury. I was playing at 2, and went on court shortly after their match started. Between my opponent Chris and I, we made quite the spectacle. Two games ended on 9-0 with one result going each way, while both of us managed to play properly for two games and split those as well. This set up a fifth game tiebreaker, which I am sad to say went to Chris in the end. Two strings to Aylesbury and not looking good for the visitors.

Harry Wyld was on court next playing at 1 and had a very amusing match against Tristan. Significant amounts of shouting and racquet throwing by Tristan provided much entertainment for the gallery on the way to a fifth game (and during that game as well). Several dubious refereeing decisions for and against both players probably balanced out in the end, as Harry calmly put match ball away with a forehand volley smash into the front left nick to win 10-9. First blood for the Bulls, would a comeback be in the cards?

John Bullard was fourth on playing at the 4 spot, and his match went much the same as the other John's. While he seemed a bit more in control and made his opponent work for everything, he wasn't able to get the win, thus putting the team match victory to Aylesbury. Olly played last and, despite his movement not quite being up to scratch, managed to pulled out a 3-1 win to provide the team was some valuable consolation points in our loss.

Final Result:

Beaconsfield Bulls: 8 games, 2 matches won

Aylesbury 2: 12 games, 3 matches won

Overall winner: Aylesbury 2

Hat Club: November 8th: Peter Bruntnell: Cancelled:

This Saturday's Hat Club is cancelled.
2 tickets sold...
A big 'sorry' to the fantastic Peter Bruntnell for the inconvenience; I can only apologize to him for the embarrassing and bewildering indifference of our members...
This would have been a fabulous opportunity to see this fine sing/songwriter in an intimate setting.
Thanks to Pete Bruntnell for being so understanding
Thanks to Barry Cross for the poster
Thanks to Paul Austin for setting aside his Saturday to set up the PA
Thanks to Val and all of the staff for trying make this happen
Thanks to Di Holmes for helping with the promotion.

It's odd that many of the folk who say we are doing 'too many' of these evenings are folk who have never actually supported one of these club events...

Next effort:
December 13th: Rae Husbandes

Match Report: Bulls v Chesham Bois

Bulls captain Joe Budweiser writes:

A decent showing in the first quarter had the Bulls in good spirits for the drive to Chesham Bois. Our team chauffeur for the night, Chairman Mears, made sure all passengers were comfortably looked after in his car.... a prime example of his concern for the team's wellbeing was shown by him asking, and I quote, 'Heather, is your bottom warm enough?'

Seat heating jokes aside, a tough task was ahead for the Bulls. 

Olly had managed to arrange his athletic activity schedule such that he was playing football in Harrow earlier in the evening (thus missing out on Kevin's transport generosity). He managed to scrape a game from his opponent and looked the more skillful player, but the level of fitness required to push through for a match win was too high. First loss of the evening at 1-3, so not a good start.

Heather was on next playing at 1 in the new ranking order, and the pace of play quickly got to her. Some slight adjustments for the second and third game made things closer, but she never really found the required consistency to take a game. A 0-3 loss, two matches to Chesham. 

Harry Wyld had started on court during Heather's match, and provided a much needed dose of 'winning' to the effort. His opponent seemed to have every trick shot in the bag, but Harry took it all in stride to find himself on the end of a 3-1 win.

I was next on court, playing an opponent even taller than myself. I seemed to have the measure of him most of the time, but mental lapses in the second and third games allowed him to take the lead in the match. Fortunately, I collected things and brought it back to win the string at 3-2, bringing the overall team match score level at 2-2.

Last on was Kev (would you expect any less?), playing in the third spot. Knowing his ability to just mentally 'will' a match win, I felt sure that the overall result would be ours. Unfortunately, the first two games were a bit of a disaster, with Kevin unable to really find any sort of rhythm. He managed to completely turn things around in the third and fourth games, playing absolutely brilliant low cross courts and tight lengths to set up a deciding fifth game. But, the Squash Gods decided it was not to be, with his opponent recovering from Kevin's comeback and neatly winning the fifth game to put the match away for Chesham Bois.

Final match score:

Beaconsfield Bulls: 9 games, 2 matches won

Chesham Bois Juniors: 12 games, 3 matches wonOverall winner: Chesham Bois Juniors