14th March
Sobell 1 once again went down against a strong Ealing outfit losing out narrowly 3-2 on Wednesday.
Chey had a good win @ 5 winning in straight 3 games. Hernan breeze through in 4 games winning 3-1 after a little stumble in the second game. Once again Jack found life tough @ no 2 even though I believe he could have taken his opponent out after taking the third game, but finally going down 3-1. Not much to say about game playing @3. Apart from taking the second game quite comfortably which I thought was the turning point, my opponent had other idea's and he took the next two games. Back to the drawing board for me in which I've ran out of.
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12th March
Home Sobell 1 vs Coolhurst Lost 1-4
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5th March
Away Sobell 1 vs West Herts Lost 2-3
6th March
AwaySobell II vs Finsbury Leisure Won 3-2
It was a top of the table clash at Finsbury Leisure last night and the captain rolled out the big guns to play the only team ahead of Sobell in the Middlesex Division 5.
Up first was yours truly playing at 2. Tim and I had agreed to swap as we had both played their number 2. But I had lost 3-2 to him, but probably should have beaten him whereas Tim went down 3-1, the thinking being, even if we lost at 2, we should be nailed on at 3.
In the end their number 1 was out, so I ended up playing their number 3. In the warm up, I noticed he had the fatal flaw in his game of letting the ball drop on his backhand, so I pretty much played all of the game playing simple squash hitting tight shots to his backhand and avoiding his forehand. The tactic worked and frustrated my oponent and was 2 up in no time. In the third, I got a bit over confident and started to hit the ball hard which my opened loved, but in the 4th, I went back to basics and won pretty easily.
Tom playing at the same time as me at 5. I didn't see much of the first 3 games, but by that time the he was 2-1 up and pretty comfortable and he closed the game out in 4.
After me was Ben Pritchard was playing at 4 a solid, but ultimately limited opponent. Ben played very solid and risk free squash and despite a few of the referees calls obviously frustrating him Ben went 2 up and it looked like it would be the first 3 nil of the night, however, his opponent managed to dig in and get the 4th. Ben didn't give him much of a chance in the 4th though and we were 3 up and looking good on the night.
After Tom was Tim, who had waited to play on Tom's court as he didn't want to play on the court that Ben and I had played on. The only thing I can say about Tim's match is that normally when he plays badly, I like to 'have a pop', last night was so bad, I can't even bring myself to. Tim went down in 3-0 to Finsbury's #4.
Finally was Rohan up against Finsbury. Before the game I gave Rohan the tactics to beat this guy, he is very fit and very quick, but his backhand is much weaker than the rest of his game, so the strategy is to keep it tight on his backhand and wait for mistakes. Unfortunately, Rohan got into a very entertaining battle against him and battled hard and won the first game. However, when you are playing a guy who is already super fit and in the middle of training for the London marathon, a battle is always going to have one outcome and despite almost nicking the 3rd, Rohan went down in 4.
Hopefully, the result is good enough for us to go top of the table, but Sobell 2 will have to have a perfect record between now and the end of the season if we are going to go up...----------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a good win and a good meal, we all got to experience some death-defying driving from Glen to get Gavin and I back in time for the last tube! Let's hope for another good result against Ealing on Wednesday.
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23rd January
Away Sobell 1 vs Coolhurst IV Lost 1-4-------------------------------------------------
23rd January
Away Sobell 1 vs Paddington Won 5-0Team
Hanro
Jack
Glen
Nadeem
Gavin
The evening started with our fearless leader Glen giving Nadeem and I a ride to the venue. I was riding shotgun while Nadeem got the baby seat all to himself. This obviously cramped his style and his a-game suffered most of the night.
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11th December
Away Sobell I vs Cumberland Won 3-2I played first at number 5 against a guy with some good attacking shots. I lost the spin and the first point, but then I got serve and won 9 consecutive points off lob serves. After that | won the first game quite comfortably and he went off for some intensive psychotherapy. It generally worked and he got to grips with my serve. The game was close, we got to 14-14, then 15-15 then ...18-18 then a won a couple of point to go 2-0 up. He came back fired up the the third and took a lead, I dragged it back to 14-14, but he won 16-14. The fourth game, no big surprise also went to 14-14 and kept going and going with game point following match point. At one point I hit a lovely boast to win the match only for it to tickle the tin on the way down. I don't really remember the details of the rest - I imagine the squash was quite scrappy, but I won in the end 21-19.
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3rd December
Away Sobell I vs Coolhurst Lost 0-5
I played first at number 5. Before the game my opponent said he
played regularly with Eva (who used to play for the Sobell team before
defecting.) I told him to ask her to come down to Sobell on a Saturday
and promised that we wouldn't give her too much shit. I had my fingers
crossed when making the promise.
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27th November
Home Sobell I vs West Herts Lost 2-3 Sobell II vs Finsbury Lost 1-4Once again Sobell 1 lost another close encounter against West Herts, with only one toddler in the starting line up.
On
first was Adam playing @ no 3. This match went one way then the other.
With both players going for their shots every given opportunity, it was
anyone's match. Adam lost the first game then came back to take the
next 2 games. Adam needed to win the fourth game to take the match
otherwise the fifth (from what I witness) was going to be tough. With
both players battling it out in the fifth and going for their shots,
Adam finally lost it 15/9. 1 up West Herts.
Nelson Mandela's
protégé Hanro, was on crt next playing @ no 1 against an aggressive
opponent who looked like he had just got out of the wrong side of the
bed and was looking for someone to take it out of. Hanro was the last
person to pick on when it comes to a game of Squash. The West Herts
player who is a very good vet and been around the block a few
times, only wish he had stayed home in bed cuddling up with his wife and
then after that running around the block a few more times.
Hanro
took the first game 15/10 but then his opponent came back in the second
and took it 15/11. The West Herts player used all his experience to
ruffle up Hanro but he gave back as good as he got and he took
the third 15/10. The West Herts player went all out in the fourth with a
hope of it going to a fifth game. The only hope he had was, no hope or
Bob Hope because Hanro took the Fifth 15/11. West Herts 1 Sobell 1.
Jack
had the privilege of playing the toddler @ no 2 who he had lost to
the last time out in the summer. This was going to be a long long shift
for Jack hence why a good night sleep was crucial.
Jack kept
the toddler quiet in the first game and he took it 15/12. The toddler
started to cry for mummy and daddy the next 3 games in which he took
and with it a good night sleep with his dummy in his mouth. Sobell 1
West Herts 2.
Cheyne @ 4 was playing someone who has got an eye
for fashion. If anyone needs any advice on dress sense, don't look any
further than Cheyne opponent! His shorts tells the whole story, but can
he play.
Cheyne lost the first game then came back to win the
second game. With his opponent controlling the game from the T, there
was no way he was interested in running around on the crt. So it turn
out to be because Cheyne lost the next 2 games. Sobell 1 West Herts 3.
I didn't see much of Nadeem match, but that one went one way then the other, in the end Nadeem took it 3/2.
Final score: Sobell 2 West Herts 3.
So
that's the fourth 3-2 match that Sobell 1 has been in with 3 going
against which tells me we are a match for anyone in this division.
Next up is that local derby against Coolhurst.
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I didn't see who Richard Bowman's game at 5, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt, but knowing who played for Finsbury at 4, it really should have been a 3-0 win.
I also didn't see the Richard Bangay game, but it was against the guy who he beat comfortably the last time Finsbury played here. At the end of the evening, he had a best of 3 friendly which I won in a tight game the third, so how he lost against this guy is totally beyond me. His 'explanation' was that he wasn't playing well, but with his talent and mobility that is a game he should win every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
Rohan was on at the same time as me, he lost at 3-1, but he was playing a talented player who had a bit too much on the night.
I was playing at number 3, not really a lot to say about my game other than other than in my efforts to give myself a run around, I let my opponent get two game balls in the second game, but I stepped up and got the job done 3-0.
Finally up was Tim playing at number 2. Playing
the same guy that I lost 3-2 in the last home fixture we played. Before
going on, I explained to Tim that he is fast mobile player and the way
to beat him was to keep it tight down the backhand
and waiting for mistakes. Knowing Tim, I fully expected him not to be
patient, but to go for his shots and lose 3-0. I was absolutely correct
except that Tim actually got a game and lost 3-1. As you know from my
last report, there is some debate about who
should play at one, but with a performance like that, Rohan is safe for
a long, long time and I think I have a great shot at playing at 2 next
week.
So in the end a very disappointing loss to Finsbury and which we should have won comfortably and a bit of a reality check this week. Roll on next week.
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21st November
Away Sobell I vs Ealing lost 1-4Just a brief summary on the match between Sobell 1 & Ealing 1.
Sobell
1 fielded a mixture of first & second team players, fringe & up
and coming players and a combination of internal div 1 & 2
players. I leave you lot to work that one out.
Jack playing @ 1 went down 3-1. Not a bad result considering he is getting use to the fast lane playing @ no1.
Adam
playing @ 2 went down 3-1. Good result considering he was playing @
no5 last week. I think he needs to sort out that parrot.
Cheyne playing @ 3 won 3-1. Great result. Shame about his internal league results which he admits to.
Kevin
playing @ 4 went down 3-1. so so result. Tim was crying out to Kevin
to play Barry squash. It worked in the third game after going 2 games
down, but lost his way in the fourth game.
Tim playing @ no5
went down 3-2. Not a good result. Tim's only excuse was that the
temperature of the crt did not suit his game.
So there you have it, a 4-1 victory to Ealing. Next up are those toddlers from West Herts @ home next Wednesday. it's going to be a long long night so I suggest everyone gets a good night sleep.
I'm
through for the next couple of weeks with my groin, and hopefully Hanro
should be back. With a combination of around 12 players who are keen
to play team squash I'm still trying to work out my strongest 5. We all
except that Hanro is the right man to play at no1, but from 2 downwards
there is not a lot in it. My only suggestion is, who ever goes down in
a match drops out and the next in line steps up to the plate. So
starting from Ealing, Jack, Adam, Kevin & Tim are all out and
subject to availability Cheyne would be playing @ 1! Sorry guys it's
only a joke but something I might have to take on board especially
if you've got players like Kevin & Tim banging on the door with
force.
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13th November
Home Sobell I vs BA lost 1-4 Sobell II vs Old Actonians won 5-0A very short match report on this match. Vital stats: 5-0 win and not a game dropped. I saw 3 out of 5 games, plus a short amount of Tim on court so will comment where I can.
Playing: GS, RB, RB (Bangay), KJ, TD. Home at Sobell.
Myself, 3 games against an opponent who, whilst tidy up along the back wall with some tight play, wasn’t liking anything being dropped short and didn’t really have the fitness or movement for a 5 game match.
Next up was Richard Bangay. His opponent was very keen, and put in a lot of running to be fair to him. He managed to save the best to last, and I was wondering whether this would go into a 4th but the quality shone through. Throughout, a decent length and an executed straight drop on the backhand side seemed to do the job nicely.
One of the matches I didn’t see was Richard Bowman playing at 4. His comments were that the opponent wasn’t giving him a lot of trouble, and that was that.
The other match not seen was Tim at number 1. I caught the last point, with some enthusiastic hitting from the back from the opposition, but Tim seemed to be nicely rooted to the T which is how I’m assuming most of the match went.
Kevin was last on at 2, with an opponent who was playing better squash than the final score might have suggested. There was some nice tight length hitting from both players, with the opposition having some results with a tight forehand down to Kevin’s leftie backhand side. However, you sensed Kevin was always in control of this one, with his opponent giving him too much space to play in the mid-court.
The start of the league season vs Brentford was a pretty tough ride for Sobell II, however the opposition since hasn’t seemed to have done much which is a shame. Still, onwards.
Final thoughts being they had some nice team shirts, maybe Sobell II should get some? Food was a pleasure as usual, decent fish cakes.
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8th November
Away Sobell I vs Cottons won 3-2 Sobell II vs LA Fitness Norwood won 4-1Hanro played first against a tall, fit, talented opponent at number 1. It was a good quality, fast paced match and Hanro narrowly won the first two games. The third was closer with Hanro starting to feel the pressure. It got to 14-14, then Hanro missed a match point, then his opponent got and lost 2 game points. Hanro got another match point, but the Cottons number 1 wasn't giving up. He worked Hanro into a corner leaving himself the whole court ...
... then hit it into the tin. 3-0 Hanro. A very good win.
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Last Wednesday the team made one of the furthest away trips of the season to L A Fitness Northwood, an old squash club that has been taken over by the LA Fitness Group, but still has a decent squash community.
As Vince and Richard were there first, Vince playing at 5 started against a guy who Tim knew from his early days playing squash in Nairobi, when he was a top, top player. Fortunately for Vince, those days are a long time behind him now and despite dropping a game, Vince won comfortably 3-1.
Next up was El Capitano playing at 4. I caught the end of the match and can only agree with his view that he shouldn’t have dropped a game against an opponent who had a decent level and a sneaky drop shot that caught him out a few times, but at the level Richard is playing at, he should be putting opponents like that away 3-0.
I was up next at 3 playing a guy that during the warm up I was pretty sure would be a straightforward match for me. I started well, but dropped the 2nd and by the end of the 3rd was struggling and it was only because he didn’t have a drop shot that I was still in the game. In the 4th just wacked the life out of the ball to get the job done.
Tim was on at the same time as me at 2 and won comfortably 3-1, but again shouldn't have dropped a game.
The entertainment was saved for the last match of the night, with Rohan playing at 1 against who I described as a mixture of Adam and Me – he had Adam's shots and my ability to find different ways of resting between points J. Rohan could run around the court about 10 times faster than his opponent, and caught him out multiple times with his deceptive boasts and trickle boasts as anyone who's played him before can probably sympathise with. The match itself was a bit of a crazy one, Rohan started so well that we thought Rohan was going to walk it 3-0. However after going 1 up, his opponent won the next two games. Rohan then won the fourth game really easily (15-3). In the 5th, his opponent raced to 11-1 lead and seemed to have the match won, but then Rohan came back to draw 13-13, but watching the game I was certain his opponent was resting and would go all out for the points and that sadly turned out to be the case and he won the next 2 points to take the game and the match.
So a 4-1 victory for the team, and with that we've jumped to the top of the division :) Possibly only temporarily as British airways have a game in hand over but still a really good effort after our shaky start to the season.
The best entertainment of the night was saved for the post match meal when we all sat down to reflect on the evenings squash. To give some context, bar Vince who is just happy to play team matches to get out of being at home changing nappies, pretty much everyone else thinks they should be playing in a different position in the team.
Captain who plays at 4 thinks he should play at 3. Myself at 3 thinks I should play at 1 and Tim at 2 thinks he should play at 1. So with a not so great night at the office for him, I sensed blood and 'suggested' to Rohan's victor that had I been playing at 1, the result would have been much different as I wouldn’t let him 'do a number on me', for some reason Rohan didn’t take that too well and took even less well Tim's suggestion that had he come back to 13-13, from 11-1 down, he would not lose the match. I say he took it less well, but I am only basing that suggestion by the steam coming from his nostrils and red beams of light coming from his eyes…
Let's see who drops games / loses this week, no pressure guys J---------------------------------------------
29th October
Away Sobell II vs Harrow won 5-0Probably the easiest match report anyone will ever have to write for a Sobell match with every match finishing 3-0 and no one bar Rohan being remotely tested.
Richard, playing at 4 went to up against a very average opponent who put up a challenge before retiring hurt in the 3rd.
I was on at the same time against a player with some nice shots, but without the mobility to get to the front of the court, so I managed to win very easily without much effort.
Next up was Tim who played what looked like a slightly younger version of Barry, who played lots of nice drops and trickle boasts, so I guess nothing like a younger version of Barry, again Tim wasn’t pushed and ran out a 3-0 winner.
David Butter was on at the same time as Tim and beat a very average opponent.
Finally, Rohan was on at 1 against a very quick but limited player and he put him away very quickly.
Hopefully, we will get promoted soon as I reckon bar our first match, you would need to get to number 3 or even 4 before I think we would lose against any of our opponents recently….
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22nd October
Away Sobell II vs Finsbury Outplay won 5-0----------------------------------------------
16th October
Home Sobell1 vs Paddington won 5-0 Sobell II vs Walthamstow won 4-1
just a brief report on the match between Sobell 1 and
Paddington last night. When I say brief, I don't mean Marks and
Spencer's brief.
I was down on court first playing @ number 2. I
won the first 2 games then my foot of the pedal and lost the third. I
got back to normal business in the fourth and took it 15 - 10. 1 up
Sobell.
Nadeem was on court the at the same time as me playing @
number 5. Nadeem started to throw abuse @ himself after loosing the
first game. The marker Hanro decided to deduct a point from Nadeem for
his foul mouth conduct, so he started the second game 1-0 down. It
would have been interested If Nadeem had lost the second game? Possibly
game, set & match? Nadeem took the next 3 games and in the process
kept his mouth to himself and all the points. 2 up Sobell.
Next up was Nelson Mandela's protégé Hanro playing at 1 to steal all the points for the Sobell, and to keep his win record intact. Unfortunately his knock up was longer than the match itself and he won in straight 3. Victory for Sobell.
Jack playing @ 4 won in straight 3 & Hernan also won in 3 sets against Mr Paddington James Doolan.
So a 5 - 0 victory for Sobell, and thanks again to Mike Campbell for donating those winning balls on our first home match of the winter season. I don't know what you put in them but it seems to work. Well appreciated.
Next up are those boys from West London Chelsea. Oops sorry Hammersmith at their place.
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Just a brief report on the match between Sobell II and Walthamstow last night. When I say brief, I don't Legal Brief. For those of you who don’t know what that means:
A brief (Old French from Latin "brevis", short) is a written legal document used in various legal adversarial systems that is presented to a court arguing why one party to a particular case should prevail.
Anyway, back to the squash.
First up was el Captaino plunged to the depths of 5 because as the famous advert would say, Carling doesn’t do Sobell second teams, but if they did… anyway, Richard was playing someone who was at least a level below him and didn’t have an awful lot to do to get the job done 3-0.
On at the same time was Rohan playing at one in what would turn out to be the only blemish on an otherwise perfect night for both Sobell teams. Playing a wily old player who wasn’t much different in terms of game, but who was miles apart in making mistakes, Rohan went down 3-0.
On at the same time as yours truly was a debut for Ben Pritchard playing at 4. I didn’t see the match, but after consulting his opponent, it sounds it was very similar to when I last played Ben i.e. Ben played a game of fetch and his opponents job was to fetch! Ben dropped a game but got the job done in 4.
I was on at 3 and with Coach Barry watching there was no chance that I was going to be able to get away with playing silly shots as I knew what the training session on Friday would be like if I did. So I started out playing very sensibly and won the first 2 games quite easily against a guy who in the warm I noted had a very good forehand, but a slightly strange weaker double handed backhand. I lost the 3rd playing slightly more laid back, but one hard look from Coach Barry and that was all it took for me to get my act together and win in 4.
Finally up was Tim playing at 2 against a very similar player to him in that they both went for their shots a lot hit the ball very hard. You didn’t need to watch many points to see that the this game wasn't going to last very long and whoever made less mistakes would win. In the end, Tim made the fewest mistakes and won 3-0.
4th October
Away Sobell1 vs Hazlewood lost 2-3 Away Sobell II vs Brentford lost 2-3
Sobell 1 lost an hard fought battle against Hazelwood at their patch last Friday evening.On first was Hanro making his debut playing at no 1 against a veteran who has been around the block a few times. From what I witness in the first game there was only going to be one winner in favour to Hanro. After a tricky first game in which Hanro took, he got the measure of his opponent and he won the next 2 games. 0/3 up, 1 up Sobell.
Up next was team captain playing at no 2 in a match which went one way then the other. The first game was a stroll in the park for my opponent in which I lost before it even got started 15/5. I decided to go for a stroll in the park the next 2 games which I won. I thought that was that going into the 4th game. As you all know playing at this level it's never over till it's over. My opponent decided enough of this stroll in the park and he took the 4th. The 5th game was a tight affair and only a brave man would back the winner. I eventually lost the 5th 15/13. 3/2 down, 1 march each.
Gavin was on crt next playing at no 3, and still a match or 2 short from his fitness level. I didn't see much of his game but from what I gathered the fitness level did show in his match. He went down in 3 straight sets. 3/0 down 2/1 Hazelwood.
Adam was on crt next playing at no 5 to level things up. Well we all know what your going to get with Adam. High lob serve and dropping the ball in every giving opportunity. His opponent could not live with him as much as he tried bless him. Adam won in 3 straight sets. 0/3 up, 2 match a piece.
Well Jack it's down you once again to take the glory playing at no 4. Not much pressure! This match was all about Jack's fancy footwork. When I say footwork, I don't mean Jack gracing himself around the squash crt. No this was the type of footwork that only the marker has control of. If anyone wants to see an example of foot faults, then Jack is the man. I think we need your help here M Campbell.
After taking first game, Jack was warned of his foot faults. Jack lost the 2nd game and he won the 3rd game with a couple foot faults along the way which was not crucial at the time. Going into the 4th game the match was a tie at 14/14 with Jack serving. Yes you've guess it, the marker calls foot fault with Jack going down 16/14 in the 4th. In all my years that I have been playing team squash I have never seen or witness so many foot faults called in one match especially at 14/14. I think the home marker was bang out of order with a few chosen words from myself to let him know that. Even his opponent was surprise and his team mates,
All eyes from the crowd that was watching from the gallery, were focusing on Jack's fancy footwork going into the final game. While Jack was concentrating on his fancy footwork, his opponent was concentrating on winning the match. Jack lost the 5th.
3/2 down, Hazelwood 3/2 winners.
They must have been that desperate to get of to a winning start.
As for Jack, He is starting his own academy just on footwork!
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