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| Report: | Division 3 favourites, Chester Rugby rocking up at The Whitby tonight for their final match of 2025, and it was a ducking good one.
Despite the gap in the league (and the points) The Whitby boys were up for a giant killer night and Hemmo first on v Rick set the tone, not giving up on anything and making it difficult for Rick to get away from him eventually paying off in the 2nd to get our 1st point of the night. Another close battle in the 3rd with Hemmo throwing everything he had at him, unfortunately, Ricks racket skills came through, edging the 3rd before seeing out the match in the 4th. Still 1 point on the board.
Next on was John v Dave. Rallies were long to say the least with both players getting around court well, Dave trying to pin John onto his backhand whilst John trying to keep the play on the forehand created a chess like match full of running and positioning. First blood went to Dave before John picked up the tempo a bit and took the 2nd. Yet again on the night it was 3rd game that ultimately decided the match with John just falling short of reading the front court boasts by Dave. The less said about the 4th game the better for John who couldn’t get going and kept falling victim to Dave’s boasts. 2 down on the night but 2 important points for Whitby.
Up steps Dave v Matt, on paper, this is the one we all thought was the best chance of 3 points for Whitby. The points gap and playing styles between the 2 we pretty close, time to settle down and buckle up… or so we thought. If you’ve every been in a car that just wouldn’t start then you’ll know how Dave felt tonight. Matt played his normal, error free, keep it tight and alive squash which on any normal day for Dave would have been fine, our marine is always up for battle of stamina but tonight his racket wasn’t in sync with his mind or feet, his body going one way whilst his racket going another it was like watching Bambi on ice, with roller blades on. That didn’t bother Matt one little bit who did exactly what he was meant to do and eased into a 2-0 lead. The engine finally kicked into life in the 3rd and we got to watch the kinda squash we were expecting but typical as it is when you can’t get going, your opponent manages to hit perfect widths and nicks to win the match. Chin up Dave it happens to all of us.
So 3-0 down and bonus points to Chester, but lets face it that’s not what we were playing for tonight, we want as many points on the board as possible and Charlie fully understood the assignment, only problem was Joe Edwards standing in his way. WOW !!! The standard on court 1 in the 1st game was at another level which was evident by the crowd & noise on the balcony. The highest level you’re likely to see in this division opening up with a tie break that Joe managed to take. Charlie, after giving it everything in the first was blowing a bit in the 2nd and made a good call to let it fly by him which paid off in the 3rd as Joe, not to be outsmarted did the same making it 2-1. Charlie wasn’t satisfied with just a point tonight, he smelt blood in the water and knew something good can happen here. He decided to stop giving Joe so much respect and started taking the ball earlier on the volley which worked wonders as Joe was forced deeper and deeper to the back of the court making winners hard to come by allowing Charlie to win the game and set up an epic 5 setter. What a way to end a match, this was a match that you’d be happy to pay to watch, and we got it for free. Both players were outstanding and both players having match points but it was a rare error by Joe on a serve that allowed Charlie a 2nd chance which he wasn’t going to let slide past him taking the tie break and the match and adding Crispy Duck Rolls to the food order, he deserves it!
How do you follow that, well Joe and Lewis were going to try and it started off well with the first 2 games being tit for tat and hardly anything in it. Lewis playing the lengths perfectly and Joe finding the tin too often in the 1st made it 1-0 to Lewis before Joe got his stride with some amazing killers into the front corners and getting his point on the card. Mistakes crept back in for Joe in the 3rd but he wasn’t going down without a fight and giving the balcony another top-quality spectacle in the 4th. Both players counteracting each other’s squash with plenty of rallies being cheers by the crowd, unfortunately it was Lewis who edged it to seal a great night of squash.
Back to the bar, no play and go tonight. Plenty of Chinese on offer and great banter all around and to keep the party going we had the pleasure of the entire second team showing up to put the early leavers to shame. They’ll be no early leaving next week at the traditional Whitby Christmas Extravaganza!! Get those Christmas Jumpers out lads, its going to be a ducking great night!
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| Author: | John Hamilton |
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