Exmouth 4
Tavistock 1
TAVISTOCK Squash Club travelled across the county to face old rivals Exmouth.
They got off to a great start with number five, Peter Middleton, outclassing Wally Frost. Pete?s find drops and court dominance never gave the Exmouth man a look in. Pete ran out with a three games to nil victory, 9-0, 9-5, 9-6.
Next on court was Stuart Cox from Tavistock against Exmouth number four Dave Brown. This turned into a lengthy battle, the pendulum swinging one way then the other.
Dave won the first game by forcing Stuart to turn and chase. But during games two and three the tide changed with the Tavistock man chasing and recovering and in so doing, frustrating Dave who started making errors. The next two games saw long, unyielding rallies; unfortunately for Tavistock it was Dave who took the spoils, winning by three games to two, 9-3, 5-9, 5-9, 9-6, 9-6.
The next match tuned into an ill-tempered affair with Tavistock?s Colin Grice getting the majority of a number of dubious umpiring calls. Colin was matched against Exmouth number three, Tony Heggadon. Colin lost by three games to two, 9-3, 3-9, 2-9. 9-2, 9-3.
Tavistock skipper Tim Wallis was matched against his opposite number Mark Snow. Tim?s style of play revolves around manoeuvring his opponent around the court then dropping, normally to good effect.
However the courts at Exmouth were hot and the ball would not die, enabling Mark to chase and return. Mark won the first game, then Tim levelled, hitting the ball harder than normal. The rallies were long and exhausting and it was Mark who sneaked the next two games, winning by three games to one, 9-2, 7-9, 9-7, 9-7.
Meanwhile, Tavistock number one Andy Gauler was playing against Tony Greenough on another court. The Tavistock man took the first two games against the run of play, having been behind in both.
Tony then started to find his range, forcing his hard hitting style onto the match; time after time he would hit the killer drive.
The match slipped away from Andy as Tony grew in confidence. The Exmouth number one eventually winning by three games to two, 6-9, 4-9, 9-6, 9-7, 9-5.
Squash is a great game for keeping or getting fit and compared with a number of activities is relatively inexpensive. Anyone interested in joining the club please contact Malcolm Tripp on 01822 615239.