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| Report: | Some evenings when the wind is blowing and the rain is spitting the car park at Purley Squash club is unusually quiet. It indicates that there's nothing going on accept the flashing of the fruit machine in the bar and perhaps an end of season squash match. Purely's first team had just finished their pro squash training and had stepped off court to watch the action about to unfurl as the 3rd team guesting two players from the 5ths made ready for the evenings team match against Esporta 2.
First on for Purley was Paul Eneas against the professorial Buzby Williams. Now Buzby looked a bit like David Bellamy and in his shorts you could'nt tell them apart, but when Buzby played squash, it was'nt him to doing the huffing and heaving, hunched over in corners. No. Poor Mr Eneas was sent hither and thither to all four corners of the court retrieving balls only to be left with dead balls and nicks. He did'nt do all the running himself, he made Buzby hit winners and dying length, but alas it was not enough and he fell 3-0. With a shake of the hands and a twinkly smile Buzby sailed into the changing rooms and I never saw him again.
The 2nd game found me playing the tracksuit wearing Dan Lark. As he knocked up he looked very impressive so much so that the balcony started taking odds on who was going to win. This was a surprisingly even game with nicely disciplined retrieval play interrupted by howling errors on both sides. Still it was a close game with me building a lead, getting game balls, then fluffing the next 3 or four points in all 3 games. I believe this is called - choking and it appears I was giving a fine display. It took an hour but Dan prevailed 3-0. I tried blaming the sweat dripping on my grip for ruining my forehand drive and causing my "choking" display, but the mocking laughter rang in my ears as I escaped to the showers.
The 3rd game saw Cap'n Ekins against the presence that is David Sobo. An absolute "out house" of a man who's game on and off the ball is a thing to marvel at. He moved like a fridge on roller skates with a swing like a slamming door. It was going to require all of our captain's experience to get some goodness from this match. Now Mr Sobo likes to finish his opponents quickly and in the first two games found himself having to work a little harder than he liked. So after winning the first two games 9-6 and 9-7, he took a breather for the next couple losing 9-2 and 9-0. He then fired up his game again and deftly took it game 9-3. It was David's best game. You had to feel for Paul because you knew he knew he had been played like a honky tonk piano.
The final game of the evening had our resident squash statistician Mr Simon Jackson against the smooth and pedestrian Dan Roe. Dan is a big guy that moves with a ponderousness one associates with skillful ringers. All his shots seemed unhurried; his movement barely agitated. He even managed to keep a sense of humour on court and cracked jokes from time to time. Meanwhile, Simon wore his tax collectors scowl through out the entire match which occasionally went red with indignation when his opponent received lets or strokes. Indeed, Simon found himself doing a lot of running and retrieving. His best stuff seemed to be picked up with ease and the frustration crept out as he failed to capitalize on his opportunities with unforced errors. Eventually his hands ended up on his hips, his eyes on the heavens, and his prayers went unanswered as he fell short 3-0.
It was an interesting match as everyone was playing for pride and the fixture. No one was going to be demoted or promoted, and there were no talent scouts from ESR. Capn'Ekins was philosophical. "They may have thrashed us 15-2, but it will be a cheap bar bill". Only two lucozades were consumed by Esporta before they were gone having looted our points rather than our bar.
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| Author: | Paul Ekins |
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