Luxfords St George's Hill 3 beat UniSport Guildford 2

Wednesday 5 March 2008

Harriet Ingham was making her second appearance in the PSL and looked perfectly at home against her more experienced opponent, University of Surrey student, Rachel Willmott. Ingham was first to hit her stride winning early points with her backhand drop and taking the BUSA finalist a little bit by surprise. Willmott managed to clinch the first game after the tie break using her greater experience to good effect. Thereafter Willmott got stronger and Ingham faded a little but only to be expected. In terms of quality of squash Ingham showed that she was far from overawed and will benefit greatly from this experience. Luxfords St Georges Hill take a 1 - 0 lead.

Jesse Engelbrecht, meanwhile, was taking on Phil Nightingale on the adjoining court. His speed and accuracy counted for everything against Nightingale who tends to frustrate his opponents with his huge reach and hard hitting. Engelbrecht was not to be tempted in, maintained and even stepped up his control as the match wore on. In the end it was Nightingale who was frustrated and not a little blown as the Guildford man pocketed the win 3 - 0. The match score was now level at 1 - 1.

Alex Ingham made a brother/sister duo in the ranks for UniSport Guildford but had no more luck than his sister. Confidence palpably drained away in the second and even the third after being the better player for most of the first game. Phil Barker showed that he had lost none of his skills and put in a good performance to ruffle the Ingham feathers on a night when more might have been expected of the youngster. A 2 - 1 advantage was now St Georges Hill's.

Matched against Stephen Meads was Tom Richards, who hits the ball with great force and is taking lessons from one Mr Meads. There was the coach/pupil undercurrent to this match which was barely discernible. Meads was quoted before the match as saying that Richards had never beaten him before but with some forethought he observed that there had to be a first time not far around the corner. Thankfully not tonight. Meads worked hard to earn his 2 - 0 lead with typical hard working squash - not pretty but effective. Richards was never far out of it but Meads just used that little bit of extra experience to nip in front. Meads went home content having shown the youngster his place - at least in the short term. UniSport Guildford were delighted to be at 2 - 2 all with Ross still to play.

Krajcsak vs Ross looked on the face of it an easy game to predict, especially as the Guildford player has had limited match play recently. Ross however seemed nonchalantly confident. He found some handy winners on a very hot bouncy court, which in itself was an achievement as Krajcsak's speed around the court made that look unlikely. As the first game closed Ross made heavy work of converting an early points lead into a one game lead, but he did, in fact, manage it on a tie breaker at 11 - 9. Back came Krajcsak who started to move better and capitalise on Ross taking his foot off the gas slightly. In the third Ross played some more accurate squash, grabbed the lead and converted it into a 2 - 1 lead. The fourth and fifth games always looked like an uphill struggle for Ross whose recent lack of match play was taxing him physically. Indeed that is how it finished despite Ross taking an early lead in the fifth. There was always that nagging thought that had Ross been in a better place with his game he may well have found this a match he could have won.

A disappointing end to a tough season for UniSport Guildford. A bottom of the table finish belies a spirited campaign, but probably the team was always one world class player away from being a real force to be reckoned with. There have been some great moments for the fans and no match has been lost without a fight, but there may well have to be a rethink in the off season with the new campaign in mind.

Mark Krajcsak 3 beat Stacey Ross 2

9 - 11, 9 - 3, 5 - 9, 9 - 5, 9 - 3

Tom Richards 2 lost to Stephen Meads 3

6 - 9, 7 - 9, 12 - 10, 9 - 4, 4 - 9

Phil Nightingale 0 lost to Jesse Engelbrecht 3

3 - 9, 5 - 9, 2 - 9

Phil Barker 3 beat Alex Ingham 0

11 - 9, 9 - 3, 9 - 6

Rachel Willmott 3 beat Harriet Ingham 0

11 - 9, 9 - 4, 9 - 2