Warwickshire League CNW 1st Team Monday 15th October 2012
First up was Dave Amos versus Liam Flood and rapidly Liam went 2-0 up before Dave had any idea where the ball was going. Things then improved, Liam started to make more mistakes and Dave came through 3-2. Brett Green then took on Richard Woodruffe and had a similarly slow start going 2-0 down. Brett then played
well to win the third 11-7 but couldn't sustain it for the following game and therefore went down 3-1. Andy Beale had a very close match with Harley Flood with an epic 15-13 in the first game which Andy lost. Andy won the second but couldn't hold Harley off for the third and fourth and therefore lost 3-1. Neil Bennett playing at 2 had a very long and close match with the super fit Richard Jones. The match went all the way to 5 sets but unfortunately a couple of late errors from Neil meant he lost 11-8 in the deciding set. The final pairing of Dan O Hara and James Bowden proved a classic as always when these two players meet with a range of sublime attacking shots and some unbelievably long rallies. On this occasion Dan lost 3-1 so leaving the final match result 1-4.
Dave Amos
Warwickshire League CNW 2nd Team. Opening Match 2012/2013 Season
So first match of the season and it was at home versus Esporta/Rackets centre/Virgin Health whatever they are now called. The match kicked off with Pete Ross at 5 taking on one of a number of 'new recruits' to the opposing team from Coventry University. In a fast paced match Pete prevailed losing just 6 points on his way to victory.
Most spectacular win of the night came from Kevin Simpson at 4 who whitewashed his shell shocked opponent 27-0! The remaining 3 matches all proved much closer with Heath Jennings at 3 having a very close fought and physical game with Steve Wengraff. Unfortunately Steve proved the more consistent and took it 3-1 in the end. Glenn Danks followed up with the tightest of possible results with his match going all the way to the fifth set and just being pipped at the final hurdle 10-8.
This meant the last match between Dave Amos and Richard Norton (ex C&NWplayer!) would decide the team result. Dave got off to a fast start and took the first, Richard then fought back from 7-3 down in the second to win that game 10-9. The third and fourth were shared between both players thus leaving the fifth as the decider for the evening's result. Fortunately for the home team Dave played the tighter squash in this game and after a number of long rallies took the final game 9-4. C&NW therefore won 3-2 and gained an almost maximum 19 points as a result of the high scoring losing matches.
Dave Amos
CNW 3rd Team - 16th October 2012 v Kenilworth
Tuesday16th had the mighty 3rd team up against old rivals Kenilworth, who we all like to beat.......up first to maintain our good start to the season was Daz Sharpe, started off steady and won the first game easy, but, as normal concentration lapsed and he lost the 2nd game. Concentration regained and came out victorious 3-1. Young Dan Cullinane had similar frustrating game but as ever used his power to outgun a younger Owen Bailey also 3-1. Olly Hoare wasted little time in demolition of his much older opponent(late50's) 3-0. Steve Gregory at 2 had a very stern test against Ben Holden, and at 2-2 it could of gone either way but chubs pulled a very good win out the bag. The pressure was on Pete Ross to win and hold onto out 100% record as a team.... Easy done with power and speed to get a 3-0 win. That win takes the 3rd team to the top of Division 4. Well done boys.
Daz Sharpe
CNW 3rd Team - 9th October 2012 v Warks. University
At number 5 we had captain Daz Sharpe who had a comfy 3-0 victory against a lad half his age...Danny Cullinane went on court and was ruthless as ever against a weaker player and won 3-0...Olly Hoare had no problems in achieving the same score at number 3 so the match was won. But we wanted a clean sweep so Steve Gregory went in court and although his young opponent put up a fight, Steve managed a 3-0 victory too... This was looking good when Pete Ross went on at number 1. This proved a tougher longer match but gritty Pete as ever won 3-2 which allowed us to record a 20-2 victory and a great start.
Daz Sharpe
CNW Ladies 1st Team Wednesday 17th October 2012 v Leamington
C&NW ladies 1st team celebrated a resounding win over long standing local rivals Leamington by 4 matches to 1.
Di Murphy was first up as anchor and set the tone by notching up a 3 - 0 victory over newcomer Vic Leggatt, who struggled to deal with the consistency of Di's length game. Julie Hicks completely out hit her opponent Maxine Holt dropping just 7 points in 3 games. Third up was Captain Liz Young against Ali Bate which proved a more fiercely contested encounter with some impressive long rallies but Young managed to secure the crucial points and her power cross court drives gave her the winning edge claiming the match 3 - 1. Becs Moss, 2nd string, made quick work of her match against Becky Lascelles, again with some powerful hitting. Lascelles struggled from the outset with Moss always in the driving seat securing the win 3 - 0. So with a team win in the bag new number 1 Georgia Jennings faced up to the experienced Jemma Holt. The match delivered high quality squash but Jemma was always in charge, proving too consistent and came away with a 3 - 0 result. The game scores didn't really do justice to Jenning's strong performance in her debut match at number 1 which bodes well for future matches.
The team has lost their number 1 player two seasons in succession. Cath Brown gave birth to twin boys 4 months ago so Kate Dawe stepped up to the plate last season and now Kate has just announced she's expecting her second child so Georgia moves into the number 1 slot. However we are welcoming some new players into the team this season - Linda Kooner, Emma Bennett and experienced veteran Janet Critchley - who will play a valuable role as anchor players and will hopefully provide the depth and strength required to do well in 1st Division. As always the team spirit is excellent both on and off the court.
Liz Young
CNW Racketball Team News Opening Match 2012/2013 Season
The Racketball team had a tough opening match of the winter season against a Priory 1st team who have been title contenders for the last few seasons. We were however boosted by having a very strong team of 1.Danny O'Hara, 2.Howard Lancashire 3.Pete Ross and 4.Luke Kirkham.
Luke got off to a winning start with a fairly comfortable 3-0 win, despite making a few too many unforced errors. Danny opted to go on next and against a tough opponent in Anil Ram he managed to play steady, sharp Racketball and also ran out 3-0 winner. Next two on court were Howard and Pete, Howard coming up against a talented junior in the shape of Oliver Palmer. Howard struggled to find his rhythm in the first and lost it 11-7, However he worked his opponent hard and seemed to get more comfortable with each game, eventually running out 3-1 winner.
Pete kept his unbeaten record going against a tough opponent who hits every shot at 100MPH. Pete lost the first 11-2 and seemingly was struggling with the pace of the game, however he started to get use to the pace and lost the second narrowly, but his opponent started to tire and Pete stated getting more into it, he eventually ran out 3-2 winner.
A great result for the team winning 14-3 and lets hops the form continues for the rest of the season.
Luke Kirkham