David Lloyd Renfrew v Newlands Match Report 16th December

Just a quick match report tonight as 1) I’ve got to catch a 5.30 plane tomorrow 2) My opponent wasn’t due to turn up til 9.30pm, so I also got there late and missed a lot of the matches and 3) We got a bit of a thrashing by Newlands!

Kev went on first against ‘Pistol’ Peter O’Hara. On paper this looked like a 3-0 to Peter, but I heard that Kevin played really well and took the first game 11-9. The next two were apparently very hard fought as well, but Pistol Pete must have been gunning the ball about as he took them both. The fourth seems to have been even closer as Kev pushed Peter all the way and was only just piped 11-9. Kev MOTM in my book for pushing Peter so close in the fourth and taking the first game.

Lyall was next on against a 21 year old guy called James Snell (World Ranked No.#113) and this was always going to be a very tough match – and so it proved as Lyall lost the tie. No disgrace losing to someone of James’s high ranking – I think Alan Clyne would be the only person in Scotland who could win this tie). I understand that there were some tremendously long rallies in the first game, but James appeared to have been on the winning end of most of them. Lyall started attacking in the second game and this caused the rallies to shorten, but not enough in Lyall’s favour. Lyall must have nipped to the bar in between games as he brought back the kitchen-sink and threw this at James as well, but to no avail and James won the tie 3-0.

Sean went on next and again was really up against it playing Peter Malone. Peter added Sean to his list of 3-0 scalps (which includes some pretty good players like Graham Dunns and James Dare). I didn’t see the match, but i like to think that James Snell marked it and Sean looked incredulously at him every time he gave a decision!

Next up was Henry and he was up against an ex-Ballantyne’s team mate in Stuart ‘the dog’ Brunton (so called because he’ll chase anything!). The first game was close, but Henry just let Stuart get too far ahead of him at the crucial time and lost it. In the second game Big H started rocketing the ball into the tin, on the forehand side especially and after the fifth time of thwacking the middle of the tin I was asking around for some ear-plugs. By this time ‘the dog’ had got hold of the bone (so to speak!) and wasn’t going to let go; second game to Stuart and that’s where it ended as Henry had to retire. He was telling his opponent that it was a hip/leg problem, but I reckon it was probably tinnitus! (or should that be tin-hitus!)

I went on last against Malky Watt and was relishing another match up against an old adversary. Malky started slowly in the first and I took full advantage getting into a good lead by dropping him short and then managing to hold onto the lead. The second and third games were had fought and physically quite tiring and unfortunately Malky took them both (it wasn’t helped by the fact that I couldn’t seem to play a backhand boast up!). Ho hum!

And so to the fifth. I needed to get stuck in with some hard rallies early and when Malky went 4-0 up this was where the game was lost. I managed to come back to 8-8, but just couldn’t sustain the charge and Malky took the initiative and won the game 11-9 and the match 3-2.

My match was a good old romp with lots of blood and guts, but I was very disappointed with my lack of awareness, match play and my abundances of hacking! A consolation 2 points, but a bitter pill.

So the team got chopped 18-3, but it was by a team who won the league last year and I fully expect them to do so again this year.

All the best and Happy Christmas.

Jason