David Lloyd Renfrew Match Report – 3rd February 2010

If you want to see other match reports click here for DLR and here DLWE

First on was last minute sub John F against Kev Lawlor at No.5. John played really well and in-fact won the 3rd game against the run of play, he put in a tremendous effort in the 3rd and got Kevin laughing and losing the focus and managed to get ahead and stay ahead with some hard rallies and good short shots. However apart from that it was a bit like watching a dog chase a stick (no offence John – you were just up against a legend of West squash who is full of trickery and experience). Kev was pretty much in control of the rest of the game and I enjoyed watching the trade-mark Lawlor shots on display!

Shock-er-rooney! I was on next, with no opportunity of bringing the team victory home!! I played at No.3 against Andy Philips (and it was obviously such an important match we had a professional marker in Dave Mathy – I immediately asked for a change of marker!!!! Only kidding Dave!).
Andy started well and got an initial lead, then at about 3 points to 1 down I hit Andy on the back-swing which caused me to put the ball into the tin, now I assumed this was a stonewall stroke, but apparently not……who knew that? (Dave and Andy both tried to educate me in the ‘let’ decision after wards, but I’m still none the wiser! Ho-hum!). The good thing about the outrageous decision was that I got a bit fired up and managed to take the game by the scruff of the neck and win the first. However it was back to my normal self in the 2nd and Andy stepped up the pace and the power and whenever I left it short he punished me and won the game. So in the 3rd I didn’t give him so much to hit and this (mixed with some better movement and a couple of made up volleys that hit the nic) meant that I took the game. The 4th went much the same way and I added some better length to make things tricky for Andy – and so took the match 3-1.

I then marked Sean against Michael Currie at No.4. Fantastic shots – great rallies – wonderful nic shots – this game had none of these!! And this was possibly due to Sean’s preparation for the match. 15 pints and a curry (apparently it was the dodgy currie that was to blame! And I’m not talking about his opponent?!?!?!). Any way I think I saw the worst rally of the season (possibly the century) in the first game and I’m not sure Michael could do much to improve things as most of the balls he had to deal with were in the strangest places in the middle of the court. I think we’ll just chalk this one up to experience and say Michael did what he had to, to win 3-0.

Whilst all this hilarity was going on Lyall was playing Gary Mackay at No.1. Now this was a really good game and Gary played wonderfully well. Lyall looked like he wanted to win by trading shots with Gary, but unfortunately for him Gary was having a blinder and was chopping some fantastic shots to the front and, as usual, was volleying so high up the court that he was giving himself every opportunity to hit great winners. Lyall narrowly won the first, but Gary came right back at him and won the second. Lyall showed flashes of really dominating in the 3rd, but unfortunately they were only flashes and although he won the game Gary was still very much in it. The 4th went to Gary with some amazing angled-drop-shots into the nic, three in a row I counted at one point. Lyall tried to come back at him at the end of the game, but at 10-7 up Garry just needed one more and he was more than capable of doing that.

A much steelier Lyall came out for the 5th and the ball was rocketed to the back on more than a few occasions. Gary was already tired by this point and the extra pace was a killer for him at this point in the match. Lyall dominated the 5th and never really looked like losing it – he kept the ball either too high or too fast for Gary and ended up winning 3-2. MOTM to Gary though I’d say.

So with the match finely poised at 2-2 (again!) it was all down to Kev at No.2 against Andy McBean to land the match for us. No one fancied marking this one, but Andy Philips said he’d do it as Dave M was busy assessing him for his marking badge.
Kev lost the first despite playing quite well, but in-between games he obviously reflected on how much better he’d have to compete if he wanted to win, because he came out and won the 2nd. The game ebbed and flowed and eventually (2 conduct strokes later to A.McB) we were at the 5th game.

Kev started well and was really motoring around the court, he had some really impressive retrieving shots at full stretch to deal with and he did deal with them and in the main sent them back with interest. It was a tough 5th game and both players were questioning decisions, but Kev was always able to keep his nose in front and this proved crucial in such a hard fought match. Kev eventually crossed the finishing line to bring home a great (and a very narrow) victory against a team who are two places above. We won the tie by 13 points to 11 (thank god for the bonus points!).

Great result for the team.