Last Friday saw the inauguration of Los Merengues' new outfit: brand new shirts with Los Merengues on the back and the userid on the front, supplied by Isabel. What a better opposition for such an event than the division leaders. Naturally, they were impressed and we hoped that this would translate into a positive start ... yes, hmmm, it did ... but ... it didn't go beyond the warm-up it seems.
First on stage was Why me?. The first set clearly went in the enemy's favour. The second proved to be decisive with Why me? leading 8:3 but finally loosing 9:10. Was this a change of the famous Why me?-tactics (aiming for a 3:2 victory by trailing 0:2 rather than leading 2:0)? Indeed, a glimpse of hope appeared when the third was clearly won but in the fourth it was back to square 1 with Walkers earning their first victory of the night. Maybe it's worthwhile to consider another change of tactics; it didn't seem to work out and neither the opponent nor the observers were too impressed.
In the meantime, it had been JR's turn to initially go to KB rather than the Pleasance. But maybe this additional warm-up did the trick. A tremendous battle developed with the ex-captain loosing the first two sets. Insiders soon revealed that JR had had a secret practice session with Why me? earlier this week. Had JR adopted his teammate's new tactical route? Oh dear! The worst had to be feared. However, the Pleasance crowd saw one of the most impressive fightbacks in Los Merengues' history with JR equalising to 2:2. The fifth set saw him getting the better start. But he got stuck with an 8:4 lead. It seemed that his opponent dug out her best returns whenever JR had matchpoint. But finally, on the fifth or sixth occasion, success was inevitable. Nevertheless, JR left the court shaky with his usual grin reappearing only after half an hour. But well done! Boy, we are proud of you!
The Ironman was eager and motivated to show a good performance in the week that saw him jumping to the top of the squash ladder. This was necessary as there has been a certain unrest around the team about the captain's recent sequence of other commitments which caused him to show up only for the second time this season. However, he stood up to his duty and his nickname and faught hard over five sets with the opponent clinching victory. Less Ceilidh dancing and more squash practice will soon lead him back to his best.
Goldie, already in preparation for the Brazilian beach season, probably spent too much time explaining her opponent how to get rid of his belly. Obviously, this has not been very successful ... the belly was still there after the match. Heyy, a little bit more running would have done him well! However, the opponent not only kept his weight but also victory in straight sets.
Finally, Michael in his Red Socks showed up on court. After last week's flaw (going to the Pleasance rather than KB - the team has to work on that problem!) and putting on his new Los-Merengues-T-Shirt the wrong way confusion was still around. But I am sure that Michael got valuable experience against a high-quality opposition which will help him on future occassions.