EPCC Squash: Match Report

Geology, 17th January 1997

Match Report provided by: AKE

Score: EPCC 15 - Geology 7

Team:

• Alistair (JR) Ewing (3-2)
• Thomas (Why me?) Zurek (3-2)
• Vivek (The Gent) Gore (3-0)
• Gordon (Bananaman) Lang(0-3)
• Isabel (Salsa Power) Rojas (3-0)

This is the match that wasn't meant to be - on Friday morning EPCC was still suffering from a New Year hangover, with half the squad out of the country (snowboarding in Austria and basking in the Brazilian sunshine) and the other half facing their fist match of the season ... But from the pit of despair came 5 willing players, including new blood - Salsa Power.

• First up and leading from the front - JR faced the Geology #1, who despite one serious leg brace had all the shots - EPCC defeat looked imminent. And after two quick easy games JR was fulfilling his doomed prophecy and was two games down. What happened next no-one knows, maybe the superior EPCC fitness started to take its toll, but JR pulled back the next three games in a hard fought battle. As The Gent commented later - JR should never have won that game ... (so much for faith in your team).
• Meanwhile, somewhere on court 4, Why Me? was living up to his name. Easily winning the first two games, Why Me? mirror the action on the other court and proceeded to loose the next two. Score tied a 2-2, Why Me? got his head and act together and pulled a 3-2 victory with a nail biting 10 pointer.
• The Gent, playing against all his better judgement (it was Friday night after all), gave another relaxed and calm performance, easily winning 3-0. It is good to see him breaking sweat at least - though his skill is still not being tested. Time for random team selections ...
• This was Bananaman's first game this season - and only the second since last year - though even with these nerves he put up a spirited performance in a match that was probably the toughest to play. Sadly, it wasn't to be the first victory of the season and he went down 3-0.
• Ah, the wonder of Salsa, drafted into the team at the last minute ("making", "up" and "numbers" springs to mind), but providing a solid tail ender to tonight's line up. An it was a scorcher - ignoring the fact that her opponent didn't turn up, and the 3-0 points taken were richly deserved - if only for turning up when they didn't.

P.S.: the Mad Finn rears his ugly head again, as the Geology were his old training partners ...

Player of the Match Award: for winning against the odds - JR