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2010 - 2011 Season Team captain reviews
Adrian
Despite a request at the start of the winter to be put into a higher league, due to a new number one string, being refused, the Men’s first team went into the 2010-2011 winter league full of determination to prove the league organiser wrong.
Right from the start, with a 19-1 win in our first match, the team played some excellent squash and gelled together well. A slight blip against our old enemy ‘Purley 3’ when we we’re forced to play with two players who had flu, we were comfortably clear at Christmas by 30 points, with the second highest points total of any team in Surrey.
The second half began as the first finished, emphatic wins always getting between 17 to19 every match. We hit a wall unfortunately at David Lloyd Hampton. A combination, of injuries, missing footwear, lethargy and some of the deadest courts in the county meant we got a right kicking. Still having a good lead over the fast finishing St George’s, we went into the penultimate match at their place only needing to win the match to win the league.
First on was Chris at one string who decided to play on the new Perspex court, where the ball dies at the front if you stand too far back and dies at the back if you don’t volley it. For the first 2 ˝ games he did both but superior fitness told in the end and we were one up. The next two matches involved two very experienced Woking players who have been playing for the club for a combined 45 years and they played a couple of girls who were barely out of teens. Both the old gits lost !!!
Next was the Captain, who managed to win despite not playing that well and having a marker who couldn’t hear, speak or concentrate on the match (he argued the squash was pretty rubbish). Last on was Jonathan, who’d been unbeaten and had maintained a very high level of squash all season. Despite falling 1 - 2 in games behind, superior fitness again told and he ran out the winner and the first team won the league.
We finished the season with a narrow win playing with a weakened team and eventually won the league by 25 points.
The key to winning the league was the consistency of the same five turning out. Chris at one, played 14 of the 16 matches and only lost 2. Jonathan at two played 15 and won 15. Dave at three played 14 and won 10, Paul played 15 and won 11 and me the Captain, who played 16 and won 12.
A great season and we look forward to division 4 next year.
Pete
The second Team for Woking play in Division 6B of the Surrey Cup. We had an extremely enjoyable season where we managed some excellent results along with others which were less than flattering.
No 1 is Steve Sheffield who only lost one game all season, not to the best player he faced and always showed determination and aggression, which anyone marking his game felt occasionally, overall he had an excellent season.
Martin Litherland only played 5 games but as a player with great athleticism and a 2nd Team physique was an awesome prospect.
No 3 was the captain Pete Richardson, had an up and down season but ended with more wins than losses .
No 4 Ian Salmond developed into an awesome opponent and anyone who couldn't despatch fast would be on court for well over an hour, good work.
No 5 Noel Laycock,aka Silver Fox, an awesome competitor who used all his guiles to outfox most opponents and very rarely lost.
Mike McElhatton played most games and again was a fierce competitor winning several rubbers which sealed victories.
We also used youngsters Chris Bartlett and John Hughes (used notes please) who all performed well at this level.
We finished 2nd in the league and look forward to Division 5 next winter, and with good availability we should be able to maintain our position.
As to the future I believe we need to bring the youngsters into the higher teams and develop their potential, and the future for Woking Squash club is looking bright.
Peter
The thirds started the season with real optimism following a successful promotion campaign in the Summer. Despite losing 4 players from the Summer squad, our ranks had been bolstered by three new players – Stewart Hodges (leisure centre reject), John Bryant (bargain-bin free transfer) and David Lyscom (ex-SAGA).
My dreams of a division 8 'cake-walk' were swiftly punctured following a defeat in only our second match and we started to realise that we would be up against some tough opposition. We ended the first half still in contention, but only in fourth place having lost to all of our promotion rivals, Wimbledon, Ashtead and Bourne.
The second half of the season saw us target these matches as 'must-win' games, which lead to impressive wins against Wimbledon and Bourne, however, just as it seemed that we might pip our rivals to second we crashed to defeat away to unfancied Limpsfield. Added to that disappointment the mince pies weighed too heavily on our bodies in early January and we also lost narrowly away at Ashtead (eventual winners and only team to 'double' us).
Those were the only two blips in the second half of the season and when the dust settled we found that we had finished a respectable 3rd place in the division – just outside of promotion.
There were some notable contributions from the squad who all deserve tribute in the Wagtail.
•Joe Rawsthorne – committed, he was a consistent presence as 'sacrificial lamb' at number 1, taking more beatings than a naughty boy at Prep school. Incidentally he also walked off with the 3rd team award for 'Grumpiest Player' – strange one that...
•David Lyscom – excellent chef and tidy number 2, proved that age is no barrier in squash and as he would bamboozle players young enough to be his significantly younger siblings. Missed the start of the season through injury, including defeats against Ashtead and Wimbledon, where his contribution might have made all the difference.
•Stewart Hodges – started his Woking team career slowly but has the potential to play much higher up. A great believer in the psychological element of squash, he would often look to intimidate his opponents into believing his fitness was superior. Instead of actually getting fit he would create the illusion by wearing a 10k challenge T-shirt. Unfortunately the psychological effect is diluted somewhat when its an XXL shirt and you're sweating buckets in the warm-up...However, I have since heard that Stewart will be running a triathlon on 15 July, so I look forward to him passing the finish line – probably on 16 July.
•Peter Key – el capitan – as he liked to call himself. Led from the 'front' (normally playing at number 3 or 4 just so he could have more chance of winning and therefore act smug in the car home), would sometimes add an extra level of challenge to our away games by giving out the wrong address to his team mates. Not above bragging about his victories in his post-match email write-ups, which could stretch onto several pages, however, suspiciously quiet and brief following defeat....
•John Bryant – newcomer of the season (despite being a member for about 10 years) and most improved player. Dragged himself off the couch to answer the team's call when we were one player short for the first game of the season. He made an inauspicious start but swiftly became a main-stay of the side proving to be one of our most reliable winners. Well, he was playing at number 5!
•Martin Shelley – a real proponent of 'safety-first' 'percentage' squash, he thinks nothing of attempting a backhand-volley, triple-boast from the back of the court when he's match-point down. A consistent performer at no.4 this season with a string of 3-nil victory, Martin only tends to lose in the 'epic' games he plays. Makes a mean curry as well.
Notable mentions go out to David Greatorex, Freddie Lawson, Tito Nath and Nick Webb who all turned out for us during the season. Special thanks particularly to Freddie, who's enthusiasm on the court was only surpassed by his delight at scoffing down all the roast potatoes after the match!
Kerryn
Following promotion from League 9 last winter the youngsters in the fourth team had a rude awakening at the start of the season as they experienced a noticeable improvement in the quality of the opposition. However, bolstered by Elliott Lee dropping down from the 3rd Team to fill the number one slot, the team soon began to string together a number of impressive victories such that by the mid-way point of the season a second successive promotion looked on the cards.
Ably supported by Mike Thacker, Andy Todd, David Greatorex, Nick Burrett and Freddie Lawson, the regular team players of Elliott Lee, John Hughes, Kieron Harwood, Chris Bartlett and Jamie Crorkin recorded a number of impressive results, whilst building great team spirit and a genuine sense of fun. Special mention also needs to go to Kieron for both providing and cooking the excellent team dinners.
Unfortunately, the opposition got wise to Woking and the second half of the season saw a number of opposition teams strengthening their squads specifically when playing us. In the end we finished in a comfortable mid-table position and confident that with the impressive improvement of players, particularly Chris and Kieron, next season promises an even better finish.
Rob
After being so cruelly relegated last year by less than a point, the Vets 2nd team put in a hard summer’s fitness and social training and bounced back this year to win Division 3 in style and gain promotion into the second tier. With a core squad of six superstars (the 7th, Graham Norton was an early long-term injury victim) willing to sacrifice everything for the team (except when Noel Laycock got tickets to watch Chelsea-Leeds or went on holiday and John Robinson got the call to play ping pong for Dorset), we won 12 out of 14 matches finishing on a high with a 9 match unbeaten run. It was touch and go at times with Brian Greatorex hobbling from match to match with hamstring, hip and knee ailments and failing to take any notice of his skipper’s instructions to ease down on his daily 36 mile cycle ride to work and weekly football. Martin Shelley continued to baffle opponents with his straight arm boast and finished the season with the best win-loss ratio in the team – John only lost one match himself , but didn’t play enough games to knock Martin off his perch. Last year’s player of the season, David Greatorex, had a great start winning his first 5 matches and was promoted up the order after Christmas where he came up across some tougher opponents. That tactical move was all part of the skipper’s cunning plan to improve his own unspectacular record. Having lost the deciding match last season, the skipper hit the winning shot to clinch the championship this year around and unleash rampant celebrations - well, Brian did clap on the wall, Noel did raise his glass and David did smile.
Thanks to Tito Naith and Keith Holdaway for filling in so well on the three occasions when we had more than one sick-note from the core squad. Looking back, we have had a great season on and off the courts. Noel took on the role of social secretary with a lot of enthusiasm and managed to get a nearly full turn out for the celebratory dinner – golf was apparently the reason for the one absentee. The one disappointment is that Noel is still a lager lout - there is clearly work to be done over the summer converting him to the proper-beer drinking culture of the team.
Eric
Last season the team was relegated by a narrow margin from Division 3 to Division 4 which was a double blow following Sukhy Bain’s horrendous Achilles heel injury in the last match of the season. Having been demoted following a season where everybody had played quite well, in spite of relegation, we anticipated a gentler ride for this season with high hopes for promotion. Unfortunately this did not turn out to be the case for the first half of the season. It transpired to be more like an extended episode of ER than a series of squash matches.
The team for the first half of the season in nominated playing order was Ivor Simpson, Ian Dermody, Kerryn Bartlett, Tito Nath and Eric Butterworth. Steve Burgess had made a great recovery from a major operation earlier in the year but unfortunately had another setback and has been unable to play for the team. Sukhy also had a series of setbacks with her injury and has yet to make a full recovery. Consequently we had to start the season with two of our most reliable and consistent players.
The first half of the season turned out to be much harder than expected as there are some very strong teams in the Division and in our first match against New Malden 2 we took quite a spanking winning just one match - 10/9 in the fifth. The following results were varied despite the valiant efforts of the team and the losses outweighed the wins. This was partly due to the fact that all members of the team suffered injury at some time in the first half and were unable to play to their full potential. Ivor had a serious back injury and missed the latter part of the first half. Ian had an arm injury which has only just healed. Kerryn saw the first half through only to dislocate his shoulder over the Christmas period and subsequently fall on the arm again when slipping on the ice. Tito had a problem coming to terms with both winning and losing. Eric had an operation on his foot to remove a broken bone. In summary we were a bunch of old crocks with more injuries than a hospital A&E department!
Fortunately we were able to call upon the capable resources of the fourth team and Mike Thacker and others put in some excellent performances in the absence of the various old crocks.
Christmas was a time to reflect on the first half and plan to restore our dignity with some more consistent results. Graham Norton had been playing for the second team but had been experiencing more pain and discomfort whilst awaiting his hip replacement operation.He offered to play for the thirds to have a gentler run which was an offer not to be refused! Keith Holdaway who had been injured for the first half of the season and was unable to play for the seconds kindly offered to play for the thirds. It had become clear to all that unless you had been injured or were likely to be injured you would not qualify for the team.
In spite of injuries and illnesses the impact of the new additions has been significant. The revised nominations were Keith Holdaway, Eric Butterworth, Ivor Simpson, Ian Dermody, Kerryn Bartlett, Tito Nath and Graham Norton. Unfortunately Kerryn has not made a full recovery yet and has been unable to play. However, it left us with the luxury of six man squad to choose from and what a difference this has made. The first defeat of the season against New Malden was well and truly avenged and was a minor upset for the runaway leaders in the Division.
Since then the team has gone from strength to strength with the loss of just one match. There are still two matches to play and the team should finish in a very respectable position.
So if you are over 45, and several of our team are over 55, and have a wish to play competitive squash, you are very welcome to join us particularly if you can join in the team discussions about ‘squash injuries and other ilnesses’!
David
Woking was the 1st club to field 4 vets teams in the league, so we had a duty to show strength in depth: which we did, by fielding 12 different players and loaning out some to 1st, 2nd and 3rd teams into the bargain. The season started off with a match against Surbiton 3rds including the inimitable ‘Fat Terry’ whose propensity to argue with the umpire and indeed anyone who’ll listen to his rantings increases proportionately with his waist measurement – anyway Mike Thacker kept his cool and beat him 3-1 as the team went on to record a rare win against our bitter rivals. Victories continued against all other teams except Reigate 3 and Oxshott 3 in the 1st half, and amongst others, against all 3 Reigate teams (Reigate adding a 5th team to join their 3rds and 4ths from January) in the the 2nd half resulting in a well – earned 3rd place just a few points off Reigate 3 in 2nd (Oxshott 3 were top).
In the cup, we faced Colets 1st team, full of international players including Alan Thompson, the world’s 2nd best over 50 player. For a while they became very nervous as bisques were judiciously used. Simon Browne was glad all over when he hammered the legendary Dave Clark to bits and pieces in his 1st game, but eventually DC won 3-1. Alan Thomson then saw off Mike Thacker, but then David Guy came back from 0-2 to beat league organiser Tim Stainton 3-2, and with news that Charles Malcolm had won his match by default the match was delicately poised at 2-2! Danny Jones fought hard with Vets league organiser Geoff Howes, getting to 1-1 but Geoff’s age bisques came to his rescue as Colets 1sts scraped through against the side no less than 4 leagues below them. Well done to all concerned!
Thanks are due to the ‘hardcore’ element: Mike Thacker (9 played, 4 wins); Simon Browne (8 played, 5 wins); Dave Webb an injury struck but perfect (4 played, 4 wins); Rob Ready (7 played, 5 wins); Mike Calvert (4 played, 3 wins); Danny Jones (12 played, 7 wins); David Guy (12 played, 8 wins) Charles Malcolm (7 played, 3 wins).
Thanks also due to reserves who stepped in, sometimes at very short notice: Steve Burgess, John Duffel, Cathy McMillan, Richard Mumford, Colin Milbourn and Leigh Martin – the latter two both making commendable debuts against Dorking 4, Colin even managing a win.
Woking might not the only club with 4 Vets teams in the Surrey Cup any more, but it now has a healthy cup tradition and the honour of finishing the highest placed one in the leagues!
Dick
Vintage squad made a slow and hesitant start to the season stemming from absences, workloads, operations on elbows and all the rest of the things over 55’s are prone to. By a third of the way into the season we were languishing in the bottom third. I even had to play a couple of times.
However, as we sorted ourselves out we clawed our way back with notable performances latterly from Paul Garbutt, ( played 11 won 10), David Lyscom ( played 12 won 7)and Mike Neale (played 8 won 3).
As things are at the moment it looks as if we are 4th with one game still to play which if we win it 3 -0 (12 points ) then we could scramble to 3rd .
A long way from the years when we won Division 2 then Division 1 followed by being runners up again in Division 1 all in successive years but still OK bearing in mind the poor start.
Thanks are also due to Ian Dermody and Charles Malcolm who have also played, and played well, often at short notice.
Nicky
The Ladies have had a very successful winter season with everyone playing well. We only lost one game all season which we lost on count back! Hopefully we have gained promotion to the second division for the coming winter season. We have been lucky this season as we have had a fairly regular team and so far no injuries! But thanks to all the ladies who have played for the team.
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