Surrey go top

Surrey Health & Racquets Club 3 beat UniSport Guildford 2
Ian Robinson reports

UniSport Guildford made the short journey to Croydon and nearly came away with the spoils. Title chasing Surrey H & R Club spent the early part of the day determining whether Wael El Hindi, the World number 8 and their club number 1, was going to be able to play with commitments to the Super Series Finals at the Queens Club distracting him. UniSport Guildford arrived at the club and to their surprise found that he was unavailable. This did not discernibly reduce the firepower that Surrey H & R had at their disposal when veteran Tim Garner was drafted in. UniSport welcomed back Stacey Ross who arguably was not missed when the team won the last match at home to St George's Hill.

Alison Waters was first on court and had her unbeaten Premier Squash League record of almost two years to defend. This was to be one of the sternest tests of her mettle as Vicki Botwright was a finalist in her farewell international tournament, the World Open, in her home town of Manchester before taking to her coaching duties. There was no hint of the struggle to come as Waters stormed to a convincing 11 - 2 first game lead - this was a mixture of an excellent start with winners flying around the front of the court and some costly errors by the home player. The second game saw the contest begin to even out as Botwright started to find her range and her lobs combined with stealthy drops made the going a lot tougher for the World number 6.

Botwright started to frustrated Waters whose play became somewhat untidy and allowed the Surrey H & R player to level the score. Waters undeterred, hit back and took a lead and built on it to forge a 2 - 1 lead which meant that the older player was having to play 'catch up'. This was to be the decisive factor. Botwright played some excellent squash using all the available space on the court to test Waters' athleticism to the maximum and after another close and tense game it was into a fifth and deciding set. The fifth saw Waters make a good start and build a lead which she then had to hang onto. Easier said than done and just when it seemed that Botwright was being reeled in, Waters found herself on the end of some tough well constructed rallies, which caused errors and just kept the door slightly ajar.

Botwright fought to the end and was mounting yet another comeback at match ball down when the sheer athleticism of Waters saw her return all Botwright's best shots and then finally played an inch perfect drop shot to clinch the win. It was one of the finest ladies match seen for a very long time in the Premier League and a credit to both players. It was great entertainment for the large crowd as well if not the right result for the home side. 1 - 0 UniSport Guildford.

Phil Rushworth has run into some real form recently and it is backed with confidence. Here he faced Ben Ford, who is vastly experienced and has seen it all on the International tour but had probably not seen Rushworth in quite such good form and with a few tricks up his sleeve as well. Ford has excellent racket skills and that causes his opponents great discomfort with his placements and his easy winners. But Rushworth countered that with his speed and agility around the court, matched with no little skill of his own.

Ford, as all wily old professionals do, started each game well and built a lead for himself to act as a cushion in case he was derailed at the later stages. Rushworth was always playing 'catch up' and that in the end was probably the decisive factor. Each game was tight and with more experience at this level Rushworth will no doubt make an even bigger nuisance of himself than he did here. That is not to underestimate his effort as he was very unlucky not to put at least one game, if not two, on his side of the scoreboard. Match score was now 1 - 1.

Stacey Ross found Davide Bianchetti too hot to handle. The wiry Italian seems to be mainly planted in the middle of the court and merely stretches out his racket carrying tentacle to play his shots, rarely having to leave that court position. Ross had success on the occasions that he persuaded Bianchetti to part with the T, as he was able to control the play better and find more space into which to hit his winners.

But as the match wore on, Ross found that he became increasingly frustrated with his inability to gain control of proceedings chancing his arm with one or two too many extravagant attempted winners - the errors became more regular the longer the match went on. Not noted for his killing shots, Bianchetti soaks up pressure well and counter attacks cleverly, all of which makes him an opponent to be feared. Ross was not a willing victim but found himself powerless to halt the inevitable. This gave the lead back to Surrey H & R Club 2 - 1.

Meads saw an old foe across the other side of the court when Tim Garner stepped in at the eleventh hour as replacement for El Hindi. Garner, bright and breezy, was hitting the ball well and was immediately into his stride. Talk of his squash retirement is ill-founded, I can report that Garner was finding accuracy, and a few handy winners that I have not seen in his game before.

Clearly enjoying the task Garner tore into Meads with a vengeance and ripped the first game off him 11 - 6. Meads is nothing if not a fighter and he was stung into action. Moving better and giving less to hit, Meads levelled 11 - 5. Swings and roundabouts, back came Garner still finding winners and space that Meads could not retrieve and though the match was tightening up it meant that the rallies were becoming more intense but shorter. The pace was remarkable and unrelenting for the two 'youngsters' - the desire was palpable. Garner took a 2 - 1 lead but Meads roared back levelling at 11 - 6 in the fourth to take this thoroughly absorbing match into a fifth set.

It was anybody's guess what was going to happen next but Meads to the relief of the travelling Guildford supporters built the all important lead and managed to hang onto it and give the visitors a 2 - 2 match score and force the match to the deciding tie at number 1 string.

UniSport Guildford on paper were heavily outgunned at number 1 string. Engelbrecht is a lowly 57 in the World against Peter Barker's World number 10. So all the odds pointed to a comfortable Surrey H & R Club win. Engelbrecht has also been struggling for confidence and has not had enough to matches to play his way into real form. Barker has been in excellent form of late, marked by his rise into the World's top 10.

Barker set off like a train with no intention of allowing Engelbrecht any daylight, hitting crisp and deep to the back corners and waiting for Engelbrecht to make errors or challenge him for T position on the court. None of which really happened in the first game, so first blood to Barker. The second followed a similar pattern with Engelbrecht looking tense and ill at ease contrasting with Barker who looked calm and composed. Once again the second game went to Barker and Surrey H & R Club were cruising to their expected victory. However the third game took everybody by surprise as Engelbrecht threw caution to the wind, relaxed and started to let things happen more naturally. He stepped up the court and took the initiative and left Barker somewhat shaken by this sudden transformation. Winners were precise and deadly and Barker, as quick as he is, was unable to do much about it.

The consummate professional that Barker is saw him claw back some of the advantage but for once Engelbrecht held firm and managed to pull a game back with some excellent play. The Guildford player again showed some flashes of quality in the fourth but by now Barker was alert to any potential danger and had roused himself enough to move clear as errors appeared from Engelbrecht's racket as he chanced his arm with some unlikely winners. Surrey H & R Club clinched the win that took them to the top of the table and sees them into the semi finals by the slimmest of margins against a first class challenge mounted by the UniSport players on the night.

UniSport Guildford have one last match to complete the season - the rearranged fixture against Chichester away. It has been a good season for UniSport Guildford with three wins so far, but there is a real danger that without a win against Chichester, UniSport Guildford could be looking at the wooden spoon. At the moment Chichester are at the foot of the table and so the local rivalry has added spice as both clubs vie for the upper hand at the climax of the season. All support gratefully received at the Chichester Club on Tuesday 24th March start time 7pm. See you there.

Ian Robinson
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