It’s not the end of the world…. Yet

David Coghlan on Oxford v Nottingham ...

MB Nottingham made the journey south on Tuesday to face a supremely strong Oxford side. With the late withdrawal of Simon Parke due to illness, a tough job didn’t get easier as we drew on our larger squad, pulling in talented young Nottingham star Eddie Charlton at four.

Emma Beddoes was always going to have a tough night against recent World open semi finalist Madeline Perry, however Emma is more than capable of punching above her weight so I had a hope we may be able to pick up a point or two here. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Perry showed the same form she’d displayed the week before in Manchester to dominate Beddoes taking the match fairly comfortably, 11/3 12/10 11/3 not before adding insult to injury, or should that be injury to insult as Madeline clonked Emma soundly on the forehead in the second.

On the court next door a pumped up Charlton was looking to upset the formbook and make it two weeks of PSL misery for Scott Handley after his defeat at Pontefract. Again MB Nottingham were denied as Handley managed to contain the youngster, a case Nottingham are familiar with over the last couple of seasons of being close but getting no reward. The PAR scoring leaves no margin for error, the 3-0 score line not giving Charlton the credit he deserves for pushing Handley all the way, 11/9 11/9 11/8

Irish international Arthur Gaskin found himself pushed up the order to 3 against Chris Ryder a player enjoying some excellent form recently. The result was never really in doubt even though Gaskin made Ryder work for every point and kept scoring level at the early stages of each game. The match was wrapped up and Oxford already had the tie in the bag 11/6, 11/6, 11/2

So playing for pride and with MB Nottingham still without a single point on the board it was Renan Lavigne taking on former teammate Borja Golan in the two-string match. Things didn’t start well. Lavigne didn’t seem to be firing on all cylinders at first as Golan reached game ball 10/7 in the first forcing Lavigne to dig in and minimise his errors. This late surge hauled Lavigne level at 10/10 before Golan closed out the game 12/10. Exactly the same story in the second, Golan reached game ball but again this seemed to focus Lavigne who again closed the gap before Golan again closed out the second 12/10. Nightmare. So close and still no points for MB Nottingham.

Ong Beng Hee had a chat with Lavigne between games and whatever he said worked a treat. Lavigne stood up the court in the third, soaked up pressure from Golan’s wickedly effective attacking boast and kept the Spaniard moving to win the quick third game 11/3. Bengy had another whisper in Lavigne’s ear and the fourth went the same way as Golan looked to be struggling slightly with his movement levelling the match 11/6. So with two points on the board and the momentum now with Lavigne I was confident for the fifth. Both players gave it their all, even for a dead rubber you could see that neither player wanted to lose as they both chased down absolutely everything. Level at 8/8 Lavigne missed an easy backhand drop that Golan hadn’t even moved for, handing the Spaniard a slight advantage but having a greater negative effect on Lavigne. The remaining rallies were tight but a no let descision at 10/8 gave Golan the match, much to the disgust of the French man who made his feelings known to the officials with typical Gallic flair.

The match between World No. 10 Ong Beng Hee and Cameron Pilley was my one confident tip for an MB Nottingham victory and hugely important to prevent Oxford getting full the 20 points available. How wrong I was. Pilley looked stronger than I’ve ever seen him before and was simply relentless for the entire 99 minutes of the match. Bengy sneaked the first 13/11 after weathering a strong fight back from the Australian before Pilley came right back to take the next two games 11/9 11/7. Oxford now had 19 points on the board and I was willing Bengy on, to try and stop the whitewash that was now looming large. Bengy crept over the line in the fourth 11/9 but it was clear who looked the stronger in the fifth as Bengy tried hard to keep the pace high and keep the tall Australian twisting and turning. The fifth was a see saw as both players battled tooth and nail for victory, any late arrivals would never have known this was a dead rubber, a testament to the players and also the importance they place on PSL matches. At 13/12 to Pilley it was the Malaysian who felt aggrieved by the officials as a stroke call handed Pilley a hard fought but well deserved win to give Oxford an incredible 20 points.

Before we set off for Oxford I was prepared for a defeat. Having chatted to Jason the week before he was almost apologetic that he was able to field such a strong team, (Yeh right) however the nature of the loss was mildly annoying even to me. In reality even if Bengy and Renan had won we would have only got 6 points as opposed to 4 so it really isn’t that bad. Honestly. We are already setting our sights towards 4th November and a fantastic home tie against local rivals Duffield.

Its already clear just two games into the season that the PSL is at its most competitive this year. I honestly can’t decide who will make the play offs come March, however if we miss out by two points no doubt everyone will have great fun reminding me about this result…

David Coghlan