Covers Team Chichester made the trip to Croydon, for Round 3 of the PSL, to play 2008 Champions, Surrey Health and Rackets Club.
On paper it looked an interesting tie and Covers Team Chichester was determined to erase the 0.5 whitewash at the same venue last season.
First on court Dominique Lloyd-Walter, world 22, faced world 18, Carmille Serme, who was making her debut for the Surrey side.
A fascinating match ensued. Lloyd-Walter struggled to find a length in the first game and Serme’s volley drops, particularly on the back hand, won her several points to ensure an 11/8 win. Lloyd-Walter fought back in the second; her length of shot slightly better and, aided by a few mistakes from Serme, she went on to win it 7/11. The 3rd game was nip and tuck all the way. Serme’s front court game was superb whilst Lloyd-Walter hustled to stay in the contention. Lloyd-Walter found herself 8/10 down but she rallied well to force errors from her opponent and eventually won it 10/12. Serme always had a slight upper hand in the 4th and played good squash – floating the ball around the court and going in short well, to take it 11/6.
The 5th followed in the same manner. Serme had, by now, cut out her mistakes. Lloyd-Walter’s ‘plan B’ game of just gritting it out and running everything down began to falter. Her shot length had never been consistent throughout the match and Serme ran out an 11/6 winner to give the Surrey side first blood.
On the adjoining court Chichester’s Tim Vail, playing at 4, took on Adrian Walker. The first 2 games were shared. Vail took an early lead in the 3rd but squandered opportunities and eventually lost it 10/12. “As all good ‘voles’ do, Vail managed to dig himself out of a hole!” His experience and skill proved too much for Walker and Vail took the next 2 games 4/11, 7/11 to kick-start his winning PSL campaign. 1-all
The eagerly awaited next match was between the over 35s, Alex Gough and the squash legend that is Peter Nicol. For those who witnessed the match, it was a joy to watch. Mike Phillips, Team Manager, said after the match, “I was hoping that Alex could pull something out of the bag but Nicol’s general all-round play was awesome.”
The tempo, pace, speed shot-making and accuracy were all on display from the great man. Although Gough competed well in the first game, Nicol got stronger and stronger as the match progressed. Gough suffered a minor hamstring injury in the 3rd but by then the writing was on the wall and Nicol won 11/9, 11/4, 11/1. 2.1 to Surrey
Surrey’s Wael El Hindi, world 13, must be the strongest No. 2 string in the PSL and Chichester’s Robbie Temple, world 65, had a tough task ahead. Although Temple competed well in the first 2 games he found himself 0.2 down. In the 3rd Temple struggled and El Hindi comfortably took it 11/2 to give the Surrey side a winning 3.1 margin.
The last match between the No.1 strings, Mo Azlan Iskandar (world 20) and Surrey’s Peter Barker (world 9) proved to be an exciting battle with Iskandar giving a superb performance and playing one of his best matches. Iskandar, after the match, said,” The 0.3 defeat last season, on the same court in last season’s fixture, was still fresh in my mind and I intended to make amends.” Make amends he did. After a close opening game, which he took 9/11, Azlan took control and displayed the world-class squash which, in recent months, gave him victories over Thierry Lincou (world 8) and David Palmer (world 6). Azlan continued to pile on the pressure and took the next 2 games and match 3/11 and 8/11.
3.2 to Surrey; an excellent evening’s entertainment all round but still no win for Chichester. Surely on November 10th, at home to Guildford and fielding the same squad, fortunes will change. We shall see!
Mike Phillips - Team Manager
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