The First Bump on the Journey...

It was with a depleted squad that MB Nottingham welcomed an equally under strength Chapel Allerton in the last Premier Squash League fixture before Christmas. As yet unbeaten, a victory would consolidate our position at the top of group A and extend our advantage by some margin. On paper we looked to be in a tough position, however with all the players fired up and a real determination demonstrated by everybody so far this season, a couple of big results weren’t a million miles away.

Oliver Holland lost Chris Hall 8/11, 11/9, 3/11, 2/11

First up for his debut was recent U17 national junior champion Oliver Holland against full time coach and former Sheffield Hallam University student Chris Hall. Both players started cagily, sizing each other up waiting for opportunities to attack. A couple of costly errors from Holland gave Hall the edge who managed to close out the first 11/9. Following a chat from team captain Simon Parke, Holland looked more focussed and relaxed, tightening his game up, minimising options for his opponent and extended a 6/0 lead. Hall managed to close the gap somewhat, but couldn’t quite reel Holland in who took a deserved second 11/8. The third and fourth were one way traffic as a visibly tired Holland couldn’t maintain the intensity and consistency of the second. Sensing weakness Hall closed out the match with steady squash, waiting for the errors he knew would come from a frustrated Holland. Oliver did himself proud in what must have been quite a daunting match, a real star of the future and no doubt a member of our PSL squad for many years to come.

Sarah Kippax lost Jenny Duncalf 6/11, 3/11, 8/11

On the show court Nottingham’s Sarah Kippax had the unenviable task of taking on new world No. 2 Jenny Duncalf, who on the back of three consecutive WISPA tour title’s is in the form of her life. Sarah is never one to throw in the towel and gave as good as she got, sticking in the rallies, moving Jenny around and firing some top quality drops into the front of the court. A string of points for Duncalf snuffed out the first 11/6 who maintained her incredible court coverage and blistering performance into the second quickly wrapping it up 11/3. A change of tack from Kippax in the third paid dividends, slowing the ball to the back, attacking quickly on the volley rattled Duncalf but she still had some in the tank and after keeping level to 8/8 managed to keep her cool and finish off the match 3/0.

Simon Parke beat Steve Siviter 11/6, 2/11, 11/6, 5/11, 11/8

Second on the back court Simon Parke, recovering from a throat infection took on the unrelenting Steve Siviter, known to me as a player that can upset the established order in the squash world. Parke started well, dominating the T extending the rallies and moving Siviter around the court taking the first a comfortable 11/6. The second went all wrong, Siviter seemingly hitting winners from everywhere. Parke chased everything down as expected, but Siviter always had an answer, dictating the pace and volleying short and tight. The third swung back towards Parkey who upped the tempo, reduced Siviter’s time and dictated the pace closing out the game 11/6 and taking a 2/1 lead. The fourth was a repeat of the second, Parkey let his foot off the pace and Siviter seized the opportunity. Parke struggled to maintain the necessary pace, a possible sign of the remnants of infection but all credit to Siviter he placed the ball in all the right places and didn’t give Parke any freebies. So 2/2, the balcony is packed and nervous. A clearly drained Parke used all of his guile and match experience to keep his hopes alive. Trying to dominate the T and force the pace Parke was up against it but knew what he had to do and fought through the clearly obvious pain to pull a lead. An unfortunate and out of character frame into the tin from Siviter was all that was needed to give Parke a hard fought match and 3 points for MB Nottingham.

John Rooney Lost Laurence Delaseux 11/9, 7/11, 8/11, 2/11

We had identified this match as a pivotal to the tie, so it was with some relief that we watched Rooney establish a 10/4 lead in the first. Delaseux was sluggish, he miss hit a couple of balls in the back hand corner which was surely due to his mental state having just flown in from the US. Great, we thought. It was at this point that Delaseux started to play the squash which has seen him rise 100 places in two months and also why he has won the last three events he’s entered. He clawed back with a combination of winners and errors from Rooneybut couldn’t quite catch the Irishman who eventually emerged a relieved victor 11/9. It was all downhill from then on though, Delaseux had clearly blown the cobwebs away and was flowing freely. Rooney battled hard extending the rallies and forcing his opponent to work but he couldn’t get the killer shot or extend any sort of advantage. Delaseux fought to a 2/1 lead 11/7, 11/8 and then blew through the fourth as a clearly demoralised Rooney succumbed to an 11/2 loss and confirmed MB Nottingham’s first defeat of the season.

Renan Lavigne beat Alisatair Walker 12/14, 12/10, 11/2, 8/11, 13/11

So with nothing to play for it was a battle of pride at the No. 1 string, but if there is one player you want in your corner its Renan Lavigne. Unbeaten so far this PSL season and having already won two epic encounters 3-2 in front of the home crowd, everybody hoped for another outrageous display and that is exactly what they got!

The first was played at a frantic pace, Walker moving effortlessly and controlling the T, Renan chasing everything, working so hard to move Walker from teh T and gain the upper hand. Of course it went to a tie break with Lavigne losing out narrowly 12/14, we feared given the amount of work he had done it would be a downward spiral for the next two. No chance. Renan came back still flying, forcing the pace, disrupting Walkers rhythm, looking to volley at every opportunity and force errors. Walker battled but couldn’t deal with Lavignes relentless retrieval, going lower and lower with drop shots that could beat the French man, errors crept in and Walker became frustrated. Lavigne snatched teh third 12/10 then romped to the third 11/2 thanks to error after error from Walker. The fourth was tight, a double bounce wasn’t called at 4/4 which frustrated Walker allowing Lavigne a 6/4 lead before settling into disciplined line and length waiting for the opportunity to attack. This paid off as Lavigne fired up, caught a few errors levelling the match at 2/2.

The fifth was epic. Lavigne focused and patient, opened up a 5/1 lead then 6/2 before a battling Walker came back point by point with ultra disciplined squash to have the first match ball 10/9. After a ridiculous rally with full stretch retrieval from both players, Walker was out of position, Lavigne hit a great length but Walker gave it a full length dive just missing a flying boast and an unsuccessful appeal for a let. 10/10, back and for a tin from Walker levelled the game at 11/11. Lavigne dug in, ground out every shot with stunning determination, one winner ,another and 130 Nottingham supporters on their feet. An incredible result, Lavigne is easily the darling of Nottingham Squash Club at the moment and after a match like that we didn’t really feel like we had lost!!

David Coghlan