ESSA Leagues

2009/2010 Fixture #7 : Dunbar -v- Mamma's Pizzeria : 03.12.09

Week 7 of the ESSA League season saw Dunbar play host to the Mamma’s Pizza Team. It might have been a mid table encounter in Division 3, but Mamma’s are Division 1 Champions in the ‘Post Match Grub’ League, and Dunbar has hastily agreed an ‘upgrading’ of the food at Halhill  to avoid embarrassing their visitors!!

Richard Baty -v- John Rae

Hostilities got underway with Richard Baty, fresh from last week’s win, taking on John Rae. John is something of a Squash fanatic, turning out for Mamma’s in the East Leagues, as well as St Aloyisous in the West Leagues. As if that’s not enough, he plays Masters Squash, representing Scotland in the Home Internationals (Over 55 category), and has competed in the World Masters Championships in New Zealand and South Africa in recent years! Richard played very well in this match, dealing very well with John’s ‘lob & drop’ game. The first two went to John, but Richard began to read his opponent much better and his movement allowed him to stay in more rallies as the match wore on. The third deservedly was taken by Richard, but all that ‘front – back – front’ movement was taking its toll on Richard’s legs. John sensed this and started working the ball round the court, displaying a knowledge of angles that would have had Pythagoras himself nodding in approval. The fourth was short and relatively painless, but Richard had put in an excellent performance against an opponent who has previously played much higher up the playing order (an ominous sign for the remaining matches!!)

David Weissgerber -v- Neil (John White in disguise) McAllister

Dave had apparently been living a monastic existence in Lochend Woods, feeding himself on raw meat as he prepared himself for his season’s debut against Neil McAllister. Neil is clearly no fan of the more subtle aspects of the game, trying to hit the ball THROUGH the wall rather than just against it. Dave’s game by contrast showed no sign of the aggression that such a spartan preparation can lead to. Feather drops and delicate boasts were the order of the day. The harder Neil thumped it, the softer the ball came back – classic stuff reminiscent of Connors –v- Ashe at Wimbledon ’75!   This proved a very successful ploy for Dave, who was extremely competitive in the early exchanges. Neil’s response was to simply hit the ball even harder! One burst ball later (and another ‘lost’ in the rafters – thanks Mr. Treasurer!!) and Neil had eventually managed to subdue Dunbar ’s gallant No.4. An excellent match played by two players who came off smiling – thinking of the post match food already maybe?

Graeme Jones -v- Roger Moore

Roger has never lost to a Dunbar player, not even lost a single game in fact, having beaten Dave Legge and Alistair Nichol 3-0 in previous matches.  Graeme however is Dunbar ’s ‘Mr. Heineken’ of squash – reaching parts other players cannot reach, and time and again picked up shots Roger thought were winners. Although Roger was dictating many rallies, Graeme’s growling tenacity was proving a handful, and he deservedly took the first in the tie-break 10-8. Roger soon realized he had a battle on his hands here, and his error count reduced markedly, leading to even longer rallies, even more running from Graeme, and the longest two 9-1, 9-1 games I think I’ve ever seen. Graeme of course boasts an ‘engine’ that in a few short week’s has become the talk of the ESSA leagues, his lung bursting exploits being talked of in hushed tones around the locker rooms from Hatton to Dalgety Bay. Unbelievably however there were now the first signs of perspiration emerging from even his his tee-shirt, and although he fought gamely in the 4^th, a 9-7 scoreline meant another win for Mamma’s. The match was now beyond Dunbar , and so the remaining two rubbers would be an exercise in damage limitation……...

Alistair Nichol -v- Scott Carey

Those lucky few souls who saw this match are unlikely to forget it in a hurry. Scott is a good player who has taken a few quality scalps over the years, and he seemed to be the favourite to win after taking the 1^st game 10-8 from Alistair, who to me, couldn’t have played any better. I was wrong!  The next three games were incredible, with Alistair, who has previously had a ‘Plan A’ and little else (OK – nothing else…….) displayed an array of shots that would have impressed an Egyptian. After 40 minutes of bewildering squash mastery from Berwick’s finest, we were into a fifth, and Al proceeded to go up yet another gear, demolishing Scott 9-0 for a famous victory. The crowd could not really believe the drops, corkscrew lobs, reverse angles etc that came from Alistair’s racket. At 46 years of age, maybe he’s had an epiphany of sorts, but don’t expect a sensible answer if you ask him……

David Legge -v- John Everett

Having had to play Jamie Jacobsen the last time these two teams met, John was clearly relieved to be playing me this time! John is one of those players we all wish we could be. Nothing fancy, just seeming to hit the right shot ALL the time, and making as few mistakes as possible. He made a few errors at the front over the course of the match, but not enough to allow me more than a glimmer of hope. Without a ‘killer’ shot, I was relying on forcing errors from John which proved tricky (and VERY tiring!) I was quite happy with my performance overall, and at 2-0 down I came back well in the 3^rd, taking it to a tie-break, but three clean winners from John very quickly put paid to my carefully laid come-back plans, and it was all over.

So a 17-7 loss for Dunbar , and we all retired to the bar to enjoy the Lasagne – a big improvement on previous fare! The next two matches up till the Christmas break will give a good indication whether we might be flirting with demotion. Let’s hope flirting is as far as it goes, otherwise we could find ourselves in a predicament Tiger Woods might recognize!

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