First team match report
Dragons - March 2006
Overall
Another very convincing win 4-1 for the Coolhurst boys. Now lying only 3 points behind BA with a game two games to play. A victory at Acton on Thursday will set up a 'battle royal' with BA for 1st place. Who needs the World Cup or Champions League.
Andrew Murphy
Result: Lost 0-3
Plus's: None
Minus's: Squash, fitness.
Verdict: Murphy's opponent is noted as being a runner but not exceptionally great at squash. Murphy is also noted as being a bit of a runner and on this performance pants at squash. Am afraid the outcome was never in doubt, Murphy went down very easily.
Rating:
1/5
Ali McGill
Result: Won 3-0
Plus's: Concentration, backhand nick
Minus's: None
Verdict: Little to report on this match as it was all over in 15 mins. After the early rallies where the players exchanged a series of shots it quickly became apparent that this was McGill match. After winning the 1st game he dispatched his opponent 9-0, 9-0 in the next two. His opponent stomped off court and wasn't seen again for the evening. The match was only marred by a McGill doing a minute of court sprints after the game thus rightfully earning 'What a ponce' remarks from his team-mates.
Rating:
2/5 (point deducted for court sprint display)
Nick Buckley
Result: Won 3-0
Plus's: Movement, pickups, lobs
Minus's: None
Verdict: Made easy work of his opponent and this match looked more like a training season with Buckley moving his opponent around with ease with the minimum of effort.
Rating:
3/5
Richard Gourlay
Result: Won 3-0
Plus's: Has won 6 matches on the bounce, kit seems to be moving into the 21st century at last.
Minus's: Court movement, struggled against another fat bloke, blew an amusing 6 match balls in the 3rd.
Verdict: Got sucked right into the fat Dragon's game in the first looking fairly static on a very hot court, made very hard work of a quickly tiring opponent taking the first 10-8, his opponent was evidently jaded and went down quickly in the second and half of the 3rd with Buckley commenting that the Coolhurst man has a habit of either playing really well or really sh*t. Gourlay then let the pants side take over and struggled to put his destitute opponent to the sword and set up a very exciting and amusing finale for the watching Dragons men (and an exasperated skipper).
Rating:
2.5/5 (lost point for needless disruption of pre-match harmony by endless fixation with statistics).
Damian Smith
Result: Won 3-0
Plus's: Moving the ball around well, nice boasts, concentration.
Minus's: Gave away loads of strokes, has got more chance of becoming a professional at tiddlywinks than of hitting a nick.
Verdict: Blew his wily opponent away in the first with a powerful display of hacking, Dan is no mug however and clawed his way back into the match. All credit to the Coolhurst man for maintaining concentration and working his opponent well to graft out in the end a comfortable victory. Seems to be well and truely over the slump in form that plagued the middle of the season. One couldn't help feeling that the match would have been over a lot quicker if the big man had a few more killer shots (or at least went for a couple).
Rating:3/5