Tuesday's match with Royston was our last home game of the season and was our last chance to get a run of 2 wins in a row.
With John dropping out due to work commitments, Jake came in to the team so on paper we looked reasonably strong.
Unfortunately we returned to our poor form of most of the second half of the season and went down 1-4.
Up first was Jeremy at string 5 – currently the only man in form and looking for a third successive win. His opponent, Den – looking like a relic from the swinging Sixties – went off like a train in the first and Jeremy looked like he had hit the buffers. However, with a bit more steam up he pulled it back only to slip off the tracks at the last for a 10-15 loss. The second saw Den roll off smoothly but the Jeremy express finally hit top gear and left Den on the local line for a 15-11 win. The third saw the a neck-and-neck race all the way through with Den just sneaking ahead all through until, after saving 5 game balls Jeremy sneaked through 21-19. An early blip in the 4th saw Jeremy stuck in the sheds but a quick oiling saw him fly back and after a bit more nip-and-tuck he steamed to a 16-14 win and a 3-1 match win.
On the other court at string 4 was Bob up against Tony (H). I saw none of the game but the score sheet tells the tale of Bob failing to power up and Tony sliding smoothly to a comfortable win. Bob went down 7-15 11-15 9-15 for a 0-3 loss.
Up next was James at string 3 against Tony (P). Again, I saw very little of the game but it looked like James was countering Tony's lob-and-drop game in the first, moving out to a 15-12 win. Unfortunately an ailing James couldn't keep the pace up in the 2nd against an opponent who had long experience of team squash (that's another way of saying he was old) and went down 7-15. Always trailing in the 3rd, a late rally couldn't save James and he went down 10-15. The 4th saw some hope but James's stomach problems slowed him down and he went down for a 10-15 loss and a 1-3 match loss.
On the other court was the skipper looking to get over a damaged calf muscle with trusses holding him together against yet another Ian who looked young and fit and raring to go. The skipper's lack of match fitness saw him rolling along in the slow lane in the first with his opponent making less errors and an 11-15 loss ensued. A clearly knackered skipper tried to keep the pressure up in the 2nd but once again a burst from his opponent at the end saw a 10-15 loss. The 3rd went just the same way – scores staying level until about 10-10 and the skipper just blowing too much at the end for an 11-15 loss and a 0-3 match loss.
Up last was Jake fresh from a 24-hour something-a-thon at college. Having only just woken up, Jake looked as though he was still asleep and was 0-8 down before his opponent – crafty old Roger – let a point slip. This galvanised Jake and a great rally at the end saw him pull back from 7-14 to nearly take the game but one final error saw him go down 13-15. The second saw Jake showing all his skills but also several tired shots and despite keeping level most of the way through went down 11-15. The third saw Jake finally take control playing some great length and judicious use of the boast and, despite a late burst from Roger, Jake took it 15-13. The fourth saw Jake again showing a great array of shots but Roger's late burst in this game was just enough and Jake went down 13-15 for a 1-3 loss.
Another 1-4 defeat gave us a match score of 5-18 and cemented us in the 8th place that we have held most of the season.
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