On Thursday 4th Dec, Gala Squash Club made the journey up to Collinton Castle Squash club in Edinburgh, to participate in the inaugural event of the East of Scotland Squash Conference. Along with the hosts, they were joined by Grange squash Club in a 3-way event. The matches were point-a-rally scoring to 11 and best of 3 games. Things didn’t start great for Gala when Rachel McAleese lost the first rubber 2-0 to Laura Smith of Collinton Castle and Derek Sharratt lost 2-1 to Struan Fairbairn of Grange. John Sharratt turned it round for Gala with a close fought 2-0 (11-7, 11-7) victory over Gordon Robertson (Collinton) in what was a battle of the veterans.
Collinton Castle made home advantage count overall as they ended the event with 24 points, Gala 17 and Grange 13. Gala squash club spokesman Del Sharratt said “Gala Squash Club are pleased to have been involved in this, and look forward to hosting an event in the near future.”
Organiser Christy La Soigneur said “It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm and participation of everyone in this event and with other clubs like Watsonians wanting to get involved this could be exciting times for East of Scotland Squash”.
Man of the match(joint): John Sharratt (Gala – pictured) and Mark Crease (Collinton)
Gala Squash Club results from the night: Rachel McAleese 0-2 Gordon Cowie (Grange), John Sharratt 2-0 Dean Turner (Grange), Del Sharratt 0-2 Gordon Robertson (Collinton), Del Sharratt 2-1 Gregor Brown (Co), John Sharratt 2-0 Struan Fairbairn (Gr), Rachel McAleese 0-2 Laura Smith (Co), Del Sharratt 1-2 Struan Fairbairn, John Sharratt 2-0 Gordon Robertson, Rachel McAleese 2-1 Sam Brown (Co).