Gala secure first league win

GALA 11v7 WAVERLEY 4

Ruaridh Kohler 3-0 Brian Scott
Gala Secured the first points of the match fairly quickly, Ruaridh, who wanted to make up for his 16-14 defeat in the deciding game in his last match for Gala, was focussed form the start.  He swept aside Brian Scott, Waverley Seniors Champion, 15-13, 15-8, 15-12.

Del Sharratt 3-0 Stuart Johnston
In the second rubber, Home Advantage was playing a big part for Del as the cold courts meant the ball wasn’t bouncing as much as the Edinburgh Club were used to, this was causing Stuart Johnston to hit the ball harder than normal and took the skill out of the game.  Del capitalised and although it was 3-0 it was a close 15-10, 15-10, 19-17.

Andrew Dowlen-Gilland 0-3 Malcolm Lunn
Normally a good bet for some points – Sir Andrew was out of sorts in this tie; nursing an injured Achilles Tendon doubled up with a cold Sir Andrew found his usual elegant movement was somewhat reduced and although his ‘never say die’ attitude shone through it really wasn’t enough to keep up with Waverleys youthful Malcolm Lunn.  A determined effort from Sir Andrew and the first game was a close run thing but then Sir Andrew started feeling the pain in his Achilles and really just marked time in the remaining games, 16-18, 9-15, 8-15.

Ian Chalmers 3-1 Neil Kempsell
Ian secured the victory for Gala in this tie.  Neill had the same issues as Stuart in a previous tie as he wasn’t used to the cold courts.  Ian just focussed on his own game and wouldn’t give up as he reached every ball and long rallies made this a really entertaining game for the spectators Ian ran away with the first two games 15-8 and 15-11.  At 2-0 down Neill dug deep and started getting used to the bounce of the ball, Ian maybe let his racket drop slightly in the third and Neill took it 15-9.  Ian got his focus back in the fourth and raced to a 4-0 lead, this proved decisive as he won 15-13.

John Sharratt 2-3 Lee Calder
Gala’s John Sharratt rolled the years back as this was his first “league game” in squash for over 20 years.  John, who was one time a regular in the West of Scotland Leagues, answered the call of Gala Captain and his son Del Sharratt as Gala were short of a top seed due to call offs.  The younger Lee Calder ensured the pace was fast from the start as he looked to tire the veteran out and capitalise with swift sharp shots and took the first 15-11.  John kept his shots tight in the second game and every shot seemed to find the corner and his experience showed as he won 15-5.  The third game was a close one, the spectators were cheering and shouting for their favourites and the squash was top drawer with the shots staying tight against the walls and both players showing sleek movement and made the game look easy, John just edged it 16-14.  With very little to separate these players (apart form 30+ years) Lee won the fourth 16-14 in a game which mirrored the third.  Locked at 2-2 and although John battled hard in the fifth, the older legs just didn’t seem to have the same go about them and Lee’s tactic of back-back-front paid off as John just ran out of steam and couldn’t reach the drop shots; a valiant effort took the game to 15-11 for Lee.

Gala Captain Del Sharratt said “Yeeha, our first league win!  great effort by the team, we work and play as a team and we are in this together. Our next match is against Grange 5 and that is a bit of a Grudge match as a “friendly rivalry” has developed through our tussles in the Non-League circuit.  This was a good confidence builder going into our next match and hopefully it’s Upwards from here on for Gala.