Waverley 4 13-8 Galashiels
Andrew Dowlen-Gilland 3-0 John Allan
John Allan was a last minute call up for Waverley, as the city side had to change their team several times due to injuries, this meant he was coming in cold and not mentally attuned to the task. Gala’s Sir Andrew proved to be too strong having been better prepared and maintained focus throughout in a pretty convincing 15-8, 15-7, 15-5.
Del Sharratt 0-3 Stuart Johnston
In the previous leg of this tie in Gala, Sharratt had triumphed 3-0 in the cold courts. But home advantage does have a huge factor to play as the “near sauna like conditions (Sharratt)” totally changed the bounce of the ball and the outlook of the whole match. Stuart dominated from the ‘T’ and had Del running about from corner to corner. This was another convincing win for the City side, 15-9, 15-8, 15-0.
John Sharrat 3-1 Chris Jeffrey
This was John Sharratt’s first away tie this season and he was pitted against the Central Masters over 70s champion Jeffrey. John, a couple of years junior to Chris, hadn’t played squash for a couple of months and very nearly pulled out after losing the first, but he seemed to find a second wind and ran on adrenalin to take the tie. It was some amazing squash from the Veterans with over 100 years of experience between them both players were reading every shot well. What they may have lacked in fitness they made up for in shot placement and know-how. John Sharratt, who has had experience in the West of Scotland leagues many years previous said “It was good to get involved with the team again, I don’t remember the West leagues being as competitive or as enjoyable as tonight was. Hopefully I can get fitter and possibly get some more caps in the future”. John took a tight one 15-12, 11-15, 15-12, 15-8.
Ian Chalmers 0-3 Malcolm Lunn
These guys were not only the youngest and the fittest players in the respective teams but both players were head and shoulders above the rest. Plenty of long tight rallies and trickery and drop shots made for a thoroughly enjoyable match up. Waverleys Lunn proved better on the night and deserved his 15-12, 15-10, 15-4 victory.
Pat Spence 2-3 Gary Loake
With the match tied at 2-2 in rubbers and 7-6 in games, Pat and Gary felt the pressure as the victor in this match ensured victory for the respective team. It was a very ding-dong affair; as soon as one player pulled away and took one game, his opponent would take the next. With the audience cheering on both players this tie also went to 2-2 so the deciding game effectively decided the whole match. After lots of tooing and froing and a couple of deft serves Gary took it 15-5, 5-15, 15-10, 4-15, 15-5
Gala Captain Sharratt said afterwards “Can’t get much closer than that, I’m slightly disappointed in the result as we beat them in Gala but thoroughly enjoyed the occasion and the squash was top quality. Next week we have our Rivals Grange Squash Club at Gala so we will be looking to pinch victory form them.”