Grange 5 12-5 Gala
Andy Waddell 2-3 Andrew Light
Veteran Waddell, who was a last minute call up due to injury, gave a good account of himself in this. Indeed he dominated for most of the first games and took a 2-0 lead with 15-13, 15-13 but early in the third game Waddell felt a twinge in his troublesome ham-string and this hindered his speed and movement and the younger Grange player took full advantage and rattled off the remaining games 15-6, 15-5, 15-10.
Iain Gorman 0-3 Alex Whitters
Iain Gorman just came against a superior squash player in this tie, Alex was relentless in his play and made it seem pretty straight forward with 15-8, 15-1, 15-7. Iain couldn’t be faulted for effort but fitness was in Whitters favour and this was over relatively quickly.
Amir Hosny 3-0 Josh Stokes
Gala won this one with debutant Hosny, who had featured for Glasgow University the previous night. This was full of long rallies but Hosny’s accuracy with his full length shots proved key as Stokes just couldn’t flick the ball out the back corners, the match was closer than the scoreline suggests. 15-11, 15-9, 15-5
Del Sharratt 0-3 Jonathan Hughes
Hughes, who is relatively new to the League scene proved too good for Del as he clinched the match for Grange 5 in this tie. Both players were pretty evenly matched, but home advantage Does make a difference as Hughes seemed to anticipate every bounce of the ball. Del was 14-13 up in the first game and serving for the match, but a loose drop shot let Hughtes back in and he took the first 18-16. The second game was just as intense, Hughes seemed to have mastered the knack of sending Del to the back corner then dropping to the front as this sequence scored Jonathan several points and he took it 15-10. In the third game, Del tired mentally and his focus and concentration lapsed but it went close again 15-11 to Jonathan for 3-0.
John Sharratt 0-3 Robert Koenig
Grange new boy Koenig was head and shoulders above everyone else in the teams; he just didn’t miss anything. Even when he was going the wrong way and the ball was at speed he seemed to be able to correct his footwork and get the shots back, John Sharratt who is a seasoned Veteran of the game and had the know-how even applauded some of Koenigs play as he wouldn’t miss a thing. Even when Sharratt was standing on the T-Line and sending the Grange boy from corner to corner it wasn’t enough and Koenig put on a great display of squash and took this 15-7, 15-12, 15-10.
Gala Captain Del said “I always enjoy playing at The grange, they have two Glass Back courts and it’s an amazing set-up. This as almost my entire reserve team as all my regulars were injured or on holiday, so the score line was pretty respectable considering. I would normally play at seed 4 or 5 but I was in at 2 today. My top players should beback for next weeks trip to Heriot Watt so hopefully we can steal a victory there.”