Galashiels 6-12 Kirkaldy 2
Brian Magowan 0-3 Steve Creene
Brian had just been drafted into Gala’s team half an hour before the match kicked off due to Ian Gorman having to call off at last minute for an emergency.
Brian was making his league Bow, he had previously represented Gala in pre-season friendlies but this was his first experience of league squash.
It proved to tough a step for Brian and Steve Creene kept his focus and concentration to take it swiftly 15-6, 15-3, 15-4.
Del Sharratt 1-3 Bob Russell
This was a good close tussle. Del led the way from the start in the first game 5-2, 9-5, 12-6; it was exciting squash and Del seemed to have the more accurate shots, Bob was slightly caught out with Del being Left-handed and having to switch his shots to cross court, 15-9 to Del. The second game was similar to the first just reversed, it was Bob that took a lead and similar tight, full length shots made for good rallies, bob took it 15-10. Bob seemed to have momentum and found the corners when it mattered, he went 9-5 up and 13-7 but Del got the serve back and Bob couldn’t deal with Del’s lob serves and Del quickly got it back to 14-14, it was indeed a loose serve from Del that handed the game to Bob 17-15. The fourth game was tight from the outset although Bob seemed to have the edge and control in the rallies, Del stood firm till 9-9 but Bob just wouldn’t stop running and took the fourth 15-11 for the victory.
Pat Spence 1-3 Alex Allan
Two Veterans of the Sport, and both players knew how and where to place the shots, Pat made some out of character unforced errors and didn’t have his usual consistency. It was a close match and closely matched squash styles but the Fife Man took it 15-12, 7-15, 15-13, 15-13.
Adam Niemczewski 1-3 Andy Cant
This match was a cracker, this is the top end of the teams and both players showed there class. The younger and faster Adam made it difficult for Andy as he wouldn’t give up and seemed to return anything Andy would throw at him, several rallies were Andy Cant standing on the T-Line and Adam running from corner to corner. The first two games were shared 8-15, 15-11; during the third game, with Adam 11-4 up, the Gala player felt something twinge in his leg and had to stop for 30 seconds to stretch. But he couldn’t recover and Andy got back into the game and fro 4-11 he won 16-14. The fourth game was more subdued as Niemczewski wasn’t running like in previous games and was noticeably limping, Andy took this 15-7 as Adam just marked time through this.
Tony Elliot 3-0 Mel Crockatt
The Ever reliable Tony Elliot maintained his 100% win rate for Gala with a fairly comprehensive victory over Mel. Although the rallies lasted several shots, Tony seemed to motor awany during each game and string off s run of 6-7 points without reply. Both players boasted the ability to switch from back to front or left to right but Tony never really needed to get out of second gear and took it 15-11, 15-9, 15-6