EAST LEAGUE 4 TITLE DECIDER

GRANGE 5s v BORDER REIVERS

This match would decide the East of Scotland League 4 Champions.  Grange 5s went into the match top of the table but only ONE point ahead of the Border Reivers.  Both teams fancied their chances and there were plenty of twists and turns in the match.

Games (Reivers Players first)

Del Sharratt 0-3 Rory Gilbride.
Sharratt was off-form in the first rubber and was disappointed not to win any games, another day would see the score reversed but Del was just one pace too slow, or one inch to far for too many shots and Ruaridh enjoyed taking the opener for Grange 5s (6-15, 9-15, 12-15)

Pat Spence 3-2 Alex Yovanivich
This was a Victory clawed from the depths of defeat for Spence in this rubber.  Spence played accurate Sqaus hShots in contrast to Yovanovich who was fast and just ran for everything but was pretty messy with his shots.  Yovanovich broke up Spence’s rhythm fairly effectively in the first couple of games motoring off to a 2-0 lead; but Spence persevered and played some bluff shots which fruatrated Yovanovich and Spence’s great Placement of shots brought it back to 2-2.  Spence was on a roll and Yovanovich was getting frustrated and was his own worst enemy as he lost focus and Spence’s shots got to him and Yovanovich seemed to lose a yard in pace.  Spence completed his comeback to take the Victory and make it 1-1 in rubbers.  Yovanovich didn’t take the Spence comeback very well and stormed off court after. (9-15, 10-15, 15-6, 15-9, 15-9)

Jordan Reid 2-3 Doug Imrie
Reid was disappointed not to take victory in this match, Reid felt he should have takem more from this, but the rhythm in this match was often broken up with the players asking for Lets and Strokes rather than playing the ball and this kept the Referee busy but didn’t make for a particularly flowing game, this one also went the distance and the scored were close, this one could have genuinely gone either way but the pressure of the match played on Reids mind and Imrie kept composure to take the decider 15-13 for 3-2.  (13-15, 15-11, 15-12, 9-15, 12-15)

Robert Koenig 3-2 Adam McKay
This was another match where the Reivers player felt he should have won; McKay was again the more precise player but Koenig seemed to have the engine of a Tank and just didn’t stop running about all match.  McKay lost several points in the first couple of games by trying to kill the ball rather than playing the percentage shots and the ball would go out form McKays racket.  When McKay won the third game 17-15 t ogo 2-1 up, it wa sobvious he was wearying whereas Koenig just didn’t stop tunning.  The next game seen McKay play more shots down the wall rather than trying to win every point and when he got into rallies he would win the points.  But after going 11-9 down in the fourth, McKay’s head went down and Koenig took it with four consecutive serves for 2-2 and to set up the decider.  Although it was better squash in the fifth the fitness of Koenig won out for Grange 5’s and this 3-2 rubber won the Match and the League Title for Grange 5’s. (15-11, 9-15, 17-15, 9-15, 13-15)

Tony Elliot 1-3 Iain Green
The Usual Reliable Elliot found himself up against a formidable opponent in Green;  Elliot was oozing with confidence having just won the Galashiels Squash Club Championships a few days previous.  But Green proved a Step Up from anyone Elliot had faced so far and a valiant effort from Elliot proved to be in vein. (9-15, 17-15, 7-15, 6-15)

Reivers Captain Sharratt was gutted not to have took the League title, “I was determined to get the title, we spent enough years propping the East Leagues up and this would have been awesome.  Second place is a fantastic achievement though; it has been a curtailed season due to COVID and some Clubs struggled to find players so the league was more a ”social” aspect.  But Border Reivers team has had a good vibe this year and the camaraderie was evident throughout which helped the teamwork and no doubt contributed to our success.  We have a Friendly rivalry with Grange and we are Delighted for them and there isn’t any other team we would like to see win the East League more than Grange, we just look forward to our future match-ups together.

The Formal Competitive Season is back in January and we will be back chomping at the bit to be competitive again.