BORDER REIVERS v TYNE 2s

Scores, Border Reivers first.

Iain Laing v Fraser Westgarth
The Opening match of the night, proved to be the most exciting match of the night, with the youth v experience very much being tested.  Iain Laing boasts over 40 years of squash experience and was taking on the 14yo Fraser Westgarth of Tyne.  Westgarth had recently demonstrated his prowess on the court by getting to the Quarter Finals in the Scottish National Under-15s tournament so was used to High Pressure matches.  Laing, who expected a thriller, knew he would have to pace himself if he was to triumph over 5 games, as Westgarth wouldn’t tire very quickly.  Westgarth proved his speed and endurance in the first game by staying in all the rallies and triumphing 15-10; Laing moved up a gear in the second and used his experience to keep his drives tight and play “proper squash” to take the next games 15-5, 15-9.  Westgarth took advice form his coach at the end of the third game and adjusted his court movement and swing to play more decisive shots and kept the ball low so that Laing would have to exert more energy to reach them, Westgarth managed to take the match to a decider by taking the fourth 15-11.  In the decider, true to expectation, Westgarth just didn’t seem to tire; in this one Aing kept the youngster to the back of the court while commanding the T-Line to boss the rallies and take the game 15-5 for a 3-2 victory.  At the conclusion of the match, Reivers Stalwart Laing said “ My body is in bits now, it will take me days to recover from that”.

Richard Hebb 3-0 Gordon Hamilton
Both these players were seasoned East League Players but ironically this was the first time the pair had ever squared off.  This match was pretty much One-Way traffic with Hebb polishing off Tyne 2s Captain Hamilton fairly quickly with a 3-0.  Hebb was just on form on the night and wasn’t missing much at all.
This put the Reivers played 2 won 2

Sam Collin 3-0 Raymond Jeffries
Peebles man, Sam Collin made it two victories in a row after struggling with confidence in the East League and seems to have found his mojo again. Collin playrthe percentage game and some good precise shots seen him motor away with the first two games 15-4, 15-6.  Collin took his foot off the gas in the third, but all credit to Jeffries who added some Deception to his game and wrong footed Collin several times but the guile of Sam Collin Ensured it was a 3-0 victory with 15-11.  This took an unassailable lead in the match for the Borderers.

Jordan Reid 3-1 Freya Kerry
Reid seemed to be getting better by the match in the East Squash Leagues, recently promoted to Second Seed in the Team, Reid continued a 10-game winning streak with aa convincing 3-1 victory over Freya Kerry. This wasn’t a straight forward victory what so ever.  Kerry identified Reid’s backhand as a weakness and exploited this during the match and took the first 15-9.  Reid focussed more on getting to the ball in the right position to nullify any weakness in his backhand and managed to turn the match round reeling off the next three games 15-7, 15-8, 15-9 for a 3-1 victory.

Tony Elliot v Thomas Kallestrup
The Rise of Thomas Kallestrup over the last season has been amazing, starting a couple of seasons back as a squad player to now playing as Top Seed for Tyne 2s.  Hawick’s Tony Elliot was initially surprised by Kallestrup’s skill and shots and lost the first 15-9.  Elliot, who has a reputation for being extremely difficult to beat was able to demonstrate his prowess on the court and brought Kallestrup back down to earth by commanding the rest of the games and taking 15-8, 15-10, 15-9 to make it a clean sweep of victories for the Border Reivers. This leaves Border Reivers top of East League 3 and only 13 points needed in the next match against Abercorn to secure promotion with games to spare.