Double whammy from the Stutches get third team win

Comberton III are working hard to keep in the frame for promotion from the bottom division of the County Adult Leagues this season.

One team we knew we needed to beat was Haverhill II whom we met last night (6th December). It was an away match and a late night so most of our junior strength were ruled out by school work. But Ben Stutchbury gamely came along and sat before his match revising for his school exam the following day. Once on court, playing at second position, it was clear that no revision of squash tactics was required and he played an excellent match against a tough opponent with a long reach. This was in fact the Haverhill number one last season. So it was an excellent win for Ben who fought back impressively in the fifth game.

Ben's dad Neil playing at fourth position had a tough opponent too, and was also pushed to five grueling games. He had to dig deep into his energy reserves and his game was close to unravelling under the pressure: he was up 8:5 in the fifth but then could not exploit a series of match ball opportunities due to tired errors and his opponent fought back to 8:8. Although his final winner was not one of his best shots it was very welcome and justly deserved after his long fight.

Steve Swanton and Martyn Symmons at third and first positions were each able to get a game off their opponents but neither settled into a rhythm.

However all was not lost since Julia Dolman had earlier put in an amazing performance against the tricky Haverhill number five Dave Gerrish. This was a tremendous display of clinging lobs, drops to an inch above the tin, and pinch boasts to die for. After four hard-fought games Julia initially lost ground in the fifth but then turned the game around to fight back to 8:8. Both of them had match balls before Julia clinched this final game and, as it turned out, won Comberton the fixture.

This close match win puts the third team well-placed for a push for promotion in the second half of the league after Christmas. With most of our long journeys to away fixtures already in the bag - we can look forward to fully exploiting the strength of our older junior players on our home courts.