Seven teams of three men and two ladies recently attended this year’s CSSC Team Squash Event held in Nottingham on the 5th and 6th February. Last year’s winners Defence (DSRA) arrived having doubled up to two strong teams and not to be out-done so did the HASSRA representatives. Hoping to spoil all the fun for both of these outfits were teams from Revenue and Customs (RCSL), Land Registry and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
The top half of the draw saw three teams competing for two Semi-Final places in a Round Robin format with the Plate Event awaiting the third place team! Defending Champions Defence A got the ball rolling with a 5-0 win over Land Registry - although both Paul and Marian took a game off their opponents before capitulating! Land Registry then faced Revenue and Customs in a match Land Registry had to win. Again Land Registry’s captain, Paul, rose to the occasion levelling his match at two games each before losing a tight fifth game 9-6 to Revenue’s Glenn. The remaining matches all went Revenue and Customs way. The final match between Defence A and RCSL would now decide their respective paths into the Semi-Final stage. Revenue’s Hilary set their side one up by defeating Defence’s Lorna 3-1 and although Pat replicated this success for the RCSL team their men really struggled against a very strong Defence line-up all losing by 3-0. Defence A and Revenue however would both progress into the Main Event and Land Registry would contest the Plate.
The lower half of the Draw was a more formal knock-out format. Interestingly Defence’s B team were drawn against HASSRA’s B team in the first tie. HASSRA B Ladies both got their team off to a fine start and only now needed one of their Men to win to progress to the semi-finals. This was not to happen, however, as the Defence B team had unearthed a new number one star in the form of Michael whilst Defence’s B team Captain John was also displaying some impressive form. Defence B’s Tom at the number three string did not let his other team members down and etched a 3-0 victory himself to confirm their path into the Semi-Final. The other tie in the Draw was between HASSRA A and DEFRA. This proved to be a close encounter with both HASSRA A Ladies in impressive form whilst DEFRA Men Andrew and Glen at strings one and two had the same effect for their team, winning their matches against Marc and Kevin. The tie was decided when HASSRA’s number three Chris defeated DEFRA’s Captain Kim to take them through.
The first Semi-Final would see the A and B Defence teams face each other! The Ladies points were eventually shared with A Team’s Lisa defeating Kate whilst the B Team’s Laura produced a really fine win over Lorna 3-1. The number three string match between Tom, for the B Team, and John was never in doubt with Ashton’s pace and control too much for his opponent to handle. All was looking well for the Defence A Team until their number one player Marc went on Court against ‘new kid on the block’ Michael. The game produced some really fine Squash but the experience and talent of Aldridge was not enough to overcome his young impressive opponent. The Match now boiled down to the number two string match with the Defence A Team’s Captain Merv taking on the veteran Champion John. The first two games went comfortably to Davies 9-3, 9-1 and Defence A’s place in the Final looked a certainty! John however, had other ideas and somehow managed to roll back the years and pinch the third game 10-9 to keep the Match alive. John, along with some heavy breathing came back on court in the fourth and somehow discovered his range and shot-play - this confidence pushed his boundaries to the limit and the match was levelled at two games all. The fifth game would decide it – the younger Davies would surely win? John was to prove immovable - playing at his impressive best he took the final game 9-4 to put the Defence B team into the Final.
The other Semi-Final saw HASSRA A take on Revenue and Customs. The HASSRA Ladies, Jackie and Keeley, both overcame the spirited opposition from Revenue’s Pat and Hilary and with the Match at 2-0 to HASSRA, Revenue’s veteran Irish International Geoff had to win to keep their hopes alive. HASSRA’s Marc, however, had different ideas and took the tie 3-0 to put his Team into the Final. The Revenue rout was completed when HASSRA’s Kevin and Chris both registered fine wins over Glen and Andy.
The Final was perhaps a not unexpected HASSRA versus Defence line up – however, the surprise was it was Defence’s B team who had survived! The early part of the tie produced yet another close encounter when the experience and skill of the two HASSRA Ladies Jackie and Keeley overcame the up and coming raw talent of the Defence Ladies Kate and Laura. This early success however was countered when Defence’s Michael and John showed no mercy in dispatching the spirited opposition of HASSRA’s Marc and Kevin. The Final would be decided by the number three string players. Defence’s Tom took an early lead in the first game reaching 4-1 and looking the more likely player. HASSRA’s Chris, however, took stock and clawed his way back eventually taking the first game 9-5. Again in the second game Tom took an early lead 3-0 but again was unable to keep his advantage - eventually loosing 9-6. Beldon in the third game took no more chances, dominating from the start and ran through a comfortable 9-1 winner to secure HASSRA’s first Team Title since 1999 ! Well done HASSRA!
The Plate final was keenly contested between HASSRA B and DEFRA. Once again HASSRA’s ladies proved unbeatable putting their Team 2 ties up, giving rise to their hope of winning both Main and Plate competitions! The strength of DEFRA’s top 3 players however was to be a step too far for them and only HASSRA’s number two Kevin managed to take a game off the victorious DEFRA Squad!
Prizes were presented by Civil Service Squash Rackets Association President Marian Holmes. Thanks were extended to all the participating players and to Nottingham Squash Rackets Club for the use of their fine facilities!
The next Squash Event will be the Squash Masters and Racketball Tournament in Nottingham on 24th / 25th April 2015 – further details can be found on our website: http://www.cssc-squash.co.uk
