2019 Crown Services Quadrangular Squash

In September 2019 the CSSC men’s and women’s representative team played the annual Crown Services Quadrangular squash tournament against the Police Force, Fire Service and UK Armed Services. 

Ladies Team Results

This year, the Ladies team consisted of 5 players: 

• Rebecca Campbell
• Helen Midgley
• Keeley Grindle
• Ruth Sleigh
• Sian Hughes

Our first game was against the UK Armed Forces who in past years have been really close games. This year was no different.

Keeley and Helen got the games underway. Unfortunately, both matches resulted in a 1/3 loss but again both games could have gone either way. Becky and Ruth were up next – unfortunately again both resulted in a loss. Becky lost 1/3 and Ruth lost 0/3. The score does not reflect the quality of the matches. Both great games ladies. Last but not least was Sian. Sian played amazing really getting “stuck in” and managed to pull off the first win for the Ladies CSSC team. 3/2 Well done Sian a great game to watch. Final result CSSC 6 UKAF 19

Fresh as daisies the Ladies team were ready for their Saturday morning match against the Police – The social side was not after all compromised. Unfortunately, the Police only had 4 players so Sian managed a 100% win in the tournament

Again Keeley started. She managed to start the team off with a 3/0 win, no hangover present! Followed then Helen. Helen battled away with a long-time nemesis Chrissie. Chrissie was just too strong (and sober) for Helen. Result was 0/3. Becky played next and was up against the Welsh number 2 (no pressure Bex!) The result was as envisaged nether the less Becky played really well and tried her heart out.  Next up was Ruth. As in previous years it always seems that our last matches are 2 all with everything to play for. Ruth didn’t disappoint with all the team behind her. Ruth managed to keep us all on the edge of our seats at 2 all. The last game was so hard fought but unfortunately just missing out on the game 13/15. Really well played by Ruth.Final result Police 14 CSSC 8

Final Results in the Ladies Competition: 

Men's Team Results

Once again the individual standard on show at this event was exceptionally high. The Civil Service team went into the event with two injuries hampering the usual squad, regular number one James Hodson and stalwart Ethan Thornton both out  of selection this year. This did mean we were very pleased to welcome a new member, Sam Levin, to come in at number one and make use some of the more experienced squad members could play lower down the order.

This year the Civil Service had put together a strong consisting of:

• Sam Levin
• Tim Burrell
• Tom Metcalf
• James Whelan
• Mark Aldridge
• Adam Lavis

Civil Service vs Police:The Police Service are always a tough fixture and this year was no different. With good wins for Marc and James, both 3-1, and a couple of tough losses for Tom and Sam – who both fought very hard with little reward – the match was finely poised 2-2 with the last match to go on court. Tim won the first game but couldn’t quite get over line despite game balls in the 3^rd and 4^th games before losing 3-1; and with it the Civil Service lost 3-2.

Civil Service vs Fire Service:Adam Lavis came into the team for this match and played well to win 3-1. A fantastic 3-2 win from Sam at number 1 coupled with unfortunate losses for James and Tom again left the match at 2-2 with Tim last on court. Once again Tim found the match hard-going and despite a good performance which produced game-balls in the 2^nd and 3^rd games he went down 3-0. The score-line does not reflect how close the match was as again the Civil Service lost a close match 3-2.

Civil Service vs UKAS: Another very close match. Again, Adam played well to get a 3-0 win while Tom managed to notch his first win of the weekend. Losses for Sam and Marc meant for the 3^rd time in the weekend it was 2-2 in matches with Tim last on court. This time however he was able to get the win. With this the Civil Service won this match 3-2 and secured 3^rd place in the overall standings.

This year's men's event involved some very talented players, including ex-world ranked players Joe Green (Police, ex no. 105) and Sam Miller (UKAS, ex no. 70). In the face of such tough opposition the team still managed to improve on last years performance by coming 3^rd overall. All the matches were close with just 4 points separating the teams in 2^nd to 4^th. The Police Force won the event having only just beating the Civil Service team 3-2. 

Match scores and overall positions:

1. Police Force (50)

2. Fire Service (30)

3. Civil Service (29)

4. UKAS (27)