MO45 Captain's Report
Good evening everybody
I would like to make a couple of comments about my team mates
Peter Lonsdale - What can I say , why use 5 words when 5000 will do - when it came to room allocations he got the ????? as we figured he even talked non stop in his sleep.
Peter was allocated entertainments organiser - done nothing yet - keeps talking about a club, Lava Ignite, so there's time yet...
Chris Wilson, army helicopter pilot, always perfectly coiffed, moisturised and manicured - a great addition to the team, especially when he brings Ally, his partner, along.
Team liked the white shorts this afternoon Ally. Chris is going to Afghanistan in July for 6 months so good luck on your tour - I dont know how he will get through the airport with his litres of personal cosmetics.
I performed my act of bravery today in rescuing a screeching and distraugt Adrian Wright who had locked himself in the men's loo. I nearly got a conduct warning for time wasting getting back on court.
It's been an ok season for me, a few big wins, a few bad losses. Mr Gunter says, at this point, I should say my biggest win was getting a beer out of Thommo, but sadly I cannot say that.!
Although we had a good battle today. which I didnt enjoy at all as I chased the 150th lob. So thanks Alan I've recently taken a job at RBS. Having beaten Scotland, fired on Monday.
Murray Scott, a quip for every occasion - even M was lost for words when he got a conduct warning for time wasting when he dropped the ball serving a t 8-5 match ball up in the 5th today.
Again almost no replies this year from emails/texts to team-mates, but when I allocated kitty duty to Murray due to his Yorkshire origins, his witty riposte was "well we would'nt want to let a banker loose with the kitty would we".
I thought all the ladies were playing some great squash and had much better kit than us, but nicest top goes to Lynne Davies as well as today's comeback of the day winning 10/8 in the 5th from 8/4 down. Well done Lynne.
Andy Eilfield - going to transfer him to the Irish team due to his high testrogen and being follically challenged, but they wont have him due to his lack of etiquette and grace on Friday like most of their team.
Peter Gunter - All seen his graceful courtcraft, not like that off court. Managed to lick my feet on each of his journeys to the loo last night.
Thank you on behalf of the the players to organisers, referees, ESC and staff, Holiday Inn and the other players for making it such an enjoyable event and esspecially to Scottish Squash for organising and hosting the event.
The webmaster accepts no responsibility for inaccuracies in this transcript from EP's scribbled notes
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MO65 Captain's Report
The final Home International took place in Edinburgh amidst some glorious spring sunshine, though we did not get much chance to enjoy it.
All in all the w/e went well, though not without some problems.
On arriving at the very pleasant Holiday Inn at around 1400 hrs we were greeted by part of the Irish O65 contingent who informed us that there was no way they would be playing before 1700 hrs, rather than the scheduled time of 1500.
Some of the Irish men's team were not due to arrive until 1600 or after.
It later transpired that one of the Iriish ladies was booked on a 1700 flight from Ireland. When she had not arrived at the club by 1900 she was disqualified by the organiser, which I understand did not go down well.
In the end yours truly did not get on court until after 1900 hrs.
The bar prices at the hotel were astronomical. For us poor pensioners, £4 for a pint of Guiness come on Holiday Inn. The wine list on the Saturday was also expensive, would not have minded had it had been as good as we had the previous weekend in Nottingham for £2 less.
It turned out to be another sucessful weekend for England in the end, only the Women's over 55's losing out again to the very strong Scottish side that included Faith Sinclair and Pauline Douglas
And so onto the squash
Having lost Chris Ansell, our potential No.1 mid week with severe abdominal pains, I was not too worried as we had a squad of 7, due to the fact that Dave Hardern and Tony Cliford finished the season on level points and I felt it unfair to seperate them.
Being an eternal pessismist I did not share the view though of some, that it was going to be an easy ride.
And so it proved. Dave Hardern won my private toss as to who should be 5 or 6 and be the one to play on the Friday evening. It was not to be Dave's day however, as he went down to the seasoned Irishman Noel Murphy 3-2, giving up a 2-1 lead.
Mike Clemson restored the status quo, but not before giving up the second game, winning 3-1.
Rod Boswell at 1, playing Tom Cantwell managed to lose a 2-0 lead but had a 9-5 to win the 5th following a sp0irited fight back from Tom.
Graham Fisher, having been worried about a knee injury, came through 3-0 to take the pressure off a relieved captain who disposed of last year's opponent, though not quite so easily as last, 3-0 to seal a 4-1 victory.
Wales in the mean time could only to manage to win at 1 & 2 against Scotland.
Saturday morning v Wales - Knowing Wales to be somewhat weakened, but not until later was it realised that 2 of them were crocked, led to the decision to play 5 & 6 believing Scotland might be the greatest challenge.
Tony Clifford, after a shaky start accounted for Gary Williams, struggling with a leg injury and Mike Clemson, Eric Robinson, obviously worried with a back injury. It might be a different occasion when he is fit though. Eric looks capable of handling himself.
So to what I thought might be a battle - Boswell v Trenchard. So it was. Boswell coming back from 2-1 down to narrowly squeak the 5th when Geoff slightly lost the plot again. He has now lost his last 4 games to Englishmen, me included. But To be honest I would not have fancied my chances aginst him on this occasion. Well played Rod Boswell.
Scotland lost to Ireland 4-1 so I knew we would only need 3 points to tie with them in the afternoon session, so even I was confident we were over the line.
Only Graham managed to concede a game and we won 5-0
All the matches were played in the sprit that they should be, and even our defeated opponents enjoyed the games
Well done to the England team once again victorious - but as everyone I think appreciates, the gap is narrowing.
Results
England v Ireland
Rod Bosswell v Tom Cantwell 9/4 9/3 9/10 6/9 9/5
Adrian Wright v Frank Fahey 9/6 9/6 10/8
Mike Clemson v Cierann Roche 10/8 9/10 9/3 9/2
Graham Fisher v Howard Cullen 9/5 9/3 9/3
Dave Hardern v Noel Murphy 2/9 9/4 10/8 3/9 7/9
England v Wales
Rod Boswell v Geoff Trenchard 6/9 9/6 4/9 9/3 9/7
Adrian Wright v Del Lewis 9/0 9/0 9/6
Mike Clemson v Eric Robinson 9/0 9/3 9/1
Dave Hardern v Dave Jones 9/5 9/6 9/0
Tony Clifford v Garry Williams 9/6 9/1 9/2
England v Scotland
Rod Boswell v Dave Brown 3/0
Adrian Wright v Bob Drummond 3/0
Mike Clemson Bill Perrie 3/0
Graham Fisher v 3/1
Tony Clifford v 3/0
All the results should be on the Scottish website tomorrow ( Mon 16th ) . I will then arrange copies to our site or a link to theirs.
Fran Wallis made a vote of thanks on behalf of her team and Eamonn Price made an amusing speech, on behalf ofthe rest of us, which I have accepted as his contribution to his report. A transcript will appear shortly under the O45's heading
Adrian Wright
Captain for the last time MO65
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WO45 Captain's Report
Joint Captains report for over 55’s ladies and over 45’s ladies
From England point of view, it’s a pity there aren’t five in a team for the over 55’s as we would then certainly have the depth. With only three players the pressure is felt from the first game and drawing Scotland on the Friday was unfortunate as nerves were prevalent. The girls fought well but ‘Pauline’ who manages to get inside your head and her team proved too strong. It was very disappointing not to have Welsh opponents, not having enough time to claw our way back. Our 2-1 win against Ireland was not enough to be better than second place. My thanks to Pat, Sue, Jane and Jan who are all a pleasure to play and socialise with. Their support for each other and indeed the support they gave the over 45 ladies was invaluable, well done girls and thank you to the ‘husband’ supporters.
Over 45’s without Mandy Aitken and Carole Page injured, the 45’s could well have had a battle on their hands, however the strengths in the team allowed it to be a fight rather than a battle. The Irish were the first to the slaughter on Friday with a 5-0 win. We had a walk over at number 1 string as Caroline Coyle failed to arrive in time for the 7pm deadline. She was scratched by the official referee. When she did arrive, she wasn’t best please and the air turned blue! We kept a low profile until the end of the evening and went into hiding with new identities.
Advice was given by Captain Fran to Helen Gould not to misbehave until close of business on Saturday evening. She was confined to quarters at 10pm but rumour has it she was out and about anyway.
The Welsh were next; Rina making her England debut gave a very commanding performance and took no prisoners. Wins by Helen and Jo were rapid and Heather’s 3-2 victory over Sian, just left me (Captain Fran) to do the sweeping up for another 5-0 victory.
Saving the best until last the Scot’s brought in Ashley Mears at number 2 to strengthen their team against the English. Carolyn had a strong 3-0 win to start us off. Helen was up against a very mobile number 3 and didn’t quite have enough ammunition left. Rina made it 2-1 to England and another hard battle for Heather beating Fiona McClean 3-0. A true Captains performance against a strong Ashley Mears; Fran was on fire with a superb (Carolyn wrote this) result 4-1 win.
Enough about squash may Carolyn and I say that the company we had over the weekend was second to none and we had a fabulous time. All the girls 45’s and 55’s were very supportive of each other watching every match they could.
The team was made up of so many different personalities and together it worked perfectly ‘quirks’ and all. Heather, the very competitive fiery red head, who’s blonde, was our ‘advice in between games girl’. The Liverpudlian had to keep her wits about her incase Caroline crept up on her. Congratulations to Heather – soon to be a nana for the first time.
Rina a very confident, composed new addition to the team slotted into her England position, with style.
Jo, I think thoroughly enjoyed her weekend and was more relaxed then we have seen her before. She was good company along with her partner Raika, and was an asset to the team. A few quirky eating habits, which I won’t disclose but anything’s worth a try and keeps you young, fit and winning your games. Congratulations for completing your Doctorate. Well done to Doctor Jo Brown.
Now for Helen, she was going to struggle with trying to keep up with this dynamic young team (considering her age) so she took on board any advice (however messy it became). Nuts after the first game, dates in between the first and second, liquorice after the 3rd if you haven’t won by then a swift glass to calm the nerves. Her company was a ‘bonus’ to the team and her squash wasn’t bad either. She reminded me of someone, the ‘spitting image’ of a girl who played in the over 50’s in Nottingham the week before! She fully embraces whatever she does and could lighten up a dark room with her fun loving approach.
Next, our Captain Fran. Her squash was as ever the full 100% effort, competitiveness and passion. Her commanding win against the Scots proved why she was captain. On Saturday night her three lagers did the trick and gave her the courage to stand up and say a few words and a few more and a few more! She was a credit; her main role during the weekend was ‘paparazzi; there was nowhere where you could go, nothing you could do to avoid the lens. Fran is always proud and passionate about playing for England enhanced by captaining the team.
A big thank you to Heather, Helen, Jo, Rina, Jan, Jane, Sue and Pat for their squash their support and their company. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Captains Fran and Carolyn.
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