CAPTAINS ORGANISE COUNTY WEEKEND
Redrice players Sue Williams and Stuart Summers take on County responsibilities this weekend as they each captain the Hampshire Ladies Team and Hampshire Men's Team, respectively. It is stage II of the National Inter-Counties Championships and Hampshire has been asked to host the two events. The Ladies will be playing at Winchester and Abshot, whereas the men will be based at Lee-on-Solent. Redrice number one, Michael Elford will head the men's team. The recently turned professional player has just returned from the Swiss Open where he won through the qualifying rounds only to draw the top seed in the first round. He played well but lost out 3-1.
The Redrice Men's 1st Team is going to push Winchester to the wire as they recorded a narrow victory, even in the absence of usual number one Michael Elford. Stuart Summers moved up to number one string and won 3-2 in the home match against Portsmouth Squash. Gary Hales (2), Adrian Williams (3) and Dean Felkler (5) all won 3-0. Tom Burnip (4) suffered the only defeat 3-0.
A bottom of the table clash saw Redrice Men�s 2nd Team lose a vital home game against Abshot II. The Rappa Fencing, sponsored team, were lying third from bottom in Division I with their opponents just one place below them. The result leaves the Redrice team only 23 points ahead but having played a game more. Rhys Glide (3) had the best result of the evening. In a long five-set match he recovered from match ball down in the fifth to win 6/9 9/1 9/7 7/9 10/8. Ben Thornton (1) won 3-0 but 3-0 defeats befell Alex Antonius (2), Neil Dyke (4) and john Baker (5).
A top of the table clash also saw defeat for Redrice. This time it was the Men�s 3rd Team, 2nd in Division 3A, who narrowly lost to league leaders Avenue II. The SCPS sponsored team had a reasonably strong side out. Though they were missing regular number three Sue Williams. Keith Reesby (2) played in his last match before his army posting and showed why he will be sorely missed as he comfortably won 9/1 9/2 9/7. Steve Reeves (1) lost out to a player he had defeated in the first half of the season. Though it was close, Steve losing 10/8 in the fifth game. That was one of three matches, which went to five games, and all three matches went against the Redrice players as Matt Aldridge (4) and Colin Newbery (5) both also lost 3-2. Mark Ward (3) lost his way after taking the first game and lost 3-1.
The Ladies 1st Team managed only four points in their away match against league leaders Winchester. Sue Williams (1) picked up three of these points as she won 9/1 9/2 7/9 9/1. Ros Hursell (2) gained the fourth in a 3-1 defeat. Debbie Smith (3), Jillian Hall (4) and Angela Riggs (5) were all disappointed with their performances and didn't look likely to pick-up a game as they all lost in straight sets. With two games left the team, sponsored by Oakwood Shopfitting, still look likely to record their best ever final position in the league.
Redrice Ladies 2nd Team continued their push for promotion from division III with two emphatic home victories. The Melting Pot sponsored team had an incident packed game against league newcomers Southampton General Hospital. The opponents lost one player prior to the start of the match and their number four player retired injured with a calf-muscle injury partway through her third game. This gave Sally Moore, who had taken the opening games 9/5 and 9/3, a 3-0 victory. Jenny Matthias (3) maintained her high level of performance this season with a solid 9/4 9/3 9/6 win. Debbie Duffy (2) made her first appearance of the season and the first since the birth of her baby daughter. Trailing 1-2, Duffy stayed in the match by taking the 4th game 9/7 before winning the final game 9/6. Angela Riggs (1) lost 3-0 but the team had achieved a 4-1 success. It was even better against Alverstoke. The team won 5-0 even with three changes. Alison Williams (5) played her first team match for several years and won 9/2 9/0 9/1. Chrissie Lindley (4) had a comfortable 3-0 win, as did Helen Edwards (3) on her Redrice debut. The matches were more competitive at the top of the order. Sally Biles (2) won in four games and Angela Riggs (1) recovered from two games down to win in five 4/9 4/9 9/7 9/4 9/7.
The Junior 2nd Team, sponsored by MRT Castings, travelled to the Hampshire Rose Bowl to play against Connors I and Winchester V. Tom Farmer led the team at number one string against the Winchester team winning 9/7 9/7 9/6. The Lutz brothers, Sean (2) and Zachery (3) also won 3-0 and 3-1, respectively. Sam Stannah (4), making his team debut, put in a great performance against an opponent twice his size and a several years older. Sam took the opening game 9/6 before losing out 8/10 4/9 5/9. Against Connors the Redrice team competed well but the Southampton based team was just too strong and won all four matches 3-0.
Gary Hales
Squash Manager