Home
It was, frankly, an unexpected and unpleasant nightmare trying to get a Cheshire Ladies First Team out for this promotion-half battle in Warwickshire.
Sarah Kippax was in a tournament in Switzerland and all the up-and-coming juniors were playing in a Grand Prix tournament. The Ladies over 50 team were battling it out in Nottingham to win their division and together with holidays, injuries, social and work commitments, the selection became a real problem right up to the last minute.
We were fortunate and delighted to receive Laura Mylotte’s agreement to play for us, though she could only manage two matches on the Saturday on account of dodgy knees and concerns about over using them. Probably 100 telephone calls later and Cheshire still had only four to play on the Sunday fixture, until saintly and brave Rachel Sutcliffe heard about the problem on the previous Monday match night and agreed to postpone her 18 mile marathon training run to travel to Warwickshire for us on the Sunday. What a Star!
With Laura travelling separately via a friend’s house in Birmingham, the rest of the team met at Di’s house as usual. Rachael sprang out of the car first, looking sprightly and keen, followed a few minutes by Kirsty in her usual eager manner. A text from Amanda saying she would be delayed by 10 minutes gave Kirsty time to fill us in on a strange message she had received from Amanda the previous night. It appears she was not likely to be ‘at her best’ on match day and indeed the Vision that climbed out of Amanda’s car when she arrived was comically tragic! Perhaps realising this was not the best preparation for a County match, Amanda was allowed to sleep it off during the two hour journey, but was pre-warned about a match report ribbing.
Leamington Spa is a gorgeous town with a rather old-fashioned squash club! The old-fashioned pavilion was not that well equipped and the refreshment facilities were virtually non-existent, but the courts were excellent, if a little hot, and the welcome equally warm, especially from Ali and Batey, ex Bowdon and Cheshire but now resident in Leamington Spa, who sent their love and best wishes to everyone that remembers them.
Our first match was against Warwickshire, who, by all accounts, had similar team selection problems, but who were likely to be a leading contender for the promotion. With a team of Laura Mylotte, Rachael Chadwick, Amanda Clegg, Kirsty West and Di Parums the task was set about with determination, knowing this first match could well decide the outcome of the weekend.
Di had a good game, managing to put recent injury issues out of her mind, and her opponent out of site in three swift games. Amanda was struggling against other powers on the second court, losing in 4 to her quite competent opponent, but leaving her feeling a little disappointed in herself and determined to do better later on. Laura was cool and competent, as expected, managing an impressive 3-0 performance against the Warwickshire number one, losing her concentration a couple of times but always managing to focus and pull it back when it became dangerous. Kirsty was on top form, achieving another swift 3-0 and sealing the match for Cheshire. As always, it’s not match wins but games won that count, and we needed everything we could get from our 2nd string Rachael, who was always going to have the hardest challenge this weekend. Losing the first two games and her cool, some stern talking between games about focussing on the squash and keeping calm allowed Rachael to take the third and an invaluable point for the team. Sadly, she was not able to continue this form and with her opponent determined to finish off the match in 4 games, Rachael succumbed to her 1-3 defeat.
Oxfordshire, the weakest side of the weekend was next. Again, Di and Kirsty cruised quickly through their matches, 3-0, Laura made equally short work of her opponent, proving her considerable worth to Cheshire, while Amanda struggled against her opponent and temporary illness, picking up another point but losing 1-3. Last match on was Rachael who ‘came of age’ and ground down her opponent, playing super squash, keeping her cool throughout, and reaping the rewards of that by coming out victorious in the end. Perhaps the match of the weekend?
With sad farewells to Laura who was returning home, Cheshire calculated that only a win against Cambridgeshire would do, with Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire both still in a position to take the promotion. It was going to be close, with all the team moving up a position and the pressure on Amanda, Kirsty and Di in particular. After begging Laura to reconsider returning in the morning, she agreed to text later on if she was feeling up to it, but told us not to get our hopes up as it was most unlikely due to other commitments. This decision was confirmed later in Laura’s message to say she had taken 4 hours to get home again and couldn’t face it tomorrow. The team decision and discussion later that evening was unanimous – no booze, early night, stay at the hotel to eat and be sensible to give ourselves the best possible chance. Although unlikely, it was still possible, so we were sensible and got a good night’s sleep.
Excitement overflowed at 8.30 on Sunday morning, when Di’s phone buzzed and Laura offered to return saying that guilt and team responsibility had got the better of her and, as long as we were all in a fit state to compete properly, she would return as long as Rachel was happy not to play. Slamming the phone down, and struggling to speak through a wide grin and excitement, Di managed to catch Rachel just as she was climbing onto the car. As always, Rachel was charming and understanding and stood aside without hesitation, presumably with some relief tinged with disappointment all at the same time. A quick phone call to Laura, and she was on her way. Everyone got the job done in style. Amanda managed her first win, Di, Kirsty and Laura retained their 3-0 unblemished records and Rachael played a blinder against Carole Page in a nail-biter, unfortunately just losing out 2-3 in the end.
The result of a long struggle to get a team, the highs and lows of Laura playing all weekend and Rachel Sutcliffe’s understanding was PROMOTION! equalled only by the news on the way home that Sarah won the Swiss Open for the first time too.
Thanks must go to all the team and organisers, but special mentions have to go to Laura and Rachel that a bunch of flowers couldn’t fully express!
So, while the rest of the country had storms, Cheshire had sunshine all the way!
Match Report 17 and 18th November 2007
Cheshire Ladies First Team the one to Beat!
One thing’s for sure – it’s a long way to Northumbria! An early start, freezing cold weather and a slight lack of sleep for most and it was a well-deserved rest to be had at the Angel of the North. After a couple of team photos and a cursory look, it was straight back to the car to get out of the bitter wind and the final leg of the journey.
We found the club and hotel with relative ease and settled in with an hour or so to spare. The Northumberland Club is large, welcoming, clean and has superb facilities including a café bar – an excellent start to a long weekend of squash. It was with some relief that Sarah appeared shortly after us, completing the Cheshire team of Sarah Kippax, Rachel Chadwick, Kirsty West, Di Parums and Amanda Clegg.
Saturday’s opponents were Leicestershire, old and regular adversaries with a familiar line up. All members of the Cheshire team dispatched their opponents in a fairly brief fashion, with only three games dropped in total and five wins on the scoreboard. Other team members supported well and coached between games, aided anyone who was wavering and generally produced excellent team spirit and bonding. With a 20-3 result in the bag, we still had to be careful not to overdo it on Saturday night as, unusually, we had two matches on Sunday due to court availability. Following an excellent supper at which Di and Sarah ate particularly huge amounts, Di was left wondering about body size difference as she lounged on her bed and Sarah did 150 one-handed press ups in one corner of the bedroom (ah, that’ll be why then!)
So it was off to the bars for what was left of the evening. Kirsty and Rachel had managed to blag a freebie bottle of wine and a couple of Appletizers from the hotel due to incorrect sleeping arrangements in their room, so it was a nicely loosened up team that made the long journey next door to a rather seedy sports-type bar. Amanda appears to be the team magnet for fellas and managed to attract various admirers including an amateur magician before Di had even sat down! Only one team member heeded the earlier decision to be sensible with alcohol as a wide variety of drinks was ordered, drunk, changed and various new tipples tried out. Kirsty managed to excel in the ‘testing out’ department and it was in a slightly giddy mood that the older, responsible members of the team guided her back to Happy Hour at the hotel bar and half price cocktails. Sense, however, prevailed after some filthy topics of conversation and rudely named drinks were experienced, and the team headed off to bed to catch the X Factor result, imbibe some water and get an early night before a long day on Sunday.
I do not ‘do’ 7.30 Sunday mornings very often, and I know why! Breakfast was subdued – no hangovers but a shortage of sleep – though the offerings were particularly good and breathed new life into a flagging team. Back to the club for a 10am start against potential ‘easy’ opponents Durham and Cleveland. Sure enough, to our relief, everyone won easily again, producing another 20 points for Cheshire and only 3 against. It appeared that Northumbria was the team to beat if we wanted to win the whole weekend, so some nerves were apparent at the start of the final fixture. Amanda and Di had shaky starts but managed 3-0 wins, as did Sarah. Kirsty and Rachel struggled a little against much stronger opponents than previously and, although they put in huge efforts and showed off their not inconsiderable skills, they were both overcome in the end, admirably producing team points on the way however.
A swift getaway for everyone at 3.30 in appalling weather was essential albeit not that appealing, and it was 7pm when we finally arrived back in Altrincham.
Altogether it was a superb weekend, with great team spirit throughout. Highlights were:
Winning overall; Sarah being present, both for her squash and for her company (boy did we miss her last year!); guiding Kirsty back home; Amanda exploding back on the squash scene; Rachel’s newfound maturity and exemplary calm behaviour in spite of being under extreme pressure in the last match; Di providing various new ideas for everyone’s Christmas list.
Low points: Two matches on the Sunday followed by a long journey home in appalling weather conditions; Kirsty failing to get Rachel to touch a drop of alcohol (then drinking it all herself!); hearing that Cheshire men had been hammered.
I shall look forward to next half and fighting for promotion with our wonderful and happy team!
Di
Having done the hard work in the first half to secure a position in the promotion rather than the relegation play-offs this weekend, The Cheshire team could concentrate on playing their best rather than ‘number crunching’ to work out positions.
The team of Nikki Fowler, Amanda Clegg, Di Parums (capt) Nicky Swift and Hilary Tarleton travelled to The Park in Nottingham, together with a small supporters club of Jane Law and Polly Woodward.
The first match was v Warwickshire, and a largely unknown team to us. Hilary and Di made a great start, with two 3-0 wins. Nikki struggled at 1 against a very competent opponent, though she had opportunities and pushed her all the way, sadly losing in the end in a match that could have gone either way. An exhausting tie from which she had to concentrate hard to recover. At 4, Nicky Swift had a very close match, again just missing out on a win that could have been hers on a different day. Amanda played the decider competently, but was obviously nervous and feeling the pressure. Although she seemed to be playing well, she felt that she was never ‘comfortable’ or settled and lost the tie. An unfortunate 2-3 loss after a good start.
The evening match against Nottinghamshire was always going to be another tough one. Again, Di secured an early 3-2 win, but Hilary did not quite match her morning result. Match score 1-1. Nikki Fowler faced a very competent opponent, who she may well have beaten on a better day, but a knee injury got progressively worse as the weekend wore on, and she was unable to put in her usual standard. Meanwhile, Nicky Swift was playing an engrossing ‘humdinger’ on the other court. Going down 2-8 in the first, and coming back to win it, she played her way into a very safe 8-1 match ball position in the third, only to let it slip away. Nerves were fraying as the fourth was quickly lost and she was faced with a gruelling 5th, when she could have been relaxing on the balcony. Nicky’s mind set was impressive as she knuckled down and won the 5th convincingly. Another 2-2 decider for Amanda to deal with, and she looked relaxed and confident as she walked on court, however her opponent was skilful and fit, and played a very high standard of squash, which Amanda could not match. Another 2-3 loss.
Lying in 4th place after two very close and tough matches on the Saturday, Cheshire looked both tired and injured on the Sunday against Merseyside, who had a very strong team out. Two or three ties that perhaps could have been ours were quickly lost, and when Amanda took to the court at number two against Heather Tweedle, she was not fighting for the match but rather a point or two to make up for Cheshire’s dismal morning. Although Amanda secured our only point of the day, which was a relief, she was unable to take the tie, and Cheshire finished a poor last position. Had luck been on our side on the Saturday, and injury and fatigue not taken over, the tale may have been different, but at least we remain in the 2nd division.
Di Parums