14 October - 1sts away vs Wellington

BY EVAN

After some great words of encouragement from our inured number 1 Stu 'OAP' Milts, the Team was fired up for a our team match, especially the 3, 4 & 5…

Henry 'the real deal' Withrington went on first… we were all expecting (hoping) he would receive a 3 nil thrashing, somehow he managed to snag a game, lulling his opponent into a false sense of security and dulling his opponents senses with his powerful scent of deep heat...... 1-0 down.

Evan 'bottlejob' Henman was on next, playing the former world 11 (worth mentioning), and put in a bloody good effort to have 3.. yes 3 game balls in the second....however in true Evan fashion he bottled it and lost 3-0...2-0 down.

Jack 'the terrier' Turnell had a tough back and forth battle....Feeding his opponent in the middle of the court was bold, albeit deluded strategy which ended up being his downfall. He did have a great come back in the second, however, his adversary's volley game was too strong, covering the centre of the court like a praying mantis. 3-0 down....

Harry 'Hobo' Carr was on next and finally decided to pull his finger out deliver the team a win.

Arron 'the quiet one' Gosnell was on last looking for his first win. He came out of the blocks strong, and had a slog out to take the first game 16-14. Slightly concerning he asked the ref it that was match or game… unfortunately it was just the end of the first. Needless to say the physicality of the first game had taken its toll, however, he valiantly dug deep to fight on but couldn’t manage to close out a further game going down 3-1.

Tough night for the boys, receiving our first team loss.

14 October - 2nds home V Aldermaston 2nds

BY AVON

The second team was up against Aldermaston 2 at home.

First up was Ballsy at 3rd string, didn’t see much of his match, but from what I heard he lost the first two games, then with some mediocre squash managed to win the next three games, winning the 5th game 15-12.

Next up was me at 4^th string, with a two-year absence from the leagues and team squash I was unsure how competitive I will be. Luckily for me, Richard, my opponent seemed to be a super sub with more niggles than a certain Mark Chatfield. Straight forward win for me with a 3-0 score.

Following on was Rob at 5^th string, Rob was up against Joe, who is a wily old player with great technique and court craft. I played Joe a few years ago, he gave me a lesson on underestimating old players. Luckily for Rob the courts were warm, and he had the game to beat Joe. Again, another straightforward win for RUSC with a 3-0 score.

Next up was the Barracuda at 2nd string, who was up against Chris. Within the first few rallies I realised what the Barracuda was up against - another Barracuda. The boasts, the inability to clear their shot and of course the single word encouragement to self (The RUSC Barracuda shouts “MORE”, when he loses a rally. More of what exactly no one knows). Anyway, it was a close tussle between the Barracudas, luckily for RUSC we seem to have a better Barracuda who won the match 3-0.

At 1^st string, we had Geoff who was of course going to make this a 5-0 win for us. Geoff was up against a lefty – Mark, who seemed to have mistaken the squash courts for tennis courts with his tennis serves and topspin forehand technique. No matter, Geoff was not really in a mood to indulge, so won the first two games in el rapido fashion. We were all thinking “great, curry at 9pm”, well Mark then decided it was time to grind it down and grind Geoff down at the same time. Except for the 3rd, the 4th and 5th games were all closely fought affairs. We are now in the 5th, with Geoff on match ball at 14-13 in control of the rally only to decide he should hand over the point to Mark. It was great resilience shown by Mark to beat Geoff 3-2. Post-match Ballsy queried why Geoff wasn’t killing the ball, I was unsure what happened to the real Ballsy, because I don’t think anyone has ever seen Geoff kill the ball, and I’m sure Geoff hasn't witnessed it either. Also, thinking about it, when has Ballsy ever killed the ball?!

In the end RUSC won 4-1, dropping just one point from a possible maximum of 20 (Geoff pointed that one out).

The evening was finished off with a few drinks and curry at the Rajmoni with a very friendly Aldermaston team.

And finally, thanks to Frank, Mark C, Phil and Richard P for turning up and supporting the team, it was much appreciated.

Next fixture is a bye, so the next match for the 2^nd team will be at home against Wellington 3 on the 11^th of November.