Burton 4 Men’s Squash Team is poised for promotion to Derbyshire League Division 3 after a string of impressive wins.
Last week, having stunned Bradley House (Uttoxeter) with an away win of 20-0 in the previous match, Burton 4 needed to beat arch rivals Duffield 8.
Things didn’t start well when Burton’s Andy Rowley was pitched against Duffield’s Pascal Smith. Known as the ‘Praying Mantis’ because of his ostentatious and lengthy serve preparation, Smith is a very tricky customer. He is highly unorthodox, with the ability to play a drop shot from any part of the court; consequently, Andy struggled to establish his rhythm and, although he started to show signs of a revival, ended up succumbing 1-3.
Next, Burton 4’s Jason Morton was pitched against experienced and wily campaigner Nick Granville. Morton took a while to settle against the Duffield left-hander and lost the first game, but then dug his heels in to win a hard-fought second game 10-8. He had to work equally hard for the third,winning it 9-7; however, Duffield’s Granville was not going to give up without a fight and responded with a 3-9 win in the fourth. With all to play for in the final game, Morton’s superior fitness told as he closed the match with a swift and decisive 9-3 win in the fifth to draw both teams level.
In his first match back from knee surgery, Burton’s Paul Richmond will be very happy to have prevailed over a young, fit and difficult Daniel Smith. Daniel was ahead 1-2 at one point in the match, but after Paul ground out a 10-8 win in the fourth game, he closed things out 9-5 in the decider.
With two in the bag, Burton 4 just need one more win to secure the match overall.
Burton’s Ray Salt played Duffield’s Sam Parry in the first of the two remaining matches, and his highly unorthodox style denied Sam the opportunity to get his game started. Ray’s rallies never last very long. He is an explosive player, who hits the ball incredibly hard, and plays with such a small margin of error that his shots are nearly impossible to retrieve once they’re in. Ray ended up winning 3-1
Finally, experience Burton player Clive Watson took on a young and fiery Guy Bailey. This was a torrid match, with Bailey putting match referee Shaun Baxter under a lot of pressure as he fought to stay in the match, before losing to a superior Watson 3-1. Clive’s experience shone through: he kept a cool head and took his chances well.
Barring any disasters, promotion now looks imminent for Burton 4 with only two games left.