We were feeling confident going into the weekend.
We had a last minute bonus of Kim Hay agreeing to give up her last days before heading back to Yale to play for the team at very short notice! We also have to mention the excellent commitment of the whole team to come and play or even just support, despite other commitments and even injuries! As such we ended up having a team of 7 from USA, Leeds, Coventry and of course Newcastle (they can leave Northumbria but they will never escape) the team included 2 subs/supporters/refs/excellent coaches (Maria-keep it tight-Bainbridge, I’m talking about you!) and consisted of-
Kim Hay
Sam Ward
Sarah Bowles
Hannah Cliff
Emma Gregson
Maria Bainbridge
Catherine Brown
After nearly ending up in York due to a bit of confusion with junction numbering on the A-whatever, we eventually rocked up at Pontefract for our first game against the first of the 4 teams.
We started very strongly with a convincing win against Merseyside! Emma and Sarah started off with 3-0 victories and Hannah, Kim and Sam followed with similar results making the score a resounding 5-0.
Our second match was against Nottinghamshire who had had a close 3-2 with Yorkshire in the morning. As it turns out, we needn’t have worried because we managed another convincing win, with only Emma and Sam dropping a game (tut tut).
As we had such a good day we decided ‘we could just go out for one cocktail’ (famous last words of Sam Ward). One quickly turned into two and we got in a little later than expected but no more need be said about that!
Finally for our last game against Yorkshire we turned up at the club at 10.35, slightly late due to taking the ‘scenic route’ (Quote Emma). Despite having to rush quickly to get changed Emma started us off with a 3-0 win and Sarah just lost out 3-2 despite an impressive performance. Next were Hannah and Kim: Hannah beat another Hannah 3-0 and Kim won 3-1 against tough opponent Katie Smith. So despite victory already being in the bag, Sam finished the weekend off with a confident 3-0 win against yet another strong Yorkshire opponent , Clare Walker, giving us a 4-1 win over Yorkshire and securing our spot in the Premier League. Watch out – Northumbria for the title 2015!!!
Hey well done ladies’s, that is great news – back in the Premier Division where you belong! It sounds like you had some fab performances – beating all the other teams, – you can’t get better than that can you?. Well, unless of course you beat them all twice which would be stupid really and rather unnecessary. I’ve never seen Women’s squash before. I know it’s like the Men’s, but played by Women, I think. My mate Harry Halfcourt has though and he says ‘Think of it as being like the Men’s, but without asking for let’s for no apparent reason every 3rd rally, no arguing with the marker, no barging into each other, and no huffs’. Sounds good to me, I might play it myself next year, – although I’m not sure if that’s allowed. I’ll have to check. Actually on that point, how would me mate Vivien Volley stand on that? she (he) used to be a man but changed sides when better tax laws came in for single women. Always was a bit tight Vivien, but even we thought that was a bit extreme. Theoretically though, she (he) could play for the Womens?. I’ll have a chat with her (him) about that (this). Anyway Well Done again to the team and the Reserves who travelled with them – what great team spirit! It reminds me of when I used to play at the top end of Division 5 for Temple Park 4ths – we had a great team then – a Unity between us. It was such a high standard, and with me being No. 2, some of the blokes I had to play had like, 2 rackets, and sometimes those proper squash trainers ( Puma ones I think). But we played and lost together as a team. Well, we just lost really, – but as a team. We stuck together. Until that is we caught Freddy Forehand nicking the team match fees – then we split up and haven’t spoken since – but before that, we were a team. And that’s what squash is all about. Teamwork. I look forward to see you in the Premier next season ladies! I might even be playing for you if these tax laws change again! Laters, Bobby.