Wick Inter-County - Season 2005-2006

Contents:- -HOME-|-AWAY-

Wick win 'A', Thurso 'B' - 18/02/06 - (HOME)

L to R:- Andrew Bremner - Wick 'A' Team captain, Alistair Miller sneeking in at the back & Stuart Greig - Thurso 'B' Team captain

Thurso and Wick 'A' and 'B' teams congregated in Thurso Squash Club for the second leg of their Inter-Town match. With the Thurso side having a number of competitors unavailable due to Badminton duties in Dingwall, there was a definite sense of excitement coming from the Wick quarters, as their name had not been placed on the 'A' team silverware for over 20 years.

The 'B' team, 'Park Hotel Shield' began with Thurso going into the match with a 5-3 lead and as it proved on the day the strong home selection of Stevie Spargo, Stuart Greig, Stuart Sutherland, Brian Farmer, Malcolm Lord, Linda Sinclair, Coral Sinclair & Pauline Gunn, respectively - had no intention of making this contest drag on into any needless situations.

At the halfway point Wick 'B' may have been slightly aggrieved at not grabbing a point, as two tough and long five sets matches went the Thurso way, but this set a precedent for the rest of the occasion and the Thurso side went onto lift the trophy without dropping a match.

The Wick side should be encouraged, though - as more than half of the players in their 'B' team are still playing in the Under 18 competitions and by no-means let themselves down, providing excellent performances against players much to their senior.

The 'A' team 'Blackwood Trophy' contest was even (4-4) after the first match and was all to play for between two well paired squads.

The mid point saw Thurso stretch to a 3-1 lead with good wins from Alistair Miller, Donald Pollard and Lynne Jones, with Jane Cormack grabbing Wick's sole point, for the moment. But the 'big-guns' were yet to come.....

It was good to see two of the more experienced players being matched together, who have just returned to the sport after long spells away. Colin Paterson, Thurso had been struggling with a foot injury and the 'elusive' Graeme Mackenzie, Wick dusted his rackets to grace the squash courts, once again. Graeme got the better of Colin in this tussle to recoup Wick's chances for the trophy.

With Lewis Brunton, Wick just managing to beat Davie Swanson in a five set thriller that lasted well over the hour mark and young Donna Majilton, Wick beating debutant, Mairi Pollard, it was all down to the final match between Thurso's, Les Mackay and Andrew Bremner. Thurso could only draw and force a 'countback' situation but Wick had the chance of winning the prized trophy outright.

As much as Les battled against the ex-Army employee, Andrew comfortably secured the trophy for the Wick side with a tidy winning drive, creating a euphoric explosion of happiness amongst the Wick side, something they had dreamt about for the 20 years the trophy had stayed in the west side of the county.

Congratulations to both 'A' and 'B' teams for some excellent squash in this Inter-Town contest and long may it continue.

Scoresheet

Photos

Some of the Thurso and Wick players with their captain's holding the winning trophies - Andrew Bremner (Wick, 'A' Team) and Stuart Greig (Thurso, 'B' Team)

Alistair Miller & Willie Jappy	John Georgeson & Brian Farmer
Graeme Mackenzie & Colin Paterson	Stuart Greig & Jim Georgeson
Les Mackay & Andrew Bremner	Donna Majilton & Mairi Pollard
Dexter Durrand & Malcolm Lord	Davie Swanson & Louis Brunton
Stuart Sutherland & James Howden	Stevie Spargo & Mike Henstridge
Jim doesn't look happy......	and Willie is blowing his top.....
Little Les with his mum Kirsty	Dougie Sinclair is master ref.....

Trophies could go in any direction - 12/11/05 - (AWAY)

I was unable to attend this match but from the scoreline shown below it seems that there were a lot of close games and leaves the return leg in Thurso a tough match to decide the destination of the trophies.

Scoresheet

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