Wick Inter-County - Season 2006-2007

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Both trophies return to Thurso - 31/03/07 - (AWAY)

L to R:- James Henderson, Thurso 'A' team captain, James Georgeson, Wick and Sean Miller, Thurso 'B' team captain.

Some exciting squash rounded off the competitive season, for Caithness senior squash players, with the return leg of the Wick v Thurso team event. Teams of five men and three ladies were chosen to represent Wick and Thurso, at both A and B levels. This is usually a hard fought encounter with pride at stake for all competitors and the Blackwood Cup and Park Hotel Shield to be won for the teams with the most wins over two legs, home and away.

Thurso had the upper hand with a good 5-3 victory at home in November in the A team match and a 4-4 draw in the B team. The Wick B team had to concede three matches before they had even begun, as they could not find six ladies to represent the town. This left them with the daunting task of trying to win all the men's matches, to claim the B team trophy. Dexter Durrand gave them a fighting chance with a good 3-2 win, over ex-Wicker Brian Farmer, in a see saw encounter which had both sets of supporters on the edge of their seats. James Howden pulled back another place for Wick, with a very good 3-0 win, over a newcomer to senior inter county squash. Jamie Henderson, at age 13, he must be one of the youngest players to represent Thurso in senior squash, his skill and determination, show great promise for the future. The Wick challenge started to falter here as Darren Hutchison lost 3-0 to another young Thurso player, Sean Miller, who has progressed a lot this year and plays with a composure and quality which will have many adults in trouble. John Georgeson, one of several Wick youngsters to have made the breakthrough into senior squash, could not repeat his win from the away leg, against Stuart Sutherland and lost 3-2, to Stuart's quick reactions and sensible choice of shots. Barry Reid playing at no.1 for the B team met a very sharp and confident Stuart Grieg who won 3-0 and completed the B team's 6-2 victory.

In the A team, all the Wick ladies are junior players and have a little catching up to do, to compete with the experienced Thurso girls. Carole Mowat, Jane Grant and Mhari Pollard all won, 3-0, over Donna Majilton, Sarah Taylor and Stephanie Campbell, but they will need to make the most of it, as these youngsters are learning fast and will soon be a force to be reckoned with in women's squash.

At no.5 in the A team James Georgeson and Donald Pollard had a close match. Donald going 2-0 ahead, then in a long and tiring third game, James defended several match points, to finally win it and go on to take the fourth as well. Tied at 2-2 the fifth was likely to be a tight affair but Donald came out fighting and stole an early lead and while James fought back, he could not quite overtake the tiring Donald, who won 3-2.

Liam Crombie took his place at no.4 and though losing 3-0, to a very quick, confident and tactically aware, Martin Cook, he can be proud of his performance. Liam is only 15 but he is playing some excellent squash and was unlucky to come up against Martin who has found a new determination and maturity in his squash in recent weeks.

Donald Durrand had the un-enviable task of trying to beat James Henderson, playing at no.3 for Thurso. James has been the man to beat in county squash for fifteen years and still sets the standard to which others aspire. On this occasion, James started very strongly and Donald was 1-0 down before he had even warmed up. Although Donald rallied well, that final touch just eluded him, but by the third game he was beginning to make an impression and had James working pretty hard to finally clinch victory, 3-0.

The best should always be kept to last and that was certainly what happened here, with two matches which would have graced any sporting contest, for skill, determination, effort, odd pieces of luck and a healthy questioning of the referees abilities, vision and even parentage.

Chris Taylor for Wick and Davie Swanson for Thurso, met for the first time on a squash court, as no.2 for their clubs. Chris, a recent junior champion (2004) and senior champion in Wick (2005), has only just returned to squash, after a football sabbatical, and was soon to show he has lost little of his quality, in the temporary layoff. Davie , last years county finalist, has been on the verge establishing himself at the top level of county squash, with some tremendous retrieving and a never say die attitude that leaves many opponents wondering what they have to do to win the point. They brought all this to their match and at 3-2 in the first game, they set the pattern for an epic struggle, with neither able to gain the upper hand and the serve went back and forth, with no points being scored. Eventually Chris broke the deadlock and inched ahead with a tremendous forehand kill shot. Then it was nip and tuck all the way to a tight finish, with lung busting rallies and 'mister gadget' retrieving, from both players, before Chris finally won the first. The second followed the same pattern, with powerful drives and split second reactions on display. Chris eventually won the second too, with his fantastic ability to kill the ball, hard and low into the nick, on the forehand, being the main difference between them. Davie was not to be denied and fought his way back taking the third, before a tired but delighted Chris finally won the fourth and the match.

On the other court, the mens no.1 match between Andrew Bremner and Ian Adamson had the two county finalists meeting again. It looked like Ian would turn the tables on Andrew this time, as he played some excellent, quality squash, to take an early lead. With tight length shots and sublime drops, he had Andrew 2-0 down and in need of inspiration. Then it was Andrews's turn to apply the pressure, he has great reserves of fitness and he used this to good effect, working Ian around the court and relying on his stamina to do the rest. It worked and Ian lost the next two games as he found he just could not get to the ball in time, to maintain his control on the game. The fifth, saw Ian put up a spirited last-ditch stand, but in the end, Andrew's fitness saw him through and he won the match 3-2 .

The overall honours went to Thurso, 6-2 in both the A and B team matches, giving them bragging rights over the Blackwood Cup and the Park Hotel Shield yet again.

The main squash season is nearly over, but facilities are available at both clubs over the summer and new players are always welcome.

Junior squash is still going strong, with the possibility of running an A grade Junior Tournament in the next month, which will bring some of the best Scottish players to the North.

One of last weeks players, has been picked to represent Scotland in the Home Internationals Masters Tournament next month. James Henderson has been asked to play for his country, after a particularly good showing in the recent Scottish Masters competition in Aberdeen where he beat the number three and four seeds, before losing to the number one seed and eventual winner in the semi-final.

report provided by James Georgeson, Wick.

Scoresheet

Photos

Thurso and Wick players

Presentation of trophies in the Queens Hotel, Wick

Liam v Cook	Titch v James
Stuart v John	Brian v Dexter
Jamie v Bogan	Jane v Sarah
Marie v

All to play for in the second leg - 11/11/06 - (HOME)

Strawberry getting his own back against Happy...

Thurso and Wick 'A' and 'B' teams met in Thurso Squash Club for the first leg of their Inter-County match.  With the Thurso side losing out lastseason for the first time in a number of years they were desperate to retrieve the trophy from a well organised Wick team but with a number of key personnel on Badminton duties in Orkney this was always going to be difficult.

Going into the contest the allocated pairings on both sides of the field looked to bring together some promising matches, which could swing in any direction, and this was very much the case in the final three games of the day bringing out some scintillating displays of squash.

Wick's young competitors, John Georgeson and Dexter Durrand are improving rapidly and managed to keep Wick alive in the 'B' section with two excellent performances just sneaking 3-2 wins against experienced players, Stuart Sutherland and Brian Farmer, respectively.  These results managed to keep the 'B' match all square, 4-4, making it all to play for in the return leg next year.

Thurso's Colin Paterson was the last to play against Donald Durrand in the 'A' section and a win would give the home side a slight advantage of 5-3 for the return.  Against all odds, Donald went into a comfortable 2 nil lead but Colin gradually managed to 'ebb the flow' and, although the games remained tight, the Thurso 'grinder' secured a 9-7 win in the last for the desired result.

Gratitude should be given to the Thurso lady stalwarts who completed a late fitness test to appear on the day, Hilary Brown, Sheila Stewart, Coral Sinclair, Linda Sinclair, Kirsty Mackay & Carole Cameron.  A majority of these players were very much the senior against their opponents and provided some cracking results, holding the Thurso side in contention for the return match.

Scoresheet

Photos

Les v Andrew	Ian v Happy
Stuart v Mike	Carole v Jane
Titch v James	Stuart v John
Sean v Liam	Coral v Sarah
Hilary v Stephanie	Kirsty v Stephanie
Linda v Donna

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