Taylor Handicap Trophy - Season 2009-2010 - 16&17/01/10

Sean & Jamie

ONE of the largest entries in a good number of years for the 2010 Thurso Squash Club - Taylor Trophy Handicap event shows that the sport is flourishing, not just locally but in the county as a whole.

Rather fittingly, it was two of the newest members to the club, Willie Steven and Nick Noble - who were drawn together to start the ball rolling at 9am on Saturday morning. On this occasion Nick held his handicap benefit and won this tie 2 sets to 1.

After a gruelling two days of hard squash, the final of the main event brought together youngsters - sponsors son and last years winner, Jamie Henderson (-55) and Sean Miller (-40) to battle for the trophy.

The two meet regularly for training sessions and it became apparent early on in this tie that both were very aware of each others styles. So much so, that on some occasions their perceptions were scarily accurate, leaving each player bemused and unsure of what to do next???

With the match evenly balanced at 1 set all, it was full steam ahead in the deciding set and the delighted crowd were more than happy to watch more of this epic tussle.

Although Jamie had to pull back 15 points, his extra experience of playing in the Scottish squash circuit pulled him through and after a string of quality finishes, Sean was left scrambling for scraps - only for Jamie to lift the trophy with a few points to spare.

An excellent final and Jamie commented, 'Sean put up a brilliant performance and it was difficult to finish things off'. He continued, 'It was great to win for the second year in a row and keep the family trophy at home'.

Ian & Donald

The Plate competition final paired, club chairman, Ian Adamson (-50) and Donald Pollard (-42) in a tie that filled the balcony area with avid spectators, waiting in anticipation of a tight clash.

Donald set out his tactics to exhaust Ian in the first set, grab the second with a powerful performance and drag this tie out until the very end...???

Overall, the best laid plans or, gamble, as most folk would call it from Donald - nearly proved to work in his favour and, it was only a gutsy and strong performance to pull back the deficit by Ian that thwarted the clubs new tactician from grabbing the trophy.

The match sat at 1 set all with Donald 14-11 infront and only one point was required to win.

After some long rallies, Donald squandered a couple of vital points that would lose him some sleep and Ian dug in to pull the game back to 14-14.

Both players took a moment before the final serve to glare at each other in appreciation but it was Ian who controlled the final rally of the match and gladly drove a low shot beyond the reach of Donald to win the trophy.

Ian commented, 'It's Sunday morning and he was going to take a walk in the park to try and cool down after this tough final'.

Congratulations to all who took part and hope to see the same, and more, competitors in the next handicap event.

ALL Winners, Runners-Up and others.

Sean v Martin

Brian v Martyn

Andy v Malcolm

Stuart v Sean

End-of-Document

ARTICLE COMMENT/VIEWS:-
If you would like to pass on your comments or views on this article/section - CLICK HERE to enter details in the YAPUS Forum and choose the suitable section.