Week 5 of the Hellers Autumn Men’s Open Squash Interclub was taken to Burnside. Whilst it may have been Burnside’s hunting ground, Football club was in hot form this week as both their teams came away with wins and Burnside was left icing two losses.
Lee Barker lost to Matt Smith 1-3
Paddy Mulvihill beat Nathan Smith 3-0
Steven Leckie lost to Jason Cumpstone 0-3
FOOTBALL 1 WON 2-1
The Midlands crew have been steadily doing well this season so far but came up against the Goliath team Football 1 who proved too strong. Matt Smith lead from the front beating the in-form Lee Barker 3-1, rumour has it that Smith credits his time being able to stretch his legs on the grand hills of Banks Peninsula weed whacking. Only Paddy Mulvihill managed a win for Midlands, which will cause quite a stir within the team as that victory takes him back to the No.1 position in the team. Let’s hope Mulvihill has good farm insurance as Barker won’t be a happy chap.
BURNSIDE 2 vs FOOTBALL 2
Lucas Rosa defaulted to Jeremy Bennett
Carl Tyson lost to Joseph Petelo 0-3
Craig Nixon lost to Richard Hollows 0-3
FOOTBALL 2 WON 3-0
Burnside 2 were caught short this week with no Dylan Budge and a missing Lucas Rosa who was apparently straight lining it to Parliament to talk to Jacinda about fixing the recent Carbon Bill. As always Richard Hollows was solid as always at 3 for Football 2 and Joseph Petelo enjoyed a win this week after a couple of tough weeks at the office. Unfortunately this loss has seen Burnside 2 drop to the bottom of the table shared with Christchurch 2 on 20 points.
Simon Slade beat Stephen Gardner 3-0
Simon Kidgell lost to Ben Scott 1-3
Graeme Dill-Russell beat David Schultz 3-1
CHRISTCHURCH 1 WON 2-1
It was Christchurch club’s turn to enjoy some intra-club rivalry. With both Beresford and Williams as no shows the Christchurch teams were evenly weakened. Christchurch 1 showed why they are the No.1 team as they dispatched the No.2 team. Ben Scott showed great resistance to the defeat with a 3-1 victory over Simon Kidgell. Both players like to give the ball a smack but Scott’s variety paid dividends to secure him the victory.
Brandon Mchaffie lost to Oliver Johnston 0-3
Ryan Ko lost to Johnnie Honeyman 2-3
Aaron Briggs lost to Mark Revis 1-3
SQUASHWAYS 1 WON 3-0
Squashways 1 turned up to dominate Burnside bringing in the big gun Oliver Johnston. Brandon Mchaffie stood no chance as Johnston on his come back from injury, forced Mchaffie to all four corners but Mchaffie was able to keep in the sets until the last moments as Johnston struck the killer blow. On the upside for Burnside 1 they were able to take away 2 vital points thanks to Ryan Ko’s efforts as he used his home court advantage over the Englishman Johnnie Honeyman who was nearly as use to the conditions. Honeyman however will be counting his lucky stars as he manages the win in 5 sets.
Next week the teams will go back to Christchurch Squash club. As the weeks count down to the arrival of the new squash facility, each player next week will surely be wanting to notch one last win at the club and also give their team more of a chance to make the finals.
