Division 5: Thurles 11 – 13 Glenville

Remaining Fixtures – League Table

April 19^th, 2016

Final tie of the first round of the Munster Squash Division 5 team league.

Thurles were gracious hosts for the tie between Thurles Squash Club and Glenville Squash Club.
This was their first meeting in the competition so far.

Both having beaten the other club in their group, Kilworth Squash Club, the two teams were on track for a close encounter, and as it turned out that was exactly what we got on the night, with the teams very evenly matched.

The number 4s and the number 3s started off the night. Both of the first two matches were very closely contested.

The number 3s showed plenty of skill in their attack play but the Thurles player, Greg Fewer, was perhaps more accustomed to the heat and the bounce of the ball on his home courts than his opponent, Alan Vaughan, and held out for the win on this occasion 3-1.
The number 4s had a very close match indeed, every game was as close as could be. The Glenville player, John Loftus, was able to rely on his greater experience when it mattered and played the final game well under pressure as the spectators watched on, and just shaded it 3-2 in the end over his opponent, Kevin O’Dwyer.

So with the number 3s ending in a 3-1 scoreline in favour of Thurles, and the number 4s ending in a 3-2 scoreline in favour of Glenville, the teams were 1 match apiece.

Next on court were the number 5s and the number 2s.
The number 5 match went to 3-2 in favour of Glenville, while the number 2 match went to a scoreline of 3-0 in favour of Thurles.

The number 5s remarkably were only newcomers to the game of squash in recent months but both performed admirably. Shane, at only 15, also a renowned hurler, showed phenomenal speed to retrieve the ball from all corners, while John, recently retired as a hurler himself, showed great skill with his lob serves and keen eye to volley well.
Unfortunately for John, in a great diving effort to retrieve a ball late into the 3^rd game, he scraped his knee. Shane went on to win that game narrowly. In between games there was a brief delay as John, with the help of the club first aid box, managed to cover over the cuts with bandages before resuming play.
However the bandages proceeded to peel off during the game which was very distracting for John. He showed great focus to ignore the bandages long enough to take the 4^th game to send the match to a fifth and final game.
This time John thought better of the bandages and wisely put on a pair of tracksuit bottoms to prevent the blood from reappearing and he could focus on the squash again without distraction.
Fair play to Shane though, he held his nerve well despite John’s efforts at the comeback. Shane won the final game and thus the match went 3-2 to Glenville.

The number 2s match was also closely contested, despite how the scoreline would appear, and both players played intelligently throughout the match.
On this occasion Ray Ryan of Thurles managed to edge it 3-0 over his opponent, Andrew O’Callaghan of Glenville in a very sporting match.

That set up a grand finale decider between the number 1s, David Corcoran of Thurles versus Anthony Purcell of Glenville.

The final match didn’t disappoint as all eyes turned to watch their court.
Anthony took the first game, before David fought back strongly to win the second.
The 3^rd and 4^th games were both very close but Anthony, particularly aided by his very skilful lob serves and powerful (left-handed) forehand shots, managed to take the win 3-1 on this occasion to decide the tie in favour of Glenville.

The final team result of the night was Glenville winners by a slim margin of 13 points to 11 over Thurles.

There will be plenty to play for yet in the return fixture in Glenville, as this result just leaves 2 points between the sides going into the second round.