The Wales squad, consisting of Richard Murphy, Ian Fenner-Evans, Gary Hales, Mark Jones, Carl Elsby and Mike Logan, left the (for once) sunny climes of Wales for the even sunnier, it turns out, Irish west coastal city of Galway. The squad was full of hope and expectation, and not only because of the famous Galway nightlife…
After a bit of a scare, resulting from Rich’ confidence that you don’t need a passport to travel to Ireland, and the insistence of the Ryanair staff that you do, all ended well when they realised his surname.
So complete with our Number One, we took to the courts on Friday afternoon against the might of England, complete with the British National Champion at first string. We had a tough baptism, losing all matches against strong opposition. Carl Elsby and Richard Murphy picked up our only two games, and Richard pushed the England No.1 very hard, losing in four close games (despite Jonesy’s attempts to deadleg the Englishman). Mike Logan, Gary Hales and Ian Fenner-Evans all played well, pushing their opponents hard but to no avail.
In the other match between Ireland and Scotland, Ireland stormed into a 2 match lead but Scotland came back strongly to win 3-2.
Wales at least had the distinction of being the last team to leave the bar, and not just because we struggled to get up.
Saturday morning saw us take on the home nation which also meant a reunion between the two captains who (long ago) both played together for Northamptonshire at junior county level. It turns out that Adrian Leeson used to be coached by Carl’s dad!
After the pleasantries, battle commenced. Carl Elsby took the first match 3-1 for an early lead. At 3rd string, Gary Hales troubled the Irish captain at No3, taking the first game before succumbing 1-3. Apparently my dad gave Leeson some lessons on how to handle relentless, accurate lobbing.
The No1’s had a titanic match with Ireland’s Brian Lalor taking the first two games. Richard Murphy showed incredible determination to take the next 3 games 11/2, 11/9, 11/9 as the tension mounted, and Wales had a slender 2-1 lead in the tie.
Next up was Mark Jones at No4 against an opponent he lost to last year. Mark stormed through the first game 11/2 with a relentless fast game, and then showed great nerve to take the next two games 12/10, 11/9 and give Wales an unassailable lead in the tie.
The experienced Ian Fenner Evans stepped up for the final match. Ian has been a great help and support for me in my first Home Internationals, and as captain, and he shared with me many useful tips and strategies, helping with match preparation, eating habits, tactics, relaxation techniques, and much more. Before his match, he explained how, with a Wales Win assured, it would be a smart move for him to preserve his energy for the final match.
Despite this, Ian managed to win a close first game 12-10 before his strategy of preserving energy started to pay dividends, with him successfully losing the next 2 games. Then it all started to go wrong in the fourth and Ian managed to win it 12-10. Despite Ian’s best efforts, the final game went to the wire as well. Ian’s opponent, Brendan Murphy, had 4 match points but Ian had completely forgotten his strategy and came through to win 13-11. Seriously, this was a fantastic match and Ian’s win was a great battling victory against a wily opponent with a great poker face.
Ian preserving energy..
This gave Wales a well deserved 4-1 victory against a tough Ireland team.
The other match, between Scotland and England, turned out to be a classic. Scotland took a 2-1 lead in the tie before England took the fourth match. The final game went to 5 before “The Bloody English” prevailed. We knew that our final game against Scotland was going to be tough, that afternoon. It looked as though we would be battling the Scots for 2nd place.
At this point I would like to give special mention to Mike Logan, our 6th string, who volunteered to give up his place for this final match to help the team achieve second place. It didn’t work, but thanks go to Mike for this selfless act and for showing incredible team spirit.
The Scotland game started a little late because their previous match had over-run and we got under way with Carl Elsby taking on Paul Macari, the Singing Scotsman. Carl played a solid game and came away with a 3-0 win to put Wales one up.
Gary Hales was next up against John Kynoch. Gary lost two tiebreak games to be behind 1-2, but dug deep and frustrated his opponent with high lobs and deft drops. Gary won the final 2 games 11-6 to put Wales 2-0 ahead.
Step up Richard Murphy to take on the unbeaten Scottish No1 Peter Buchan. The first game did not go to plan as Buchan took it 11/3. However, Murphy is nothing if not resilient and he got into his stride, edging the second 12/10. He then took the third game 11/8 to leave Wales one game away from victory.
The clock struck 5 o’clock at this point and I have to say – I’ve loved every minute of my first Home Internationals, but you have to have clear boundaries. The evening do starts at 8pm and even squash players need time to get ready. In my mind, the squash should stop at 5pm regardless. If there are any unfinished matches, the points should be added up and the bonus points should go to the leading team. Particularly these days – Generation Z have led the way in making us realise the importance of not over-working, and valuing our physical and mental health. Gen Z wouldn’t be playing after 5 o’clock!
Anyway, the Masters Committee haven’t caught up with modern trends so the match continued and Buchan & Murphy returned to action.
It transpires that Murphy isn’t the only resilient one, and Buchan fought back to take the fourth game 11-6. Tense. In the deciding game, Buchan continued to raise his game and despite Murphy’s best efforts, Buchan took the last 11-5. However, a valiant effort from our Number One.
All was still not lost and Mark Jones came on court to play Andy Meldrum. In the previous round, Jones avenged the result from last year, but in this tie, that same psychology was in reverse. Meldrum played a very strong game and avenged last years result with a 3-0 win.
It all came down to the last match for that coveted Second Place behind England, and Celtic Champions.
Ian Fenner-Evans took to the court after his energy saving epic 5 setter earlier in the day. Unfortunately, Ian’s opponent was too strong and took home a 3-0 win to give Scotland the match and the Celtic bragging rights.
So congratulations to Scotland for a well deserved second place, and to England for coming out as Winners, after beating Ireland 5-0 in their final match. Wales finished in 3rd place.
The weekend finished with all the Welsh teams strutting their stuff on the dancefloor at the Ardilaun Hotel, and although I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to catch Murph on the dancefloor, I did get this picture of Ian, Gary & Rich, preserving their energy for the final kick…
