Grove Squash Club
Grove Squash Clubs Paul Drury has sent us a review of February’s matches;
First Team.
The 1st team are still top of Division 2 of the Nottinghamshire Squash League having won 2 and lost 1 of the matches they played in February. The crunch game against Southwell 1st team ended in a narrow 3-2 win for The Grove. Captain and number 1 seed Chris Gibbons led the team home following victories for Paul Breffitt and Richard Speed. This was followed by a comprehensive 5-0 drubbing of Clifton Park 3rds with Gibbons and Speed being joined by Paul Burrell and Steve Brown with the 5thleg being forfeited. The surprising loss came away at Rushcliffe 3rds where only Burrell and Speed came out on top. With Southwell winning their remaining games in the month it is getting very tight at the top with The Grove needing to win their last two matches comprehensively to keep Southwell at bay. Chris Gibbons sits at the top of the individual rankings and is joined by Paul Burrell and Richard Speed in the top ten.
Second Team.
The 2nd team extended their unbeaten run to eight in Division 3 winning the 4 matches they played during the month. These came against Southwell 2nds by a score line of 4-1 with Paul Allen, Matt Connor, Paul Nolan and Paul Drury winning their games. The next was against Sutton 2nds with Allen, Connor and Nolan again coming out on top and followed that up with a 4-1 home win against Chillwell 2nds with Allen, Connor and Drury being aided by Mark Chester. The final match was a narrow 3-2 against Grove 3rds with Connor and Nolan being joined by 4th teamer Jamie Groden. The fine run of form has moved them up to 3rd place and with 3 games remaining a good chance of gaining promotion. Captain Paul Allen currently sits 7th in the individual rankings.
Third Team.
In the same division as the 2nd team the 3rds have been struggling of late due to player availability. As well the match against the 2nds where Tom and Paul Breffitt picked up good wins they lost two others, against Trent Bridge 4th team with only Ben Taylor managing to win and David Lloyd 3rd team where Tom Breffitt managed a fine win at number 1 seed. The have dropped a little in the table but with only two matches left should be able to stay clear of the relegation battle. In the individual rankings both the Breffitts sit in the top 10 reflecting the fine form they have shown this season.
Fourth Team.
In Division 5 the 4th Team lost all 3 games played in February. These came by the way of a narrow 3-2 defeat to Notts Uni students where James Cockerton and Jamie Groden came out on top and also by the same score line against David Lloyd 4th team where Paul Drury was joined by captain Steve Knowlton Rayner. They disappointedly had to concede the other match because of player unavailability. With two games left to go they are hovering around midtable in their second season of team squash. In the induvial rankings James Cockerton is in the top ten but will unfortunately miss the remainder of the season due to injury.
Fifth Team.
Playing their first season of team squash the 5th team have had a hard month losing the 3 matches they have played. The bright spot was the continued fine form of Adam Whitney who won 2 of the 3 matches he played taking him to 5th in the individual rankings.
They have one remaining match and are looking to finish off on a high by winning that.