Last night was a truly spectacular night of squash, albeit a disappointing one from a result point of view.

 

The atmosphere at Liverpool squash club was electric, with over one hundred squash fans from all over the north west, packed in to see these 10 world class squash players go head-to-head.

 

Before the match, nobody knew which team would come away with the win, with all 5 match-ups too tight to predict.

 

First up on the show court was world no.42 George Parker vs no.55 Rui Soares (top & below). After a slow start by Rui, he then started finding his range and was hitting some superb straight attacks, and after half an hour the two gladiators found themselves tied at 1-game-all. For the next two games, George and Rui were playing well at the same time with some exquisite attacks and incredible retrievals. George maintained his quality and hit very few mistakes, to claim a deserved and vitally important 3-1 for his team.

 

 

 

At the same time on the adjacent court, Josh Owen and home hero, Lewis Harding were having a mammoth battle (below). Both players hit some deadly winning shots, but neither could maintain control for any prolonged period, meaning from a spectators point of view, this couldn't have been any more exciting, with them both guys trading points for over an hour. The 3rd game in particular was monumental. Lewis fought back from 9-3 down to force a tie-break, which Josh eventually won 19-17! That game alone was more eventful than most entire matches, with all spectators sweating and twitching more than the players themselves! Eventually, Lewis held his nerve to win 11-9 in-the-fifth, winning with yet another gutsy backhand volley drop.

 

 

2-0 to Liverpool. Warrington needed to win the remaining 3 matches.

 

Lwamba Chileshe and Lewis Doughty had played twice before, with Lwamba winning 3-2 both times (below). Like Rui, Lewis made a sluggish start, and Lwamba was on fire! However, the third was a completely different story. Lwamba was playing the best I've seen him play, attacking fearlessly, but Lewis was picking everything up and lobbing delightfully well. Unfortunately for us, he just fell short, as Lwamba won the third game 11-9, to win his team the match. I'd say this 3^rd game was the best I've seen Lewis play, and if only he could played that well from the start....

 

 

 

Talking about playing well... Ollie Hudson was brilliant against former pro, Connor Sheen. Volleying everything he could, Ollie dominated the middle of the court for the first two games. Connor finally got in-front of his opponent to take the third game, and at 6-2 to Connor in the fourth game, both men looked tired, but Ollie found reserves from deep within, and pushed himself so hard, making some unbelievable pick-ups and finishing rallies with awesome volley drops. Ollie went all the way through to match ball, and converted to win Warrington's first match.

 

Last up was our 'banker', Joel Makin. Joel is on fine form as he makes his charge to get reach the world's top 5. Sadly, it was clear from the start that he was holding back slightly. Joel was suddenly struck with illness and could not compete to the level required to beat someone of Patick's abaility. Of course, he pushed as hard as his body allowed him to, and won the second game, but alas, he could not keep this up. Patrick Rooney still played some beautiful shots and hit some outrageous winners, which entertained the boisterous crowd as only Rooney can.

 

 

 

 

 

So, Liverpool claimed a 4-1 win, denting our campaign slightly. We're already looking forward to the return fixture in January to silence our 'noisy neighbours'! Thank you to all of our travelling fans, your support is always appreciated. We are at home again next week as we take on league newcomers Neston. We have 'wonder-kids' Jonah Bryant and Sam Osbourne-Wylde playing for us, as well as Emily Whitlock making her first appearance of the season.