Windscale Club Finals 2011 (Saturday April 9th)

A Kelly - Club Champion	M Andrews - Handicap	H Crichton - Ladies Handicap	P Sempill - Vet's O. 50's Plate

At the weekend the club was throbbing with a good atmosphere for 8 of the 11 club finals, with players from the other three away on holidays, meaning they will be completed in the weeks to come.

First up were Handicap finalists Malcolm Andrews (a previous winner 34 years ago) and Bradley Mills, Malcolm was giving Bradley 2 points start which wasn't enough on the day as Malcolm won comfortably 2-0, with Bradley playing too loose, Malcolms' long reach and experience saw him home with something to spare.

The Ladies Handicap followed with Hannah Crichton (holder) playing Jessica Winder. Jessica was giving Hannah 2 points start but in every game the scores were level after a few rallies. Hannah claimed the first by 3 points, with Jessica repeating the score in the second, to level the games. Hannah wanted it more, and played the better squash in the final game winning the match 2-1 to retain the trophy (cue increased handicap next year).

The Vet's over 50 Plate was between Peter Sempill and John Messenger, and it was a close but unrewarding night for John, he lost a run of points in the middle of the opener to leave himself too much to do, losing the opener 15/12. He repeated the pattern in the second after getting to 7/9, by losing 5 of the next 6 points, and lost the second 15/11. Peter was playing with panache, throwing in the odd 'corkscrew' serve for good measure, and John succumbed 15/12 to lose in 3 games.

This brought us to the Club Championship, contested by Andrew Kelly and Michael Lowrey, so there was going to be a new name on the trophy and club honours board. Andrew pushed Mike about in the first with good disguise and great volleys, meaning that Mike was playing catch up throughout, to no avail as Andrew claimed the first 15/9. The second got no better for Mike, in that having been within a point of Andrew all the way through the first 15 points, he then saw Andrew kick on to claim the next 6 points, with more great touch shots to wrong-foot him, and more importantly tire him. Mike claimed a late couple of points to save face, but what looked suspiciously like cramp took hold as Andrew sewed up the second 15/10. Mike needed to find something different and following a chat with his mentor, they came up with the plan of running Andrew off court. Andrew was unsure how to proceed as Mike literally ran for the ball to get the serve ready for the next point, and Andrew found this change of pace off putting, and it totally threw him. Mike took the third 15/4, through nothing more than giving Andrew a good old-fashioned 'hurry-up'. Off jogged Mike, while Andrew sauntered to their respective 'corners'. Mike returned first for the fourth game, still in hurry-up mode, Andrew couldn't have seen what was coming, as Mike stormed through the game with fourteen unanswered points, only failing at game ball as Andrew claimed a point to save the whitewash, but 15/1 told its own story. What was more apparent throughout the third and fourth games was that all this rushing about by Michael was taking its toll on his body, as repeated cramp attacks hit him in both games, but at two games all it was he who departed the happier player. Winner takes all summed up the fifth game, and Andrew had his game head back on, as Mike continued to rush about as much as his cramping legs would allow, but it wasn't enough with Andrew winning bunches of points to Michaels singleton scores. At 10/3 Andrew could see the finish line, and without too many scares it was soon Championship ball to him, and another error from Mike allowed Andrew to drive a great length to wrap up what had been a thrilling see-saw final, 15/11 for his 3-2 victory.