Our Heriot-Watt squash team headed south on Friday, bound for a weekend of BUCS Prem action in Newcastle against the best teams in the North. Despite fielding a depleted team due to injury, our guys were unfazed and ready to step up to the challenge and show everyone what the boys in yellow were made of.
Saturday
Heriot-Watt vs Nottingham: 1-4
First up was going to be the toughest ask of the weekend against a super strong Nottingham team. It was a rough start for the Watt Warriors and despite some valiant efforts they went behind 4-0 in matches. Our no.2 (usually playing at no.4) James ‘Jimbo’ Taylor took to the court and even though he was playing a dead rubber, it looked as though he was determined to lift the spirits of the rest of the team. He came out playing like a man possessed and at 1-1 and 10-9 game ball up he produced a dive and a reverse boast combo to take the 3rd game leaving the Nottingham lad wondering what just happened. Georgia Adderley (Edinburgh Uni and World no.59) was watching on and was quoted as saying ‘James is playing the match of his LIFE!’. Jimbo ended up taking the match 3-2 and getting Heriot-Watt on the board against Nottingham. Could this be the turning point for the weekend?
Heriot-Watt vs Loughborough 4-1
The HW guys came out knowing that after a defeat to Nottingham, everything else was going to be a must win. But against Loughborough this was going to be no easy task. We lost the first match 3-0 and the second match was turning into a real tussle. Anoopp ‘Snoop’ Nithiyanandam, our no.5, decided we were not going to go down 2-0 in matches and even though the match was 2-2 and 8-8 in the decider, we had no doubt that he was going to win when he pulled out a dive winner and gave the biggest fist pump and ‘COME ONN’ shout anyone has ever seen the placid man do. Match to Snoop 3-2. Martin ‘Spartan’ Ross, the HW team stalwart, put in a solid performance at no.1 string to dominate his Loughborough opponent and get us in the lead 2-1. Meanwhile over on the other court we had another battle on our hands, this time between the no.4s. Albeer ‘Alby’ Mehmood was fighting hard but when he lost a tight third game tie-break to go down 2-1, we were wondering if he would have what it takes to go the distance. However, he went on in the 4th and 5th games and produced nothing short of magic, rolling out nicks and winners from everywhere. Even one of the opposing team was heard as saying ‘I’d be cheering for him if he was playing against anyone except Loughborough!’ Match to Alby 3-2, securing the win against Loughborough with one match still to play. After putting all his new found knowledge of recovery methods into practice from Jen Hudson and Ronnie McGregor, Jimbo took to the court after his brutal 5 setter earlier in the day and continued his epic form, getting the win 3-0 and well and truly putting the nail in the coffin for Loughborough. HUGE win for the team!
Sunday
Heriot-Watt vs Newcastle 5-0
Rolling in on Sunday morning fuelled by mixed grill platters from ‘The Bake One’ Turkish restaurant the night before, the HW boys knew there was still a big job to do. Daniel ‘Sully’ O’Sullivan was up first for us at no.3 and got off to a great start comfortably taking the first game. Things went a bit pear shaped for Sully after that losing the next 2 games. But Sully decided he wasn’t going to be the only HW player going home without a win under his belt from the weekend and with a determined look in his eye he went out there and eked out a hard fought 3-2 win. The rest of the team followed suit, all notching up 3-0 wins. Jimbo even dished out a ruthless 11-0 bagel in one game, and Snoopp managed to win with his coach’s racket after breaking the strings on the last one he had left.
Absolutely inspiring stuff from our Watt Warriors this weekend showing some real heart to come through in some brutal matches. Coach is feeling proud, and this is only the start!
After finishing 2nd, HW now go into the 2nd vs 3rd playoff against Warwick who finished 3rd in the South. That fixture is coming up soon on Wednesday 23rd November at Heriot-Watt – Get it in your diaries everyone, we expect full attendance and everyone to get LOUD in their support! LET’S GOOO!
Match Report by Donna Lobban (Head Coach)