Knights vs Northumberland
North Jesmond Avenue, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne
Can't beat this fantastic article written in the local newspaper by George Welch: http://jesmondlocal.com/2015/01/northumbria-select-squash-team-suffer-international-defeat/
It's got pics and footage from Kyle's match against Dave Barnett...
Graeme took both teams out for an absolutely delicious and filling Indian meal of various curries and rice dishes along with crisp beer for the night ahead. We were glad to have the Northumbria boys joining us out in town, with Will leading from the front for our much anticipated 'jol' in Newcastle. We went from being a tall team to a bunch of midgets beside the Newcastle Eagles basketball team that were also out for the night!
Mike and Kyle were graciously hosted by Graeme and Charl, Stef and Dan were with Will at his Gran's home where they had a lovely breakfast in the morning only to be spoilt at the club restaurant again!
All we can do is thank Northumberland Club, manager Graeme Manwell, Will for hosting us and showing us the town and all who came down to watch the close contest! We really enjoyed the banter on twitter and the build up it created, long live the Knights vs Northumberland fixture!
Friday, 16 January 2015
Knights vs Aberdeen Squash Racquets Club
Knights vs Aberdeen Squash Racquets Club
Cranford Road, Mannofield, Aberdeen
Our next stop on the tour took us to our most northerly city we would visit, Aberdeen. It's a 2 and a half hour drive north and we drove on snowy, frosted roads to this oil-rich Scottish town. We booked into a Premier Inn and met up with Karen Schultz who had made the trip from London to support the Knights.
We got to the courts which were rather on the cold side and started the fixture at 5pm.
Results from the night:
Saturday the 10th Vs Aberdeen
Cranford Road, Mannofield, Aberdeen
Our next stop on the tour took us to our most northerly city we would visit, Aberdeen. It's a 2 and a half hour drive north and we drove on snowy, frosted roads to this oil-rich Scottish town. We booked into a Premier Inn and met up with Karen Schultz who had made the trip from London to support the Knights.
We got to the courts which were rather on the cold side and started the fixture at 5pm.
Results from the night:
Saturday the 10th Vs Aberdeen
Kyle Maree vs Chris Shinnie 0-3 6/11, 7/11, 7/11
Stefano Garas vs Jamie Jacobsen 1-3 7/11, 13/11, 7/11, 10/12
Michael Shean vs Mike Black 3-2 11/5, 9/11, 11/5, 8/11, 11/4
Daniel Thomson vs Gavin Sutherland 3-1 11/4, 11/4, 7/11, 11/9
Charl Fourie vs Mike Hegarty 3-0 11/4, 11/4, 17/15
Stefano Garas vs Jamie Jacobsen 1-3 7/11, 13/11, 7/11, 10/12
Michael Shean vs Mike Black 3-2 11/5, 9/11, 11/5, 8/11, 11/4
Daniel Thomson vs Gavin Sutherland 3-1 11/4, 11/4, 7/11, 11/9
Charl Fourie vs Mike Hegarty 3-0 11/4, 11/4, 17/15
SA Knights won 3-2.
First on court was Daniel who played some of the best squash he has played on the tour to win 3-1. Charl went on and played some good squash for two games before Aberdeen captain, Mike Hegarty, put up a real stern test in the 3rd before Charl closed out 17-15 to win the match. Michael went on next and did just enough to win the match and close out the fixture for the SA Knights. His opponent never gave up. Stefano then went on against “Farmer” who played in a slinky vest. The two big guys slugged away but the previous night may have hindered Garas’ performance and he wasn’t his accurate self. “Farmer” won in 4 sets before the speedy Chris Shinnie took on Kyle Maree and put a great deal of pressure and used his great movement to apply pressure on Kyle and win in 3 straight games.
We had a delicious meal of pasta but struggled to get beers down after the previous night's events.
We knew we'd be going out either way with Karen making the trip so down they went! Some Scottish banter was being thrown around, and our referee for the night was chucking oranges at a junior to keep him in check apparently! We headed out to a club and had a massive night with our South African supporter, Karen. Mike and Dan got utterly lost on the way home and had to get a cab but it was a fantastic night in the end all round!
We knew we'd be going out either way with Karen making the trip so down they went! Some Scottish banter was being thrown around, and our referee for the night was chucking oranges at a junior to keep him in check apparently! We headed out to a club and had a massive night with our South African supporter, Karen. Mike and Dan got utterly lost on the way home and had to get a cab but it was a fantastic night in the end all round!
Knights vs Edinburgh Sports Club
Knights vs Edinburgh Sports Club
7 Belford Place, Edinburgh
From Glasgow we were off to Edinburgh next, just over an hours drive. Coming into the city, we immediately noticed how beautiful it was. The older buildings were works of art and the newer parts of town were clean and chic. The club is very close to the centre of town and is nestled next to a fast flowing river, with tennis courts surrounded by trees and shrubbery. It had a historic feel and as we explored the club we came across an original fixed-wall doubles court, which is much longer and wider than a singles court and the only one I'd ever seen!
We walked to town as a team, in search of a good view of Edinburgh Castle up on the hill. A starbucks on the high street was exactly what we needed and we wasted no time in scrambling in and ordering coffee and hot chocolate all round. We set up our usual card game for a few rounds. Dan continued to forget the rules but somehow did not end up being the turd. Mike then took care of his duties while the rest of us ventured out to shop and Dan and Stef neatened up at the barbers. After a warm Subway we hurried back to the courts in the cold.
We met Simon Boughton and our opponents, with one Saffa, Jacques Laas, playing against us at number 3 and another in the crowd who spurred us on with a South African flag hanging over the rails!
The results from the evening:
7 Belford Place, Edinburgh
From Glasgow we were off to Edinburgh next, just over an hours drive. Coming into the city, we immediately noticed how beautiful it was. The older buildings were works of art and the newer parts of town were clean and chic. The club is very close to the centre of town and is nestled next to a fast flowing river, with tennis courts surrounded by trees and shrubbery. It had a historic feel and as we explored the club we came across an original fixed-wall doubles court, which is much longer and wider than a singles court and the only one I'd ever seen!
We walked to town as a team, in search of a good view of Edinburgh Castle up on the hill. A starbucks on the high street was exactly what we needed and we wasted no time in scrambling in and ordering coffee and hot chocolate all round. We set up our usual card game for a few rounds. Dan continued to forget the rules but somehow did not end up being the turd. Mike then took care of his duties while the rest of us ventured out to shop and Dan and Stef neatened up at the barbers. After a warm Subway we hurried back to the courts in the cold.
We met Simon Boughton and our opponents, with one Saffa, Jacques Laas, playing against us at number 3 and another in the crowd who spurred us on with a South African flag hanging over the rails!
The results from the evening:
9th Vs Edinburgh Sports Club (ESC)
Kyle Maree vs Simon Boughton 3-1 10/12, 11/9, 11/6, 11/8
Michael Shean vs Ross Michoul 3-2 12/10, 9/11, 8/11, 11/7, 11/7
Stefano Garas vs Jacques Laas 3-0 11/5, 11/9, 11/5
Charl Fourie vs Gareth Brown 3-0 11/0, 11/7, 11/9
Daniel Thomson vs Simon Gocolin 3-1 11/7, 11/4, 6/11, 11/6
Michael Shean vs Ross Michoul 3-2 12/10, 9/11, 8/11, 11/7, 11/7
Stefano Garas vs Jacques Laas 3-0 11/5, 11/9, 11/5
Charl Fourie vs Gareth Brown 3-0 11/0, 11/7, 11/9
Daniel Thomson vs Simon Gocolin 3-1 11/7, 11/4, 6/11, 11/6
SA Knights won 5-0.
We played a truly international side that day with Simon being English, Ross Scottish, Jacques South African, Gareth Irish and Simon who had recently moved from Sydney, Australia! We got away with a 5-0 win on courts where lobbing was not an option because of the incredibly low roof and overhead heater. That South African flag must have brought something out in us!
We then had a tasty lasagne with some drinks and Jacques, our host for the evening, said he'd accompany us out that night. We met him at a local bar but this was not 'IT' for us and we went onto the streets in search of a more festive club. After strolling around we found a place called 'WhyNot,' a suggestion from a Tinder match. The lady obviously knew what she was talking about because when we'd brushed everyone aside to get to the bar we found that drinks were costing £1 each! We whipped out fivers with smiles from ear to ear and had a fantastic night ending around 04h30 when we crashed at Jacques' house..
We had to get up relatively early (for us, that is...) because Jacques had to make it to team squash practice, after that night! Rather him than us we thought, and all made our way to the club. 3 of the guys went out in the car and came back with some miracle egg and bacon sandwiches and Costa coffees to bring us back to life. We watched two older gentleman having a game of tennis outside as we finally got to see a snowfall around them! Very brave of them!
To Simon, the team at Edinburgh Sports Club and our 2 South Africans, thank you for a special evening in your beautiful city that future Knights will be lucky to visit!
Thursday, 15 January 2015
Knights vs Newlands Lawn Tennis Club
Knights vs Newlands Lawn Tennis Club
18 Mochrum Road, Glasgow
We headed into Scotland for the first time on Thursday the 8th en route to Newlands Club in Glasgow. The trip is about 2 hours and Mike and Dan were on the lookout for snow in the Scottish countryside. We watched the indicated temperature drop to 1.5 degrees and thought we'd see snow before it started to rise all the way to 6.5 degrees in Glasgow. The guys in the Peaugot had to turn back after about 20 minutes when Kyle realized that Stef and him had forgotten racquets that were being restrung at the club.
We found that Glasgow was a very industrial city, the courts were in a very nice area and we checked them out before heading to our accommodation for the night at the Eurohostel on the banks of the Clyde River. We booked an 8-man dorm room for the 5 of us and we met up at a Nando's of all places where we had to listen extremely carefully to the staff to get through their thick accents! A jumbo Costa mocha was the order of the day after Nando's before it was time for our match.
The results and a few pictures can be seen at Jason Broadberry's site: http://broadberrysports.co.uk/2015/01/09/results-of-west-select-team-v-south-african-knights/
The Knights won 3-2 with wins from Shean at 2, Maree at 3 and Fourie at 5 and losses from Garas at 1 and Thomson at 4.
Stef played Peter O'hara who hit the ball harder consistently than anyone any of us had seen. Stef thought someone must have made a bet with Pete to hit the way he did in the warm-up as a joke. The first game was one of Stef's easiest as Peter hit 10 tins, the next was Stef's hardest as 10 nicks were produced!! Michael sealed the deal in a great performance against Stuart George in 3 games after the fixture was up in the air at 2-2.
Feeling like we needed to celebrate our close victory and arrival in Scotland, we got Peter Halliday to take us out on the town. Mike decided to get some rest and stay in and Kyle and Charl opted for a casino adventure. Dan and Stef went out briefly with Peter only to find the night was in vain as there weren't many people out. 3 pint sized jaeger-bombs from Peter's bottle gave Stef the confidence to try his luck at the casino with Charl and Kyle. Within 30 minutes and one extremely fortunate 'perfect pairs' bet, Stef had doubled his money and went home. Kyle and Charl arrived an hour later having broken even...
18 Mochrum Road, Glasgow
We headed into Scotland for the first time on Thursday the 8th en route to Newlands Club in Glasgow. The trip is about 2 hours and Mike and Dan were on the lookout for snow in the Scottish countryside. We watched the indicated temperature drop to 1.5 degrees and thought we'd see snow before it started to rise all the way to 6.5 degrees in Glasgow. The guys in the Peaugot had to turn back after about 20 minutes when Kyle realized that Stef and him had forgotten racquets that were being restrung at the club.
We found that Glasgow was a very industrial city, the courts were in a very nice area and we checked them out before heading to our accommodation for the night at the Eurohostel on the banks of the Clyde River. We booked an 8-man dorm room for the 5 of us and we met up at a Nando's of all places where we had to listen extremely carefully to the staff to get through their thick accents! A jumbo Costa mocha was the order of the day after Nando's before it was time for our match.
The results and a few pictures can be seen at Jason Broadberry's site: http://broadberrysports.co.uk/2015/01/09/results-of-west-select-team-v-south-african-knights/
The Knights won 3-2 with wins from Shean at 2, Maree at 3 and Fourie at 5 and losses from Garas at 1 and Thomson at 4.
Stef played Peter O'hara who hit the ball harder consistently than anyone any of us had seen. Stef thought someone must have made a bet with Pete to hit the way he did in the warm-up as a joke. The first game was one of Stef's easiest as Peter hit 10 tins, the next was Stef's hardest as 10 nicks were produced!! Michael sealed the deal in a great performance against Stuart George in 3 games after the fixture was up in the air at 2-2.
Feeling like we needed to celebrate our close victory and arrival in Scotland, we got Peter Halliday to take us out on the town. Mike decided to get some rest and stay in and Kyle and Charl opted for a casino adventure. Dan and Stef went out briefly with Peter only to find the night was in vain as there weren't many people out. 3 pint sized jaeger-bombs from Peter's bottle gave Stef the confidence to try his luck at the casino with Charl and Kyle. Within 30 minutes and one extremely fortunate 'perfect pairs' bet, Stef had doubled his money and went home. Kyle and Charl arrived an hour later having broken even...
Knights vs Carlisle Squash and Racketball Club
Knights vs Carlisle Squash and Racketball Club
Rugby Ground, Warwick Road, Carlisle, Cumbria
We awoke to a small comedy of errors but luckily was not too serious. Dan and Kyle thought they were getting up early at 10am for a breakfast only to be informed that breakfast had ended at 09h30. After going back to bed we all got a call from reception politely informing us that checkout was at 11h00, it was now 11h25. Again we'd strewn our partially dry washing from Durham on all surfaces and had to make tracks quickly before the hotel got too tired with us. We were on the road in little time with a short hour's trip north to Carlisle, which is just 6 miles south of the Scottish border. Driving on the narrow country roads requires full attention and really gets fun compared to the endless straights at the same speed on the motorways which makes it less of a task..
We popped into the courts so we knew where to come before heading to the local Premier Inn for lunch, a game of turd and some free time. We always treasure even just an hour or two's free time to sort through matters outside of the tour, which of course see little attention otherwise!
The guys at Windscale had told us the team at Carlisle would be a lot stronger than they were and that lots of people would turn out as the viewing gallery above the two match courts is absolutely massive. You would not like to do any stair challenges as the stands went up about 3 floors! We checked the knights record book which has full details of all previous knights tours dating back to 2000 and found that the club had indeed put out strong sides in the past. Their number one, Paul Bell, who coaches throughout Cumbria, had not lost to the Knights for the past 4 tours!
The crowd was truly massive, easily 150 people strong and our biggest yet on the tour. Once again, skipper Mike introduced us all and by now knew what to say to a crowd to get the point of what we are doing across and to get a couple laughs when introducing each one of us. Starting at number 5, Dan is always described as absolutely loving a 5 setter and getting as much court time as possible. We announce Charl as being 13 years old as his innocent baby-face often gets asked for ID at the clubs. Stef has gained a reputation for smashing the ball with his 'Hammer of Thor' squash racquet, as the team call it and the crowds love to see him winding up for a big 'klap.' Mike tells the crowd that Kyle is from the city of Johannesburg in South Africa and consequently that they must 'watch their stuff' when Kyle's around. Last but not least, Mike has to introduce himself. This almost deserves a story of its own, but when we were in Jersey we also had a huge crowd and an MC on the microphone who announced achievements of each of us before we went on court. This MC introduced the Jersey player and covered him with achievements, telling the crowd how Scott had been a finalist in the Jersey Open, had represented Jersey in the Commonwealth Games and everything else. He then moved onto Michael, who's list of achievements would take an age just to touch on, and said, ' MICHAEL SHEAN, HE'S FROM EAST LONDON, AND HE HAS 3 BROTHERS, GIVE IT UP FOR MICHAEL SHEAN!!! The team packed out laughing at the sound of this and its stuck as a good story for him.
The results were as follows:
Rugby Ground, Warwick Road, Carlisle, Cumbria
We awoke to a small comedy of errors but luckily was not too serious. Dan and Kyle thought they were getting up early at 10am for a breakfast only to be informed that breakfast had ended at 09h30. After going back to bed we all got a call from reception politely informing us that checkout was at 11h00, it was now 11h25. Again we'd strewn our partially dry washing from Durham on all surfaces and had to make tracks quickly before the hotel got too tired with us. We were on the road in little time with a short hour's trip north to Carlisle, which is just 6 miles south of the Scottish border. Driving on the narrow country roads requires full attention and really gets fun compared to the endless straights at the same speed on the motorways which makes it less of a task..
We popped into the courts so we knew where to come before heading to the local Premier Inn for lunch, a game of turd and some free time. We always treasure even just an hour or two's free time to sort through matters outside of the tour, which of course see little attention otherwise!
The guys at Windscale had told us the team at Carlisle would be a lot stronger than they were and that lots of people would turn out as the viewing gallery above the two match courts is absolutely massive. You would not like to do any stair challenges as the stands went up about 3 floors! We checked the knights record book which has full details of all previous knights tours dating back to 2000 and found that the club had indeed put out strong sides in the past. Their number one, Paul Bell, who coaches throughout Cumbria, had not lost to the Knights for the past 4 tours!
The crowd was truly massive, easily 150 people strong and our biggest yet on the tour. Once again, skipper Mike introduced us all and by now knew what to say to a crowd to get the point of what we are doing across and to get a couple laughs when introducing each one of us. Starting at number 5, Dan is always described as absolutely loving a 5 setter and getting as much court time as possible. We announce Charl as being 13 years old as his innocent baby-face often gets asked for ID at the clubs. Stef has gained a reputation for smashing the ball with his 'Hammer of Thor' squash racquet, as the team call it and the crowds love to see him winding up for a big 'klap.' Mike tells the crowd that Kyle is from the city of Johannesburg in South Africa and consequently that they must 'watch their stuff' when Kyle's around. Last but not least, Mike has to introduce himself. This almost deserves a story of its own, but when we were in Jersey we also had a huge crowd and an MC on the microphone who announced achievements of each of us before we went on court. This MC introduced the Jersey player and covered him with achievements, telling the crowd how Scott had been a finalist in the Jersey Open, had represented Jersey in the Commonwealth Games and everything else. He then moved onto Michael, who's list of achievements would take an age just to touch on, and said, ' MICHAEL SHEAN, HE'S FROM EAST LONDON, AND HE HAS 3 BROTHERS, GIVE IT UP FOR MICHAEL SHEAN!!! The team packed out laughing at the sound of this and its stuck as a good story for him.
The results were as follows:
Wed 7th Vs Carlisle Squash & Racketball Club
Michael Shean vs Paul Bell 3-1 11/9, 11/9, 8/11, 11/4
Kyle Maree vs Tony Hetherington 3-0 11/9, 12/10, 11/8
Stefano Garas vs James Worsick 3-0 11/6, 11/4, 11/5
Charl Fourie vs Dave Gray 3-1 11/5, 10/12, 11/9, 11/7
Daniel Thomson vs Ben Hetherington 3-2 11/7, 11/5, 10/12, 9/11, 11/7
Kyle Maree vs Tony Hetherington 3-0 11/9, 12/10, 11/8
Stefano Garas vs James Worsick 3-0 11/6, 11/4, 11/5
Charl Fourie vs Dave Gray 3-1 11/5, 10/12, 11/9, 11/7
Daniel Thomson vs Ben Hetherington 3-2 11/7, 11/5, 10/12, 9/11, 11/7
SA Knights won 5-0
Another fantastic team performance saw us whitewash our opponents, Dan lived up to his 5 setter reputation and Michael ended Paul's winning streak against the Knights.
We enjoyed a curry and some hard earned beers in the clubhouse before returning to our hotel for the now usual games of turd. What a feeling to all be performing as a unit!
Thanks to Ronnie Bell, our opponents, and the massive crowd that came to watch us!
Knights vs Windscale Squash Club
Knights vs Windscale Squash Club
Falcon Complex, Egremont, Cumbria
We woke up in Andy's home following the Durham fixture and the guys were faced with the trade-off between more sleep and getting washing done, the latter being the important thing to get done! We'd been on the road for 10 days and washing was now reaching extreme urgency. We found that the drier had not dried the stuff we'd put in overnight and only operated on 2 hour cycles it seemed so we draped clothes, sweat towels and bandanas on every available surface but still ended up leaving with some partially wet kit.
The team piled into the 2 hatchbacks for a 3 hour trip from the east coast of Britain right across horizontally to the west coast to Windscale Squash Club in Egremont, Cumbria. Long, narrow and windy country lanes meant the going was never too fast and you'd often find yourself stuck behind a truck for miles before an overtaking opportunity arose, especially when lots of space was needed in a 1.2 litre overladen Corsa!
We were being put up in a beautiful and historic hotel called the Ennerdale in exchange for an hour or so's time spent coaching some local youngsters at the club. The kids were all extremely keen and responsive with our drills and match play and it was a fun experience all round. By the end of the coaching a large crowd of about 80 people had gathered in the gallery of the match court. Michael introduced us all and we then had some photos with the children and handed each of them a signed Knights brochure with an encouraging message on each. A fantastic atmosphere had been created by everyone at the club and it was time for the us to get on with matches and give the crowd something to cheer about.
The matches went as follows:
6th of Jan Vs Windscale Squash
Stefano Garas vs Daniel Harrison 3/0
Michael Shean vs Michael Metherington 3/0
Kyle Maree vs Chris Musson 3/0
Charl Fourie vs Jackson Holiday 3/0
Daniel Thomson vs Brandon Groggins 3/0
SA Knights won 5-0.
As a team we put on a superb effort without giving away a single game. We were very proud because Windscale brought out some very talented players and we'd had to play very hard to get the result we did. A lot of the guys were very young still and we reckon in a few years time the same team could be a very formidable force for future knights sides.
We went across to the bar area for a delicious supper. A few of the spectators came to wish us well for the rest of the tour and said they'd enjoyed the night which is always lovely to hear. Afterwards, we headed back to the comfort of a wonderful hotel and had some extremely close games of turd, unfortunately Charl had to be the turd of the last game, when almost everyone had been in the games before. Phew!
Falcon Complex, Egremont, Cumbria
We woke up in Andy's home following the Durham fixture and the guys were faced with the trade-off between more sleep and getting washing done, the latter being the important thing to get done! We'd been on the road for 10 days and washing was now reaching extreme urgency. We found that the drier had not dried the stuff we'd put in overnight and only operated on 2 hour cycles it seemed so we draped clothes, sweat towels and bandanas on every available surface but still ended up leaving with some partially wet kit.
The team piled into the 2 hatchbacks for a 3 hour trip from the east coast of Britain right across horizontally to the west coast to Windscale Squash Club in Egremont, Cumbria. Long, narrow and windy country lanes meant the going was never too fast and you'd often find yourself stuck behind a truck for miles before an overtaking opportunity arose, especially when lots of space was needed in a 1.2 litre overladen Corsa!
We were being put up in a beautiful and historic hotel called the Ennerdale in exchange for an hour or so's time spent coaching some local youngsters at the club. The kids were all extremely keen and responsive with our drills and match play and it was a fun experience all round. By the end of the coaching a large crowd of about 80 people had gathered in the gallery of the match court. Michael introduced us all and we then had some photos with the children and handed each of them a signed Knights brochure with an encouraging message on each. A fantastic atmosphere had been created by everyone at the club and it was time for the us to get on with matches and give the crowd something to cheer about.
The matches went as follows:
6th of Jan Vs Windscale Squash
Stefano Garas vs Daniel Harrison 3/0
Michael Shean vs Michael Metherington 3/0
Kyle Maree vs Chris Musson 3/0
Charl Fourie vs Jackson Holiday 3/0
Daniel Thomson vs Brandon Groggins 3/0
SA Knights won 5-0.
As a team we put on a superb effort without giving away a single game. We were very proud because Windscale brought out some very talented players and we'd had to play very hard to get the result we did. A lot of the guys were very young still and we reckon in a few years time the same team could be a very formidable force for future knights sides.
We went across to the bar area for a delicious supper. A few of the spectators came to wish us well for the rest of the tour and said they'd enjoyed the night which is always lovely to hear. Afterwards, we headed back to the comfort of a wonderful hotel and had some extremely close games of turd, unfortunately Charl had to be the turd of the last game, when almost everyone had been in the games before. Phew!
Knights vs Queen's Sports Club
Knights vs Queens Sports Club
Halifax
After the unexpected rest day in Chorley, we travelled north east to Halifax, about an hours drive through some scenic countryside. Mike had to abandon his usual travel buddy Dan, who was sick as a dog , and drove with the other 3 in the Peaugot. We got to the Premier Inn where we would be staying for the night and rested up before heading to Queens Club.
David Hymas showed us the club and we got down to the matches which went as follows:
Halifax
After the unexpected rest day in Chorley, we travelled north east to Halifax, about an hours drive through some scenic countryside. Mike had to abandon his usual travel buddy Dan, who was sick as a dog , and drove with the other 3 in the Peaugot. We got to the Premier Inn where we would be staying for the night and rested up before heading to Queens Club.
David Hymas showed us the club and we got down to the matches which went as follows:
4th January Vs Queens Sports Club
Stefano Garas Vs Sarah Kippax 3/0
Kyle Maree Vs Amanda Murphy 3/0
Michael Shean Vs Tom Whiteley 3/0
Daniel Thomson Vs Danny Bray 1/3
Charl Fourie Vs Lewis Scott 3/0
Stefano Garas Vs Sarah Kippax 3/0
Kyle Maree Vs Amanda Murphy 3/0
Michael Shean Vs Tom Whiteley 3/0
Daniel Thomson Vs Danny Bray 1/3
Charl Fourie Vs Lewis Scott 3/0
SA Knights won 4-1.
Queens had fielded WSA no.20 Sarah Kippax to play at 1 and Stef managed to win in 3, although the 3rd set ended well into the teens and we thought Sarah had figured out a good strategy against him. Amanda Murphy, who is ranked at 44 in the world, had some brilliant shots against Kyle Maree too but it was good to get one over the talented New Zealander! Mike and Charl closed out well in 3 and Dan went down in 4 to a gritty junior.
After the fixture we had a traditional English meal of pie, wedges and mushy green peas and South Africa's world renown and publicly aired murder trial involving Oscar Pistorius was the topic of conversation for the evening. We chatted late into the night with Sarah and Amanda before heading back to the Premier Inn.
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