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League - Division Premier - Season 2009-2010:-

	Team	Pld	Pts
1	Sign Centre	19	190
2	AC Lobban	20	181
3	HSBS	20	180
4	Fort William	18	133
5	Forres 'A'	19	124
6	Nairn 'A'	20	60

League reports from January to April 2010:-

AC Lobban 12-5 Fort William

AC Lobban needed the full 12 points against Fort William to assure themselves the runners up spot in the top division in this their last match of the season.

Dan Jenkins looking perhaps a little jaded from becoming a new dad took the first 3 points of the night for AC, but Rab Douglas made sure he had to fight for it, taking the second of 4 games with some impressive back hand boasts for winners.

John Kynoch played Archie McGillvary at number 3 and took the game 3-0 for AC in an entertaining match.

Ally McCorquodale had the marathon match of the night with Alan Love. Ally had decided he would either go for rallies or nicks on the night which lead to a 5 setter. This tactic was nearly his downfall having to save a number of match balls from the never say die Alan Love, before winning the final game 16-14.

Garry McKay was in devastating form in the first two games against Bruce Love winning them to 5 and 3. Bruce never gave in though and with Garry failing to keep up the pace took it to 5. Garry steadied himself in the fifth however to win it and guarantee runners up spot for AC Lobban and defeat for last years winners.

HSBS 5-11 AC Lobban

The match between HSBC and AC Lobban was affected by the weather with their fourth string player, George Porter, stuck in snow and unable to make it into Inverness. So, after conceding that tie, it was up to Mike Martin to get the home team off the mark. Mike duly responded by taking a 2-0 lead over Dan Jenkins, but Dan staged a comeback levelling the score 2-2, however it was Mike to ended up the victor clinching the 5th game in style 11-2.

HSBS's captain Jamie Mackay was up against Ian Prott and both players exchanged some fine rallies in the first two games, with Ian edging both to take a 2-0. Ian then got off to a flyer in the third game and with Mackay on the back foot, closed off the match 3-0.

The 'match of the tie' was between HSBS's Ewen Urquhart and AC Lobban's Garry Mackay. Ewen took an early lead winning the first game 12-10, but Garry took control of the next two games with some super-tight shots and deft touches winning them both 11-6. However Ewen responded well and took command of the 'T' to take the fourth game 11-8, the last rally in particular, was an amazing mix of nicks and fantastic retrievals. With both players feeling the effects of the 4 tough games one or two errors crept into the play, however it was Garry who held his nerve to win the final game 11-7.

Both teams are competing for second place in the J.R. Motors Premier League so it was a very good result for AC Lobban, taking 11 points to HSBS's 5.

Season Round-up so far

This was a free week for the Premier Division and as such was an ideal opportunity for a bit of a catch up on games missed.

Nairn A hosted Forres A in a match that should have taken place on the 4 Feb. Unfortunately Forres had already played their joker and the points were awarded to Nairn, however it was good to see two teams that still wanted to play the match on a free week. Roger Milton turned back the clock pushing Roddy Smith all the way in a five setter, narrowly losing the 5th 9-11. This result shows Roger still has the appetite for a tough match.

Mark Rosiak stepped up to number 2 in the team and took on the other elder statesman and current Scottish Masters Champion, Davey Taylor. Yet again the experience of the Forres man proved too much for the younger Nairn man with Davey taking the match 3-1, utilising his shot variety he kept Mark guessing as to what was coming next.

Next up was Alan Paton for Nairn taking on Andrew Taylor. Alan proved too strong for the much improved Andrew and ran out 3-0 winner on the night, however the scoreline doesn't do the match justice as Andrew pushed the more experienced Alan all the way.

Finally with the match finely poised Daniel Mckintosh took on Rob Watson. Rob normally plays for the Forres B team and managed to put up a brave fight against Daniel losing out 3-1 to the stronger Nairn man. Nairn took the spoils 9-7.

Overall the Premier Lge has been strongly contested so far this season with Inverness Sign Centre forging what could be an unasailable lead going into the final quarter of the season.

Second place is still up for grabs with AC Lobban & Son looking comfortable however HSBS do have 2 games in hand.

Ft William, last years winners, have found this year a bit tougher, currently sitting in 4th and needing a collapse from the teams above to improve on their current position.

Forres A, normally a pre-season favourite, have struggled with player availability this season and as such find themselves languishing near the bottom of the league. A stark reminder to all teams of the need to keep a settled team throughout the season.

Finally last years Div 1 winners Nairn A prop up the league in 6th position. It cannot be stressed enough the jump in standard from Div 1 to the Premier Lge and Nairn are to be commended for their tenacity and fortitude turning out and giving their all week in week out.

Congratulations to Nairn for what has been an outstanding effort this year.

Fort William 9-9 AC Lobban

AC Lobban made the trip West to Fort William to compete in a high scoring 9-9 draw

The veteran campaigner Warren Cameron played number four for Fort William and despite having to take on the much younger Dan Jenkins, had a 40 minute warm up with MRG's Graham McKay. Fully warmed up, but still prone to the odd comment about how bad he felt he duly went onto take Dan to a five setter. Dan however taking the glory in the fifth by the closest of margins.

John Watt was victorious for AC Lobban as well beating Andrew McMaster 3-1 in an accomplished away victory.

Fort William were not to be outdone and the ever improving Alan Love beat Ian Prott who is also making great improvements in five.

Alan's 'old man' Bruce gave Fort William a well deserved draw with a 3-1 win against John Kynoch. Bruce proved to strong on the night, although John had a better performance than the week before and his one game won ensured the draw.

Forres 'A' 3-12 Sign Centre (Inv)

SignCentre had a return to their pre- Christmas form when they travelled to Forres for their latest premier league fixture.

The Inverness team have faltered in the last few weeks after the injury to their number 2, Neil Johnstone but with the return of Jamie MacKay they were back to full strength.

Kyle Gribben met Andrew Taylor the Forres number 4 in the first tie. These two had a close game the last time they met but Kyle showed his intent from the start and raced away to take the first game 11-0. He consolidated his lead by winning the second 11-7 before Andrew made a fight back in the third only for Kyle to close the tie out with a 13-11 win.

Forres captain and squash legend, Davy Taylor, and SignCentre's, Robin Hamill both considerably raise the average age of their team, but what they lack in youth they make up for with some guile and deceit. In the longest match of the night they traded the first four games setting the match up for a decider. It was close all the way but Robin grabbed it 12-10 for a 3-2 win.

Mark Potter is very quick about the court but he must have thought he was in a contest with a Tasmanian Devil in SignCentre's Jamie Mackay. In one rally Mark had Jamie all over the court, diving full length twice, but still managing to get up and win the point. The number two players had a great game but it was Jamie who increased his teams lead with a 3-1 victory.

Paul Treon is also an accomplished player having represented Ireland as a junior. Unfortunately he was up against the new Scottish under 19 junior Champion in Greg Lobban who was in scintillating form. Greg was able to reach the most testing of balls and return it to the most inaccessible parts of the court.

Greg won 3-0 dropping a total of only six points to cap a 12 -3 overall victory for the league leaders.

HSBS 11-4 AC Lobban

With AC Lobban's team changing right up to the last minute, in fact after the first game, HSBS took full match.

The first match was won by Allan Mackay fresh from winning his group at the Midlands junior graded tournament the week before. He beat Malcolm Mackay 3-0 who had only been called up the night before.

Mike Martin took every game against Dan Jenkins by two points and played some very unorthodox squash shots on the way which the tennis coach probably wouldn't even play on a tennis court!

Jamie Mackay was on song beating his long time adversary John Kynoch 3-1. It was a sweet win for Jamie and a deserved one.

Ally McCorquodale was the only winner on the night for AC Lobban in an overall 11-4 thumping from HSBS. Ally did it the hard way though going two nil down and saving match balls in the fourth and fifth sets.

Sign Centre 12-4 Nairn 'A'

League leaders, SignCentre Inverness, returned to action after the Christmas break with a 12 - 4 victory at home against Nairn.

The two Kyles, Kyle Gribben for the home team and Nairn’s Kyle Bruce promised an exciting match with two of the young talents emerging in the North. Unfortunately with the score at 2-0 in the first game Kyle Bruce pulled his groin conceding the tie to Kyle Gribben.

Returning to league action after injury, Stewart Gray was well below his best and looked to be on his way to a 3-0 defeat against Nairn’s, Mark Rosiak. Mark was two games up and had match point in the third before Stewart dug in and levelled the score at 2-2. Mark, however, took the initiative again in the third and raced to a 7-0 lead but Stewart’s 'never say die' attitude had him storming back to take the game and the tie 11-8.

SignCentre team captain, Robin Hamill, was next up against the fast and unorthodox, Alan Paton. Alan edged he first game 14-12 lost the second and then played some great squash to take a 2-1 lead. Robin finally managed to cope with a tiring Alan in the last two games to win 3-2.

That left the two number one players to round off the match. It was a contest between two players who play a very accurate front court game. Roger Milton from Nairn concedes quite a few years to SignCentre’s Scottish junior inter-nationalist, Greg Lobban. Roger found the reactions and speed of his younger opponent too hard to cope with and Greg closed out the match with a 3-0 win.

The number 2 game between John Kynoch of AC Lobban and Mark Potter was the only match on the night that didn't go to five games. Mark was to sharp for John on the night and won 3-0. Of the five setters Dan Jenkins was the only one to get the 5th game for AC Lobban at number 4. He beat an ever improving Andrew Taylor 3-2. Ian Prott at number 3 and Ally McCorquodale at number 1 both got of to great starts going 2-0 up, but their opponents from Forres Roddy Smith and Paul Treon came back strongly and took the next three games. A great result for Forres widening their gap from the bottom of the premier division.

League reports from September to December 2009:-

Sign Centre 12-1 Fort William

Sign Centre, Inverness regained pole position in the Premier League with one game to play in the first half of the season.

They met Fort William, last year's champions, at Inverness and had a comprehensive 12 points to 1 victory.

15 year old, Kyle Gribben, continues to improve his consistency this season and took the first game against the Forts' Archie MacGillivray 11-3. The second game went to extra points with Kyle narrowly winning 15-13 but he stepped up his game to close out the match 11-4 to win 3-0.

Robin Hamill considerably raises the average age of the Sign Centre team but at least he can vote. His opponent was Andrew MacMaster who soon found himself a game down. Andrew then stepped up the pace and cut out the errors to take the second game 13-11. Robin then pushed the ball into the back court and reduced Andrew’s attacking opportunities to take the next two games 11-3 11-4 to win 3-1.

Nicky McGrath, playing his first game for Sign Centre since returning on leave from the Army, showed he has lost none of his middle court dominance. He seems to just take one stride

Sign Centre 9-6 AC Lobban

Sign Centre continued their run towards the premier title with a 9-6 victory against AC Lobban.

Kyle Gribben lost the third game against Dan Jenkins, but upped the pace in the fourth to win it 11-3 and the match 3-1.

John Watt played at a controlled pace against Robin Hamill and took all 3 games for AC.

John Kynoch was 2-1 up against Neil Johnstone of Sign Centre, but couldn't close the match out with Neil making some wonderful recovery shots around the court to take the match 3-2.

With the match evenly poised at 6-6 the number ones went on, Greg Lobban of Sign Centre and Ally McCorquodale of AC, both part of the Scottish under 17 Scotland team that were runners up in the European championships. There were some great rallies and amazing pick ups in the match in which Greig won 3-0 to give victory to Sign Centre 9-6.

Inverness HSBS 12-2 Nairn

Inverness HSBS had a convincing 12-2 victory against Nairn.

HSBS's George Porter used his experience to help him defeat Kyle Bruce 3-0.

HSBS captain Jamie Mackay got a fright when Nairn's Mark Rosiak took the first game, but Mackay upped the pace and controlled the next three games to win 3-1.

HSBS's Mike Martin won by the same margin against Alan Patton, with the first 3 games going right to the wire.

The final match was between HSBS's internationalist Ewen Urquhart and Nairn's veteran Roger Milton. Ewen stuck to the task, retrieving Roger's fine volley drops and punishing any lose shots to win 3-0.

AC Lobban 8-9 HSBS

HSBS turned out to be the victors in the local derby against AC Lobban by the narrowest of margins.

Alan McKay at number 4 lost 3-1 to Dan Jenkins but the game he won against Dan, which he saved 5 match points in, was to turn out to be the difference between the sides.

Jamie Mackay at 3 for HSBS had a close first game with John Watt, but once in his stride was to much for John to handle.

John Kynoch gained a victory at number two against Michael Martin 3-2, in one of the few defeats Mike has had in the last few years in the leagues. It was a topsy turvy game, but the slower pace of John won through in the end.

Ally McCorquodale of AC went 2-0 up against Ewen Urqhart, but Ewen showed great composure to tighten up his game and play a variety of shots to win the next 3 giving HSBS a 9-8 victory.

AC Lobban 12-3 Fort William

AC Lobban took the full 12 points at Fort William and and gave only 3 away.

John Watt went 2-0 up at four and despite Archie McGillvary taking the third quite easily 11-4, John came back to win 3-1.

Andrew McMaster was out for revenge after losing to Ian Prott in there last encounter and looked impressive in the first winning it 11-5. Ian steadied himself, cut out the mistakes though and took the next three although it was a close fourth, Ian taking it 12-10.

Alan Love played well against John Kynoch, but couldn't manage to take a game.

Ally McCorquodale had the chance to win his match 3-0 against Bruce Love, but decided not to ask for a stroke, which let Bruce in to snatch the 3rd 13-11, but Ally took the fourth 11-10 to seal victory for AC Lobban.

AC lobban 9 v 6 Ft William

The number 4's Graeme Johnstone and Rab Douglas were on first for AC Lobban and Fort William respectively, both making their debuts for the season. Rab made it a successful debut taking the match 3-0 on a hot Inverness court 1.

Ian Prott continued on his come back from a bad accident by showing at times why he was one of the top players in the North beating an ever improving Andrew McMaster from Fort William 3-1 at number 3.

John Watt continued the winning ways for AC Lobban beating Alan Love 3-2 though had looked as if he may lose it at one point after being 2-0 up.

John Kynoch of AC Lobban and Bruce Love went on at number 1 knowing that the match was tied at 6-6 so the winner would provide a team victory. Kynoch didn't disappoint on this occasion beating a slighly under par Love 3-0 to give a 9-6 victory to AC Lobban and keep them above Fort William in the league.

 

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End-of-Document

Date	Event	Link
--- 2010 ---
July
23	HISA AGM at Inverness Tennis & Squash Club - 7.30pm.	-
July & August
-	SUMMER SQUASH CAMPS 2010 These Camps will run for 3 weeks during the school holidays and players should choose which week most suits their ability. Most of the activity will be Squash related but there will also be strength and conditioning sessions and other group activities. The sessions will run from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. each day and lunch is included. CLICK 'GO' to the right for more info or Contact Robin - dancenamix@hotmail.com.	GO