Boasters League
finals~~
From the beginning, the Wardogs
were behind the 8-ball. For a couple of reasons: Firstly, three of their
players needed subs for the most important match of the season. Travel and
injuries aren’t planned around the boasters finals and the Wardogs are simply a victim of circumstance here. All three of
those players were ranked highest in
their level for the season. So, (technically) any sub stepping in would be a
step down. Nor can those subs earn bonus points.
And secondly, I predicted the Wardogs would win. That in itself is a death sentence. Maybe I
should predict that the Tigers will not
win the World Series this year…
Smelling blood, the Winky-Dinks
took advantage – as they should have done. All three of their players who did
have to battle against a sub won – and including bonus points, just on those 3
results alone, the Winky-Dinks recorded
11 points to the Wardogs 1. But that
wasn’t the only good news for the Winky-Dinks.
Stepping up when push comes to shove, and avenging a loss
from the previous encounter in round 8 makes a significant difference when
teams are playing head-to-head. Matt
DiDio did just that against Jay
Bonahoom. He reversed his 1-2 loss into a 2-1 win, and surprised everyone
as he survived the match injury free and in no need of some surgical procedure.
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| Maggie Durant and Jerry-I-can-drop-it-from-anywhere-Rock |
In another turn around, and in one of the more exciting
matches of the evening, Jerry-“lob-lob-drop-lob-drop”-Rock needed all of his experience,
wrist flicking, mis-direction-ing, that he could muster against Maggie Durant. Jerry has beaten Maggie
twice before, but Maggie did beat
Jerry in the most recent encounter 2-1. Hitting some strong length was a good
tactic against Jerry, but somehow, against the laws of physics in some
instances, Jerry regularly managed to squeeze his racquet between the floor /
back wall / ball and pop in a deft dropshot while facing the wrong direction.
It’s a risky way to play squash, but it paid off – just. Jerry took the first
game 15-14, lost the second 14-15 and then won the third 15-9.
There weren’t too many highlights for the Wardogs. But it wasn’t all doom and
gloom. Marc Topacio scored the
biggest reversal from round 8 and he took care of the human pinball Bob Rogers 2-1. Bob had shut him out
3-0 in round 8, but it appeared Marc had figured a way to keep Bob bouncing off
the walls just enough. Strong 3-0 performances were all put in by Pat Hughes, Haytham Hermiz and Greg
Allare, and Curt Pedersen repeated
his 2-1 victory over Mike Cooney.
Of the 15 matches completed, the Wardogs only won 5 of them. The subs had certainly hurt their
chances, and we all know about captain Paul
Ward’s Achilles injury. Two matches were outstanding – but they weren’t
needed anyway as the Winky-Dinks
lead at that stage was too great. Final score: 41-30.
Captain Justin
Winkelman can be very proud of his team. They came through at the right
time, convincing wins in all three rounds of the finals. It is also the Winky-Dinks’ second title in a row. The
target is now squarely on their backs as the number one priority for next
season from the other captains will be to stop Justin from claiming a 3-peat…
 |
| Boasters Players. Happy family! |
