Briars E-news Match Reports: Round 1 Autumn 2015

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1 Briars E-news Match Reports: Round 1 Autumn 2015 Sydney 1 Rd 1 vs Lane Cove. Thornleigh's young gun Matt Bridle came out firing vs Josh (Energizer bunny) Larkin, with the first rally going for approximately 40 shots to end in a "Let". The first game continued at a high intensity until Matt was broken coming back from injury he did well vs the relentless Energizer Bunny. Matt went down 3-0 Next was Team Captain Rex "The tin Thomas" versing the juggernaut Tim Haworth. Tim's recent trip to Bali did take a toll on his performance. Struggling for breath by mid way of each game. Moving more like the titanic than the normal gazelle he would be. Rex comfortably took the match 3-0 Scott Makin was next on vs the glamour model Cody Herdman. Scott had his opportunities to put the ball away but always seem to hit it high and let Cody get back in the game. Scott sadly went down 3-0 Next was Jacob (when aren't I injured) Evans, versus Marathon man James Dampney. The match was off to a great start with Jacob having a 2-1 lead catastrophe struck with Jacob yet again injuring himself with a muscle tear in his knee he pushed on losing the 4th, Jacob then retired in the 5th game and his future is unknown. Down 2-3 Final Result 8-20 Division1 M02 Back for another season and the first round saw the Northern Districts Thornleigh A Team (M02) pitted against the also-ran Thornleigh M03 team. What one might call a Home and Away match. First up was 'Doc' Martin v. Cameron. Martin, who generally subscribes to the Big Bang Theory, was struggling to make headway, because the ball was Breaking Bad. But it was just another day in The Office for Cameron. The Simpson s, accuracy and touch was impeccable as he played the ball to all Four Corners with ease. Mission Impossible. Martin down 0-3

2 Next it was Young Talent Time, with Gentle Ben taking on Scott at his own game. The pace was frenetic and the court looked like Romper Room. Ben didn t have it all his own way. An obvious stroke at match point in the third (easily spotted by the umpire) seemed to be the Catalyst for the Wheel of Fortune to turn and take the game to a full 60 Minutes. But when the Chips were down, Ben found some reserves of energy and took the fourth convincingly. Ben up 3-1 Third up was David and Chris. Both went for The Block on many an occasion and there were several outbursts of Rage. The first game was tatty to say the least, but slowly it turned into a Good Game. Chris dominated the middle of the match before David finally found his rhythm and looked to be getting on top in the fourth. Chris steadied in the fifth and it all came down like a House of Cards. David down 2-3 Grizzly Adam's game went quickly into Top Gear against me and never let up. I was in Jeopardy right from the start. I had to Get Smart and try some Diff rent Strokes, but I had The Wiggles, any thoughts of averting a Knockout were Pie in the Sky. The game was over in a Heartbeat, and I was most definitely the Biggest Loser. James down 0-3. A Bonanza for the visiting team. The A-Team became F-Troop. Down 7-21 James M03 Word of the day, CRISP. Scott and Ben, not crisp. Ben his usual cracking self, Scott chasing the ball around and never threatening. Scott down 1-3 Cam and Martin, crisp. Cam looking like he was in a lounge chair, crisply dictating play. Chris and David, limp celery with patches of crisp. Chris got his act together in the 5th, changing the pace and pattern Chris up 3-2 Adam and James, freshly picked crisp.

3 Adam in the zone, James in his wake. Adam up 3-0 Division 4 The first round of the 2015 Autumn Pennant for the Thornleigh Division 4 team proved to be a very close match up against Macquarie Uni. First on court for Thornleigh was our illustrious captain Alex Jaroszewicz, who faced off against Shawn Gonsalves playing in position 4. Alex looked a little rusty as he hasn't been playing much of late and Shawn displayed some fine skills to win the match 3 1. But Alex showed that he has a good game and good speed, which will only improve as the season goes on. Second on court was Sach Sinnayah for Thornleigh against Stuart Bromley playing in position 2. This proved to be a very tight contest with Stuarts duracell bunny speed and stamina making it very difficult for Sach to win points. The first game looked like it may go to Stuart, but Sach hung in there to win it Sach took the second and third games to win the match 3 0. Next on court and playing in third position was Kristen Mansfield for Thornleigh, up against Brendan Rose. Brendan showed he has great skill (especially his backhand drop shot!) but Kristen also displayed great skill mixed with agility, composure and experience. After dropping a game, she managed to tighten up her play with good length and drop shots to win the match 3 1. With everything still to play for, the number 1's took to the court. Ian Katz for Thornleigh against Jolyon Rose. This proved to be a very vocal contest with the umpire sometimes wishing he was not there! Jolyon played some very unorthodox shots such as corkscrew serves, which initially troubled Ian. In the end, Jolyon proved a little too strong on the night and he won 3 1. So it ended up with each team winning 2 rubbers. Sach was very lucky to win 3 0, and since all the other matches were 3 1, Thornleigh won their first round 17 points to 11 points. Well done team! A good start to what's looking to be a tough season ahead Sach Division 5

4 The (dis)honour of writing the first match report of this new comp falls upon me [I'll have to re-write the rules, I think!] due to my performance, or lack thereof, last night. The first match on was Mark vs Mark. Unfortunately Mark won. Whilst I put up a credible fight, the wrong Mark was just a bit too experienced, and despite taking the 3rd game, I went down 1-3. Next on was non-mark (aka Douglas) who was up against a very experienced (sounds better than saying "old") player, who, even though out of condition, and having had a heart attack last year, still put up a reasonable performance. But, non-mark was just too canny, and cruelly ran his opponent opponent into the ground, winning 3-0. After that was Mark, who was up against a women (need to be careful not to be sexist), who probably hit the ball harder than all of us, except of course Mark. Even though Mark did the chivalrous thing and went walkabouts in the 3rd, she didn't realise she picked the wrong person to try and out-hit and so a brutal display of power hitting including a couple of great kill shots gave Mark a solid 3-1 win. It was therefore left up to Mark to take all the glory and bring us home. A text book display of down-the-middle drives and plenty of loose shots to prolong the rallies, meant that Mark finally had an opportunity to do plenty of running. Fortunately, that was the last thing his opponent wanted and he started to tin the ball just to take a breather (or it could have been Mark's brilliant tight shots that put him under too much pressure). A 3-0 win to Mark to give us an overall 22-6 win. So in summary, Mark lost (to Mark), Mark won, as did Mark and honoury-mark (alright Douglas) also won. A re-mark-able victory to start the season. Regards Mark Division 9 M08 played Norths M05 at home... We should have stayed at home - Unfortunately Norths opened up an extra large can of "whoop-ass" to win Peter Cameron, new to the team valiantly went on first and got one game from the canny Scot, Euan Brown, before going down 3-1. Kieran went on next and also got a game, but Michael Ryan had a huge advantage - match fitness. (Summer comp players are just a little too smug for my liking).

5 The battle of the cacky handers was next - Warren up against a new guy called Ben White. It was the best match of the night, but Ben White just had the edge and kept it up for 3 games. Martin and Jesper had a good match, but Jesper was too good this time... Our master plan worked flawlessly though - our bottom of the table position provides a perfect launch point to allow us to fly under the radar to certain victory in the autumn pennant.