Rebels Win in Rossis’ Rumble The opening match of the Norfolk Winter Squash League saw Rossi 2nd team pitted against the newly formed Rossis’ Rebels. With the Rossi 2nd team two men down, due to injuries to regular performers Matt Purling and Ben Parravani, the odds appeared to be stacked in the Rebels’ favour. Local hero David Attew and Captain Supreme Rob Stimpson were brought in as their replacements. The fourth seeds of Rossis’ Phil Slack and Rebel’s Alex Foster were first on court and treated the crowd to a tight and entertaining first game. Phil always held a slight advantage but could never shake off Alex and the game went to a tie breaker at 14 all. Amazingly it was Phil who held his nerve to take the next two points and the game. Phil would take a 2-0 lead before a run of 6 points gave Alex the third game. However Phil showed some great form despite his lack of pre-season training to claim the match 3-1. Ben Harris took on Ben Herrieven, the talented Rebel shot maker in the battle of the number two seeds. Harris used all his resolve and fight to level the match at 1-1. Herrieven then stepped on the gas to run out a 3-1 winner. An impressive performance from a player who will look to go undefeated the entire season. The top seeds took to the court next with both players looking to send a message to the rest of the league. Rebel Richard Keeble got off to a flyer to take the first game 15-4 against Rob “the whippet” Whiting. The second went the same as the first before Whiting finally got into the match claiming the third 15-9. The fourth was an epic, with momentum changes, extended rallies and harrowing near misses. Rob had game ball at 14-13 but fluffed his lines and allowed Richard to steal the game and match for a 3-1 win. David “job done” Attew was next on against Rebel Alex Burrows who has only recently come off the injured list. This was the match of the night, an hour long battle royale! Alex came from 12-9 down to claim the fourth and tie the match at 2-2. Perhaps it was this effort that depleted Alex’s energy cells as David steamrollered the fifth 15-5 to win the match and level the overall score. Job done. Perfectly balanced the match fell into the hands of the two captains Rossis’ Rob Stimpson and Rebel Henri Paul. Earlier in the day Rob claimed to have never lost to his opponent and was confident of victory on the night. He looked sharp, primed for combat and mentally in the zone. He had rallied his troops to give it their all and he was going to do the same. The crowd hushed, anticipating a marathon encounter and…. Rob lost 3-0 in 25 minutes. The Rebels won match 3-2 but all players could be proud of their performance.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 15:08:33 +0000
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