Kent Over 45s Team News

Success for the Men’s Over 45 Team

Following a disappointing result last season, being relegated from the Premier Division to the 1^st Division, we managed to gain promotion at the first attempt.

Kent Squad  -  Peter Willmor (Captain), Clive London, Steve Falla, Terry Higgs, PJ Rutherford, Gary Marshall.  For Steve, Terry and Gary it was the first time they were invited to play for the county.

1^st Stage     Kent, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Berkshire. 

We managed to come first with some fine performances.  Clive at No.1 showed true class in winning all his matches.  Gary showed little nerves and also managed to win all three matches and with the rest of us picking up some fine wins we started planning for the promotion weekend in February.

2^nd Stage     Kent, Avon, Wiltshire, Hampshire. 

1^st Match.     We thought the first match was going to be the hardest (Avon won their 1^st stage) and we were not disappointed.  Avon turned up with a strong side but with our team motivator PJ we thought we may have the edge.  First on were Terry and Gary.  Terry played a gruelling match and was unlucky to lose 3-2 going down 9-7 in the fifth.  Gary had a strong performance winning 3-1.  Then came Clive and PJ.  We were all a tiniest bit worried during these games, at one point Clive was 2-0 down and PJ was 2-1 down.  Both showed true grittiness by coming back to win.  Clive getting his well timed floating game together and PJ getting the odd ball to go down the wall therefore totally confusing his opponent and the rest of us who were watching the game!!!  Steve played last and went down 3-0.  We managed to beat Avon 3-2 (16 points to 11 points).

2^nd Match.   Wiltshire’s No. 1 not playing in the afternoon certainly helped our cause.  We managed to win 5-0 (20 points to us).  We were all looking forward to Sunday morning knowing a 3-2 win will put us in first place

3^rd Match.    May be our good fortune was running out as Hampshire’s team was the strongest they had been all weekend – they had brought in a fresh No. 1, shock horror for Clive!!!.  Again the team showed a fine fighting spirit.  Gary giving us a good start by winning 3-0,  Terry lost

3-0, Clive won 3-0 showing how to dominate with controlled squash (how does he make it look so easy?).  The stage was set for PJ who did not let us down with a strong 3-1 win.  Steve finished the weekend with a 3-1 win. 

Kent coming first with 53 points, Avon second 45 points, Wiltshire third 27 points and Hampshire fourth 18 points.

We left after having an enjoyable weekend thanking the host county Wiltshire who ran the event very well and made all the teams welcome.

Now we are looking forward to next season and being back in the Premier Division.