Unst finally squashed by Lerwick
LERWICK Squash Club defeated Unst 3-2 on Saturday in a very tight match.
The number five seeds were first up and after some long rallies David Sutherland’s experience showed through as he managed to keep the points ticking over and win the match against Michael Inkster.
In the battle of the number two seeds Mark Sandison was on good form which saw him take the first game quickly. In the second game Kevin Priest fought back but was unable to close out a 7-3 lead and Mark came back to win the second. The third went the same way as the third to level the scores at one all.
Unst number four Gordon Thomson struggled to keep up with Steven Goodlad’s fast play which saw Steven take a two-game lead. However, Gordon changed his play and was able to turn the game, managing to win the next three games and put Unst 2-1 ahead.
Again the number three seeds saw some long rallies but Billy Mycock kept Hosea Moar in the back court to bring the score back to two-all.
This left two of Shetland’s top players to take to the court to decide the match. It was tight at the start and David Niven edged ahead to a 5-3 lead but Donald Hay raced back and looked like he might clinch it at 8-5.
However, David fought back hard to win 10-8. Donald looked to make up for this slip-up after racing to a 6-0 lead in the second but again David dug deep to win 9-7. David pulled ahead in the third game as it looked like he was going to close out the win with a 5-1 lead.
Donald came back though and got nine points in quick time to keep Lerwick in contention.
The next game was the toughest of the match so far and neither player could get more than a two-point ahead as the lead changed several times.
At 7-6 both players started commentating on their games which is always a sign of a very tight game. After eight rallies without a score Donald managed to win two points in a row to level the score at two games all.
In the deciding game both players were playing a huge variety of shots with a chess-like strategy displayed on the court. Donald took the initiative from the last game and took a 6-1 lead but David fought back to six-all. With both players now tired Donald managed one final burst to take three points in a row to win 9-6, completing the match and bringing victory to Lerwick.
