Senior Men’s Team

Cornwall Senior Inter County 2021-22   26/27 Feb  Stage 1                             HOVE SQUASH CLUB  report by Alan Murray
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After a 6am Saturday morning start, and a seven hour journey to get to Hove squash club, Cornwall had to face the group favourites Surrey in the first match. Even the 5th string Surrey player had a squash level of around 11,000, so it was always going to be tough. Jonny Newton (perhaps the player of the weekend) played superbly at 5th string, even taking the first game against his talented opponent, but couldn’t keep it going for the whole match. Phil and Owen had equally tough matches. Louis’ opponent was very strong (14,000 squash levels) and was too accurate and strong on the day. Up stepped Jared who played (as usual) superbly for his county. Pivotal was the 16/14 2nd game with Jared finally winning a memorable match. This was the only match Surrey lost over the whole weekend.
Cornwall V Surrey
Result: 4 – 17 Surrey win
Games
1-1 Jared London 3-0 Jordan Warne 11/5 16/14 11/8
1-2 Louis Murray 0-3 Ruudi Clarke 7/11 5/11 9/11
1-3 Owen London 0-3 Ben Coates 5/11 4/11 6/11
1-4 Phill Thomas 0-3 Seigo Masuda 6/11 5/11 8/11
1-5 Jon Newton 1-3 Sam Hodgkins 12/10 5/11 6/11 6/11.
The next match was against Dorset – obviously fierce rivals. Again, Jonny played superb squash against a very good player and won well. He was on fire. Phil, struggling to find his pre-COVID form, lost his match 3-0. Owen (on his senior debut) was a little inconsistent on the big points, losing his match narrowly in the 5th. Jared continued his great county form, destroying his opponent in 3 games. So, the score was 2-2 and it was up to Louis to secure the win. His opponent was a tall and skilful player, and the crowd were raucous – a lot of pressure on the shoulders of someone who is just seventeen. But Louis used all his experience of high-level junior squash and attacked superbly at the right times, taking the 3-0 win. Great win for Cornwall
Cornwall V Dorset
Result: 16 – 6 Cornwall win
Games
1-1 Jared London 3-0 Phil Sargeant 11/8 11/1 11/1
1-2 Louis Murray 3-0 Karl Bushby  11/4 11/6 11/7
1-3 Owen London 2-3 Andy Corben  9/11 11/7 9/11 11/1 7/11
1-4 Phill Thomas 0-3 David Lobo 7/11 8/11 6/11
1-5 Jon Newton 3-0 Callum Watts  11/4 11/3 11/4

So after a big Saturday night out for 4 of the team, Sunday’s match against Avon was always going to be an uphill struggle against very good opponents. Everybody did their best, with Jared managing to take a game at 1st string, but all lost against very good players. Louis was on last and played brilliantly in the 2nd game, when it was looking like he was going to go 2-0 down and managed to win 3-1 against a difficult opponent. 4-1 loss against Avon, but a very enjoyable weekend, some great squash and good times were had by all. A quick thank you to Truro School, who very kindly lent the team a minibus for the weekend. Very much appreciated.
Cornwall v Avon 1
Result:  5 – 18
Games
1-1 Jared London 1-3 Harry Anderson 7/11 11/6 5/11 4/11
1-3 Owen London 1-3 Sam Ellis 5/11 12/10 3/11 2/11
1-2 Louis Murray 3-1 Jack Alcock 10/12 15/13 11/6 11/8
1-4 Phill Thomas 1-4 Dean Boys 4/11 8/11 4/11
1-5 Jon Newton 1-5 Chris Wood 2/11 5/11 6/11
Final Positions
1st  Surrey 57
2nd Avon 1 38
3rd Cornwall 25
4th Dorset 14

ES Inter-County 2019-20     Manager Neil Counter   Captain Jared London

Stage I: 1st – 2nd February 2020            Finals: 16th – 17th May 2020

Stage I South:      Men- Coral Health and Fitness, Orchard Rd, Hove, Brighton

REPORT by Jared

Match 1 V BERKSHIRE     overall result 3-2 to Berkshire    Jared #1 W 3-1, ‘it was close with plenty of good rallies, both players exchanging winning shots’; Louis #2 L 3-0 11-3, 11-5, 11-8 ‘played well in the rallies but just didn’t have enough at the front of the court’; Phil #3 L3-1, ‘his opponent controlled the game so it was very hard for Phil to get into it.’ Rory #4 L 3-0, ‘struggled to get into the pace of the game.’; Jonny #5 W3-2, ‘played really well in a close 3-2, closed it out well in the 3rd game coming from behind  to take it. This put him in a nice position to win.’

Match 2 V Middlesex     overall result 3-2 to Middlesex    Rory #4 W 3-2, ‘topsy-turvy to get to 2-2 then Rory ground out a tough 5th to clinch it.’; Jared #1 V Mick Biggs W3-2, ‘Jared sailed into a 2-0 lead but took his foot off the gas and allowed his experienced masters player (England International) to peg it back to 2-2! Then Jared took control again winning the 5th relatively comfortably.’; Louis #2 L3-1, ‘played better to take a game but a good performance for his debut weekend.’; Phil #3 L3-0, ‘a tough day for Phil coming up against some very strong opponents who controlled the T.’; Jonny #5 L3-0, ‘after his earlier 3-2 marathon Jonny’s legs went and he just couldn’t keep up the pace towards the end of each three games.’

Just two matches played in a smaller group of 3 – just got pipped again 2nd year running and better luck next season.    

Season 2018-19     Manager Neil Counter   Captain Rory Brickell

Stage 1 @ HORSHAM, SURREY v Oxfordshire v Kent v Somerset  Jan 2019

Cornwall County Men’s 1st Team traveled to a local fixture in Horsham on Saturday 19 & Sunday 20 January to compete in a new weekend long “one off” shootout tournament organised by England Squash. With one of the strongest line ups seen in the county’s history, expectations were set higher than Truro Team 3’s previous record high in the local league last year. The team consisted of Jared London, Max Millar, Rory Brickell, Ben MacDonald, Jonathan Newton and Mark Howarth. 

The two day competition saw entries from all over the southern half of the country with county teams consisting of the highest caliber top five players; in some cases previous and even current PSA World Ranked players. 
Sixteen counties were split into four groups of four with Cornwall battling against old rivals Somerset,  Oxfordshire and Kent with the winning team progressing into the next knock-out stage. 

In the first fixture, Cornwall played long standing rivals Somerset to lose a closely contested 3-2 in matches. A stand out performance from No.1 Jared London saw him overcome Somerset’s Luke Bishop 3-2 in games after covering all four corners of the court countless times at unrelenting speeds giving London the nickname – “Road Runner” for the remainder of the weekend. 

Less than an hour and a half later, Cornwall players returned to the court to take on Oxfordshire who boasted strength in depth with all strings. To Cornwall’s advantage, Oxfordshire’s top player (previous world ranked 41), Scott Handley, had suffered an injury in his earlier match meaning the starting score was one love before a ball had been hit! 

In a serious of unfortunate events, Cornwall players Max Millar, Rory Brickell and Ben MacDonald all suffered three love defeats despite playing consistent squash with London once again shining through; defeating his opponent three love giving Oxfordshire a healthy dose of their own medicine! Too little too late, Cornwall narrowly missed beating Oxfordshire and lost the match 3-2 overall. 

The following morning, Cornwall marched into the Bluecoat Leisure Centre arena “fresh faced” to square off against Kent in what would be the final match up of the tournament. 

With the bit between their teeth, all Cornwall players were determined to “box off” their strings three love but couldn’t withstand the barrage of length and technical wizardry on show from Kent giving them the edge, once again, 3-2 in matches. 

After a number of high quality wins, London suffered a plethora of “taxi’s” from previous junior u19 England No1. Ted Jeal to eventually lose 3-1. Jonathan Newton scored a great match win at 5 string, 3-1, along with Mark Howarth pulling through in a thrilling 3-2 victory. Both Rory Brickell and Ben MacDonald lost 3-0 giving Kent the upper hand. 

Overall the team held their heads high upon return to the hallowed land known to many locals as “God’s County” aka Cornwall and wish the winning teams the best of luck in the next round of the National County Tournament.

Rory…… 

ES Inter-County 2017-18      Manager Neil Counter   Captain Rory Brickell

STAGE 2 @ WINDSOR, BERKSHIRE v Worcestershire v N Wales (withdrawn)        24th/25th February 2018

Cornwall Seniors Stage 2 2017-18 Windsor

Cornwall Seniors Stage 2 2017-18 Windsor

A proud occasion for Newquay’s Mark Campen-Howarth who captained the full county side in Rory’s absence – soon to become a dad! – at Windsor, Berkshire for this Div 2 Stage 2 weekend. UWE students Jared London and Ben Macdonald accompanied county stalwart Max Millar from Bristol with Mark joining Launceston’s Phil Thomas en route to converge on Royal Windsor in the knowledge that N Wales had reduced the weekend’s programme of matches leaving the Cornishmen just the two matches on the Saturday. Against the hosts, who normally play the division above, Jared lost 3-0 to the classy Paul Johnson with Cornwall strings 3, 4 and 5 – Phil, Ben and Mark respectively – all going down 3-1. Cornish pride, however, was restored with a slick 3-1 win for Max at #2. The wooden spoon encounter against Worcestershire proved a happier hunting ground for Mark’s team with 4 great wins at #2, #3, #4 & #5 against a solitary loss at #1 Jared again coming up against a nationally ranked player. A fine 17-5 win to lift heads on the long road home. To see the full results details go to: http://senioricc.leaguemaster.co.uk/ 

STAGE 1 REPORT Somerset v SE Wales v Cornwall v Hampshire 2 (withdrawn)              4th & 5th November 2017 

Senior Mens' 2017

Report and photos          click for full results http://senioricc.leaguemaster.co.uk/

Seniors Div 2 Stage 1 at Wyvern SC in Taunton – so a tough time expected. Hampshire 2 pulled out so our gallant senior side could give it their all v Somerset and v SE Wales (usually internationals!). The eventual scoreline against both was 4-1 L with Ben Macdonald at 4 being our standout player winning 3-2 against Somerset and narrowly losing 3-1 v the Welsh. Ben is certainly improving at a good rate in the Bristol leagues (away at Uni) and looks potentially like a future county No1 if he keeps it up. Jared (also UWE – 1st yr) looked a bit rusty (that ‘fresher’ factor?) and got the run around by Luke Bishop (previously world ranked) playing at 1 for the cider boys. Captain Rory remarked that it was good to see Jared at full stretch around all 4 corners of the squash court and looking outrun for once! Rory himself lost narrowly to his Somerset oppo 3-2 and showed signs of more form following some injuries. Against SE Wales it was even tougher as their 1 and 2 were professionals!!! At 1 Welshman Elliot Morris-Devred trounced Somerset’s Luke 3-1 so no joy for Jared there! Enough said! Phil Thomas (Cornwall) did well coming back from injury to take a game off the other Welsh pro Liam Eason. Martin Thompson (Falmouth) won at 5 against SE Wales recording our only other win for the weekend. Rory went down 3-0 in the other Cornwall v Wales battle. In all Cornwall were always up against it but the Committee are delighted that were were able to fulfill the fixture with almost our strongest side bar possibly Dale unlike last year’s dismal fiasco in Stage 2. Certainly, future support for our teams will always require an effort like this so well done to the five – a ‘Famous Five’ in Stage 2 we hope!Non-playing manager Neil did well to instill some pride back into the side which after all is the cream of Cornish squash…..

Co-written by Rory & Tony B

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