Students halt BofA’s long unbeaten run
Bridge of Allan second team captain Martin Jack has issued a rallying call to his shell-shocked troops after the Minewood men suffered their first ever defeat in the East of Scotland Squash Leagues.
A nail-biting 3-2 loss at the hands of Heriot-Watt University firsts brought an end to the Richardson and Starling-sponsored side’s 38-match unbeaten march en route to two league titles – the longest in East League history – when former Scotland under-17 international James Dougan just came up short in an epic foursetter against Martin Ross.
But skipper Martin has warned his men that with a must-win match at Grange tonight there is no time to feel sorry for themselves.
He said:“We knew that our unbeaten run would come to an end sometime and how tough it would be against Heriot-Watt firsts.
“They are the Second Division title favourites and are confident of bouncing straight back up to the top flight but we pushed them all the way and with Martin Sanchez and James Stewart both winning and myself and James taking games we have picked up nine valuable points that have kept us well in the promotion race and we have a game in hand.
“But now we need to go again at Grange who are sitting in third place and 12 points in front of us. So we know that an away win could take us above them and that is all the incentive we need to focus on this one and forget about the defeat.”
Meanwhile the firsts took their unbeaten start in Division One to three games with an emphatic 4-1 defeat of Edinburgh University firsts to move fourth with a game-in-hand ahead of tonight’s trip to Watsonians.
Captain Robin Bairner is anticipating a tough night’s work ahead at their fifth placed opponents who are just a point behind Bridge of Allan.
Robin said:“Watsonians are a side who are full of seasoned campaigners like Neal Dickson the former Scotland A international and under-19 champion but we have such strength in depth now that we are no easy night’s work for anyone.
“With it being fourth versus fifth something must give and I anticipate a very tight encounter.”
At Minewood the thirds have a home double-header when they host Craigshill tonight before returning to their home boards to entertain Linlithgow on Friday night.
Captain Stewart Penman said:“This week will provide a huge examination of our Division Five title credentials. We go into it on the back of a fine 4-1 win at Watsonians IV but with the Linlithgow game our game-in-hand we know that if we win both these fixtures we can go top by the end of Friday night.
“It may well be that I will shuffle my pack and use a bit of rotation and it is great that we have the depth to do that. Really these two games can’t come quickly enough.”
Elsewhere the ladies team moved into second in East Ladies Division One with a 4-1 hammering of Waverley in the capital.
An epic five-set victory for skipper Sheena Logan at number one was backed up by battling four-set wins by Karen Robertson and Debbie Gillespie before Maureen O’Carroll wrapped up the points with another gutsy five-set success. Tonight the Minewood girls head to Edinburgh University.