Racketball men seal place in Premier League play-offs

by | Dec 9, 2014

RACKETBALL REPORT BY ESSEX No1, ELLIOT SELBY
Essex Men’s Racketball broke new ground at the weekend when they fielded an Inter-County Championships team for the very first time.

With the county currently blessed with a strong nucleus of players. the Essex team of  Elliot Selby, Scott Legg, Antony Savage, Matt Cutchey and Adam Grilli headed to Grantham in Lincolnshire full of hope.

The opening match on Saturday saw Essex take on a slightly weakened Norfolk side and we strolled through the match with ease winning 5-0.

The afternoon tie pitted us against hosts Lincolnshire. The difference in class was evident from the outset and the team wasted little time in recording 3-0 wins across the board to all but secure us a place in the top two and into the playoffs for Stage 2.

The final match on Sunday was against Oxfordshire, clearly our toughest opponents yet. Both teams were already confirmed to move on to the Premier Division play offs next year, but we were not prepared to settle for second place!

Essex were immediately one match up as Oxfordshire only had four players. Antony and Matt were on first at three and four. Matt showed his incredible speed and court coverage to brush aside his opponent 3-0. Antony faced much tougher competition and looked good after taking the first game. But his opponent fought back strong and Antony’s error count rose as Oxfordshire won 3-1.
Up next were the number ones, Elliot facing PSA pro player Will John. Elliot, ranked in the top 5 in the UK at racketball, showed his consistency and experience to claim the match 11-1 8-11 11-2 11-5 and securing the victory for Essex. Scott finished the tie off with a hard fought win over Mike Edwards, Scott’s shot making proving to be decisive as he came through 3-1.

 

It was a great weekend for Essex and there is something very special about playing for your team, with everyone showing great support for one and other and a lot of team banter! We know the play offs to get into the Premier Division will be tough, but we have a strong team and numerous other players we can call upon to play if needed.