A Captain’s Account (written while staring at the ceiling)
There are weekends in sport that build character. Saturday was one of those weekends. We built an enormous amount of character. We are practically overflowing with it.
Warwick University hosted the Men’s O35 Masters Inter Counties Finals on Saturday 16th May. And Berkshire arrived full of optimism, matching kit (sort of), and a WhatsApp group that had been suspiciously quiet on the drive up.
Match 1 – Berkshire vs Devon
Devon arrived with the quiet confidence of a team who had clearly been eating their vegetables and going to bed on time. Berkshire arrived with… well, we arrived. That counts for something.
Gurbhaj Kahlon, our fearless number one, strode onto court against James Snell and promptly lost 11-1, 11-1, 11-8. To his enormous credit, he did win ten points in total. We’re focusing on that.
Rhys Thomas at two restored some dignity with a proper 3-1 win – the kind of composed, authoritative display that made the rest of us look significantly worse by comparison. Thanks for that, Rhys.
Simon Rodwell (C) at three put in a valiant effort before ultimately succumbing 3-1. Simon has asked me to note that he was “definitely not tired” and that “those tins were very unlucky.” We believe him entirely.
Tom Westerman then stepped up at four and won 3-1, briefly making us think this might all be okay. Tom looked magnificent. Tom gave us hope. Tom, as it turned out, was a cruel mirage.
Paul Johnson at five gave everything before losing 3-1, confirming what the maths had already made painfully clear.
Devon won the tie 3-2. The changing room went quiet. We told ourselves we’d bounce back in the afternoon and have several ice creams from the ice cream van!
Match 2 – Berkshire vs Middlesex
We did not bounce back in the afternoon. Well – we started to. Briefly. Tantalisingly. Before it all unravelled in the most Berkshire way imaginable.
Gurbhaj, perhaps furious about the morning, came out a completely transformed player against his Middlesex opponent. A superb 3-1 win that had everyone on the bench exchanging hopeful glances. The redemption arc was real. The momentum was ours.
Rhys then backed him up at two with another polished 3-1 victory – his second win of the day. We were 2-0 up in the tie. The county WhatsApp group post was practically writing itself. Someone may have started warming up their emoji fingers.
And then.
Simon at three fought hard but went down 3-1, which was a blow. Simon remains adamant the score does not reflect the quality of his squash. We are choosing to support this narrative.
Tom at four – Tom, our hero of the morning, our four-string rock – lost 3-1. The bench fell silent. The emoji fingers were stood down. We were suddenly 2-2 going into the final match having led 2-0.
Paul at five, playing his second gruelling tie of the day, gave absolutely everything he had. It wasn’t quite enough. A 3-1 defeat sealed the tie for Middlesex, and with it, confirmed our afternoon in the most painful fashion possible.
Middlesex won 3-2. From 2-0 up. We had them exactly where we wanted them, and then somehow let them out.
The changing room afterwards had the atmosphere of a library. A sad library. One that only stocks books about tax returns. Again.
The Final Reckoning
Seventh place. Out of however many counties contested the Finals weekend, Berkshire finished seventh.
Now, seventh is a perfectly respectable number in many contexts. Seven wonders of the world. Seven days in a week. Seven – coincidentally – is also how many pints some of the lads considered having on the drive home before remembering they were driving.
What I will say is this: every single player gave everything they had across a long and demanding day. The standard at these Finals is ferociously high, and simply being here means Berkshire belongs among the best O35 counties in the country. Two narrow 3-2 defeats – and one of them from a winning position – do not define us. They remind us, rather painfully, what we are capable of and what we need to finish the job next time.
Rhys Thomas wins both his matches on the day and goes home with his head held high. Gurbhaj’s afternoon showing was the performance of the day. And the rest of us? We’ll be having a quiet word with ourselves before next season.
Well done to Tom for his debut for Berkshire Squash.
Same time next year, lads. And this time, we close it out.
Up the Berks. 🟡🔵
Simon
Great report! 😀