Thanks to everyone who came down last night to support the player, i'm sure you weren't disappointed!  What a great night of competition...

First up was the Squash championship, a repeat of last years great final between Scott Bailey and Courtney Downing.  Would this one turn out the same way with a win for Scott?  It certainly looked that way early in the match, Scotts speed around the court proving too much for Courtney.  Scott was pouncing on anything loose and especially any cross court drives that were less than perfect.  Surprisingly though some errors creeped in to Scotts game which allowed Courtney to get back into it, eventually winning it 11-9.  Game 2 was another tight one, Courtney again just nicking it 11-9.  At 2-0 up the talk in the crowd was of either a 3-0 win or a big comeback from Scott!  the next game was another close affair, this time though Scott managed to take it 11-9... some great retrieving frustrating his older opponent.  Courtney looked pretty tired coming off at 2-1 up, the game seemed to be taking a momentum swing and the crowd were ready to lap up a 5 set battle.  The 4th game seen a change of tactics from Courtney, gone were the "leisure centre boasts", settling instead for a disciplined length game... basically asking the question of his opponent, can you win it?  The errors slowly creeped in to Scott game with quite a few drop attempts hitting the tin.  The tactics were working and Courtney won the game and the championship!  it's been a few years, but the bionic man is back on the winners rostrum!  Congratulations to Courtney for a great performance and to Scott for a valiant defence of his title.

Next up was the presentation of a new club award... The Squash Levels most improved player of the season award!  The surprised recipient of this years trophy was a delighted and confused Dave Ryan!  Dave's ranking this season improved from 879 to 1147 over the season, an increase of 69%!  No one else got close to this, but hounerable mentions in this category to Alex Whitehouse (+35%) and Paul Mathieson (+33%).

Next up was the Nolan Downing, contested between last years beaten finalist Peter Foottit and newcomer Darren Woodall.  The Nolan Downing final is usually great to watch, the clinical skills of the club championships swapped for raw desire and a will to win that's amazing to watch.  No quarter is given or asked for!  This year proved to be no different.  Peter came flying out the blocks, taking advantage of a high error count to pinch the first game.  Darren went off to think again, some wise words from his corner (Russel Davies - the squash whisperer) seemed to do the trick, he came flying out the blocks and levelled the game at 1-1.   The next three games were a see-saw battle, but it was Darren who eventually triumphed 3-2!  Well done Darren, great win in your first final.

see you all next year!