Squash

It was inevitable that the 1971/72 season would be a lean one, compared with the last few seasons. The departure of the top four strings from the previous season left us very short of experienced players.

At the start of the Christmas Term, the No. 1 was D. C. P. Stolle, who was in his third year in the team. With such a talented first string, the prospects were quite good. Unfortunately Stork, who had shown little interest in the game the previous season, showed even less this time, and when he left school at half-term, he made room for a keen young player to get some experience of first team squash. The other remaining Colour, I. Gray, a player of considerable ability, practised rarely and was as a result inconsistent and unfit. It was not long before the Captain, D. M. Dempsey, took over as first string and an excellent job he made of it. He improved steadily throughout the season, winning more matches than he lost, and fully deserved his selection for the Northern Counties Schools team. At No. 3, J. C. P. N. Lightowler was a great trier, but found success hard to come by in this position. Judged by the amount of progress made D. M. H. Phillips, an Under 15 Colt, had an outstanding season. He practised with great dedication and had several fine wins. At No. 5, I. D. Heddle, an Under 14 Colt, also made good progress. Not surprisingly at his age, he was rather slow and short of stamina and this cost him some matches, but he had his successes and should have gained much from the experience. The Nos. 6 and 7, J. C. Rounthwaite and C. C. Harland, both suffered from their lack of size and strength, but they have the ability to do very well in the future.

The Inter-House competition was again won by the Grove, who narrowly defeated the Manor in the final.

Dempsey easily won the Open Singles event, beating Lightowler in the final (9/3, 9/6, 9/0). In the Under 16 event, Phillips defeated Heddle in the final (4/9, 10/8, 9/1, 9/0).

RESULTS: --

1st V v. Scarborough S.R.C. (home) 1st VII v. York S.R.C. (away) ... 1st VII v. Squashbucklers (home) `A' V v. Ampleforth College (home) Colts V v. York S.R.C. (home) ... 1st V v. Old Peterites 1st V v. Scarborough S.R.C. (away) 1st VII v. Squashbucklers (home) 1st V v. Bradford G.S. (home) ... 1st V v. Worksop College (away) Colts V v. Worksop College (away) 1st V v. York S.R.C. (home) 1st V v. New College, Huddersfield (home) 1st V v. Harrogate S.R.C. (home) ... 1st V v. Rossall (at Barnard Castle) ... 31 Lost 1-4 Lost 1-6 Won 4-3 Lost 2-3 Lost 1-4 Lost 0-5 Lost 2-3 Won 6-1 Won 5-0 Won 4-1 Won 5-0 Lost 3-4 Lost 1-4 Lost 0-5 Lost 2-3