Cardiff…………….5
Swansea…………0
Cardiff’s men’s squash club went into the Welsh Varsity match-up fairly confident of sealing a win for their University, despite the daunting prospect of playing in front of a predominantly green crowd.
Mani Saundh opened up for Cardiff against Swansea’s Sam Rooks in the first of five matches, each consisting of a ‘best-of-five’ game format. The first game would remain the day’s highest scoring as Saundh managed to edge Rooks 12-10 in a fast-paced start to the competition. Despite seeming like an equal match-up at first, Rooks failed to mirror Saundh’s energy and lost the following games 11-8 and 11-5, handing Cardiff their first win of the day.
Following in his teammate’s footsteps, Cardiff’s Devin Welsh managed to take his first game fairly confidently against a shaky Owen Walters. However, it was during the second game in which Welsh completely embarrassed his rival. Welsh managed to prevent his opponent from scoring a single point, prompting Walters to leave the court in frustration as the final rally was still in play. The match ended 11-6, 11-0, 11-3, and Cardiff established a firm control over the contest.
However, the early celebrations were cut short as the hosts conceded their first game of the day, when a vengeful Johnathan Griffiths won 11-8 against Cardiff’s Rees Herrod, who had perhaps allowed a degree of complacency to creep into his game following the previous two results. Despite making a slow start to the match, Herrod managed to claim the second game 11-6. However, a succession of mistakes allowed Griffiths to retake the lead in the third game, which finished 11-5.
Just as it looked like Swansea were about to finally stake their claim in the tournament, Herrod finally found his form, completely dictating the play and forcing a fatigued Griffiths to desperately dive all over the court with little reward. With the aid of some Cardiff hecklers who began to instantly abuse Griffiths upon arrival, a seemingly fresh and composed Herrod put the day’s longest game to bed, winning the fourth and fifth games 11-6, 11-4 respectively.
Up next was Cardiff’s Adam Doran, who had displayed his fiery character at last year’s Varsity when he clashed with the referee over several controversial decisions. Russ Moralee was his opponent in what was probably the most physical match of this year’s series. The first game looked like it was going Swansea’s way, until a late surge from Doran put him back on top.
From then on, the match was firmly in Doran’s hands and he finished off the last point of the second game with a spectacular backwards between-the-legs shot. Yet Moralee wasn’t going down without a fight, and in a thrilling third game the pair produced the longest rally of the day, which included some remarkable shots off the back wall. Despite an encouraging effort from Moralee, Doran held his nerve, winning the match 11-9, 11-3, and 11-8.
Owing to the continuous Cardiff victories, the previously anticipated final game featuring the team captains of either side had become merely a formality. Nonetheless, Cardiff’s Elliott Brookes-Parry delivered a squash master class, preventing his counterpart, Jamie Johnson, from gaining any consolation for his despondent teammates.
Johnson showed some resistance in the opening game which was eventually won by Brookes-Parry 11-7, but then the Cardiff captain put the final nail in the coffin, completely shutting out Johnson in the next two games, both finishing 11-3.
The result topped off a day which saw a squad of exceptionally confident Cardiff players completely outplay a tired and dejected Swansea team.
 James Thompson
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