York 1sts thrashed Newcastle 2nds to go top of the table in a solid performance on Wednesday afternoon.
The highlight of the encounter came from Court 5 where Miles Knight secured an impressive comeback from two games down to beat Newcastle’s Matt Goodwin 3-2.
The match didn’t begin as York would have hoped; as Goodwin soared into the lead, taking the first game 11-6. An impressive rally seemed to exhaust Knight as he fell to another defeat in the second game. Making the odds firmly stacked against York taking first blood.
However, an outstanding third game from Knight renewed his hope of the win; a well-executed smash saw him pull the score back to 1-2. The fourth game went in a flash, with Goodwin hardly putting up a fight.
The momentum had clearly changed hands and surely it was only a matter of time before Knight saw the game out. At 2-2 in games and 7-7 in points; the match was proving to be a real advert for squash.
The effort from both players was phenomenal but a magnificent final push from Myles Knight meant he gained three match points. Only one proved necessary. A drop of the shoulder fooled Goodwin as he went the opposite way to the ball; giving York a deserved 1-0 lead in matches.
Even though he said so himself, Knight’s performance was indeed “heroic”; providing the perfect platform for York to go on and win comfortably.
And after that the matches became easier. David Potter saw off Kevin Lees on court 4 by three games to one, and itwas a similar story on courts 3 and 2 as Matt Lewis and Matt Pollen both won 3-0.
Lees was graceful in defeat; suggesting he always knew the match was “going to be tough”, but it was up to York’s Ed Shannon to seal the victory as he demolished Joe Harvey in straight games on court 1.
After a superb start, Shannon raced into a two game lead and some magnificent positioning meant Harvey had no opportunity to play those killer shots that could have pulled him back into the match.
Textbook footwork followed by a delicate slice saw Shannon rocket into a 10-2 lead in the third game, going on to secure the victory with a delicious cross-court smash.
Labelling the overall performance a “good win for York,” Shannon showed just why the 1sts are right in the mix for promotion this season.