Leeds took a strong and decisive victory against Keele last week; they won the match 8-4 but even this didn’t really demonstrate the good job done by all players. Keele arrived half an hour late and only bringing three players along with them, which really set the standard for the match, but Leeds were anxious for a good match so they took them on regardless. All four Leeds players would take on the Keele team in individual matches, best of five sets of 11 points.

The home team wasted no time asserting their dominance on the court; Marcus Hazelwood was only on the table for five minutes before coming away with a perfect 3-0 victory, all games to love. There isn’t a better start you can hope for, except when you consider Bobby Crossley finishing his first match 3-0 as well, with a few points chucked in by his opponent.

However Keele did have one secret weapon, one player who could truly challenge the Leeds combatants. It was a frustrating first match for Sam Georgic, seeing his fellow team mates finish so quickly and easily but having to battle for every point himself. He can take comfort in knowing that it was later revealed that the Keele star was an ex-England player recently returning to the competitive scene. Sam should be proud of holding his own against the titan and coming away with a 3-1 defeat.

The games followed a very formulaic approach from then on. Leeds would defeat the two other rather abysmal players from Keele and then have a furious battle with their star man which would inevitable end with him winning. Best efforts have to go to Bobby Crossley and Alaa Memari for taking him on well, Bobby even forcing the Keele man into a final sudden death.

So the four match wins that Keele did all came from one, rather incredible player. Leeds showcased more talent as a team by far and it is only a shame that a fourth Keele player couldn’t have been there so that Leeds could have further distinguished themselves by beating him too.

Nick Gandy

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