South African Knights Touring Side in Cumbria
Two of our premier clubs were hosts to a talented team of squash players from the Southern Hemisphere on their 17th bi-annual visit to Cumbria (*). Windscale was the first stop-over where they demonstrated a high standard of play to outclass their opponents. The closest match was between the Club Manager Neil Pattinson who took a game from Christopher Cherry, but had to eventually concede 10/12, 8/11, 11/8, 8/11. Club Champion Liam Barrett was less successful losing 0-3 (6/11, 4/11, 2/11) to Richard Dodd. Similar results were recorded by Windscale's up-and-coming Michael Hetherington, losing 5/11, 6/11, 4/11 to Jan-Hendrik Mulder, Kendal Club/Lancaster University's Matthew Walker who lost 3/11, 7/11, 1/11 to Christo Potgieter and Dalton Club's Chris Bowyer, losing 4/11, 7/11, 5/11 to the SAK Captain Munro Montanus. Final score: Windscale Select 0(1) South African Knights 5 (15).
Carlisle was the next venue and as expected the Club Select side provided tougher opposition. Achievement of the evening was Paul Bell's 3-1 win over Christo Potieger and this was complemented by worthy efforts from Dave Box and Michael Tinning who each claimed a game. However, the Knights proved too strong and Dave eventually lost 1-3 to Christopher Cherry, with Michael also being defeated 1-3 by Jan-Hendrik Mulder. In the other two matches Graeme Coulthard was beaten 0-3 by Munro Montanus and Tony Hetherinto lost 0-3 to Richard Dodd. Final score: Carlisle Select 1 (5) South African Knights 4 (13) *The South African Knights first toured the UK in the 1961/1962 season, making this their 24th bi-annual tour. We look forward to entertaining the next team on their 25th visit in the 2010/2011 season.
January 2009 (Ian Stephenson)
Windscale above, from left to right: Michael Hetherington, Jan-Hendrik Mulder, Chris Bowyer, Munro Montanus, Matthew Walker, Christopher Cherry, Richard Dodd, Liam Barrett, Christo Potgieter and Neil Pattinson.
Carlisle below, Tom Armstrong, County Chairman & Secretary, in the centre, who presented Cumbria County Badges as a token of appreciation to the SAK players. Others, from left-to-right: Jan-Hendrik Mulder, Christo Potgieter, Christopher Cherry, Munro Montanus, Richard Dodd, (Tom), Graeme Coulthard, Paul Bell, Tony Hetherington, Michael Tinning and Dave Box.
The 2008/2009 Knights tour:
WOW!! What a tour! At this point in time it seems just like yesterday that we first got onto the plane to fly to the UK. The tour I must say was a fantastic success. The team consisting of five players: Munro Montanus (c), Richard Dodd, Jan-Hendrik Mulder, Chris Cherry and Christo Potgieter, all who played some outstanding squash. Our record stands at 26 wins and 6 losses. I would say that that is a most successful tour. For some of the players it was our first time overseas, and what an experience it was. We started our tour on the 28th of Nov. 2008 in Johannesburg with some of the past Knights. We played a fun game against them which was great fun. Afterwhich we had a most fantastic farewell dinner hosted by John Devenport. The following evening we were on our way to the UK. We flew from SA to Dubai and then from Dubai to England. We had been warned that the winter this year had been particularly harsh, but we figured how cold could it really be. We all soon found out just how cold it could get in the UK. Most of our fisrt purchases were nice thick jackets that we could put over our tracksuits. On Arrival we met our gracious organiser Joe Richardson who managed to get some really fantastic accommodation for us in the heart of London. We got settled in quite quickly as our first match was the following day. We organised our Oyster cards and travel routes with the help of Joe's daughter Ginny. Ginny was a great help throughout the whole tour. Our first 11 days were based in London and after that we were moving around driving to all our matches. Having rested fully we did a little bit of touring onthe morning of the 1 Dec 2008 and then made our way to our first match which was against Oxford. We all felt really good during the day and we had all prepared quite well for the tour. However we were still feeling the effects of the long flight and we unfortunately lost 4-1. From that point on we were truly on the tour of our lives. Playing match after match and then being hosted by our opponent was an unbelievable experience. The rest of the results are as follows:
Bath and Racquets: Knights win 3-2. Jesters @ RAC: Knights lose 3-2. Bexley: Knights win 3-2. Coolhurst: Knights win 4-1. Wimbledon: Knights win 5-0. Colets: knights win 4-1. Escorts @ Oxford and Cambridge Club: Knights win 4-1. Roehampton: Knights win 5-0. Bury St Edmund: Knights win 5-0. Bishops Stortford squash Club: Knights win 4-1. Brighton: Knights win 5-0. Middleton: Knights win 3-2. Isle of Wight: Knights win 5-0. Chichester: Knights lose 3-2. Guernsey: Both fixture Knights win 5-0. Winchester: Knights win 4-1. Windsor: Knights win 3-2. Torquay: Knights lost 3-2. Exeter and Devon: Knights win 3-2. Bristol: Knights win 5-0. Newport: Knights lose 3-2. Nottingham: Knights win 3-2. Pontefract: Knights lose 3-2. Halifax: Knights win 3-2. Durham and Nunthorpe: Knights win 4-1. Merseyside: Knights win 3-2. Cumbria @ Windscale: Knights win 5-0. Cumbria @ Carlisle: Knights win 4-1. Glasgow: Knights win 3-2. Edgebaston Birmingham: Knights win 3-2.
So there you have it all the matches we played against clubs this however does not include the matches we played in some of the tournaments. To all the clubs that hosted us so graciously we will never forget all the tough matches that we played and also all the friends and good laughs we were able to have over a good couple of pints and one or two shots ;-) This is definitely a tour we will not forget. All the travelling we were able to do in the UK was a once in a life time opportunity. I am sure that we will stay in touch. I am sure there are alot of stories that I could tell everyone which would be highly entertaining, but you know what they say. "What happens on tour, stays on tour." Thanks to everyone that made this tour what it was, Namely Steve Doeg, Joe Richardson, John Devonport and all the past Knights and also my team mates. Wishing you all the best for the future
Munro Montanus Knights Captain 2008/09