ITL Report Feb 2026

February ITL – Welcome Wins for Reds and Yellows, but Blues still hold the trump card

Friday night saw the critical penultimate ‘moving’ round of Reigate Squash Club’s ITL competition, as 39 members of Reigate Squash Club drew rackets to put their teams in pole position at this crucial stage of the season.  Rhythm & Blues sought to consolidate their lead at the top of the table, by taking down the wounded Rediculous 5, whilst the Green Machine looked to close the gap on the leaders by inflicting great pain on Mellow Yellows. 

Ruth Lewis kicked off proceedings with a mature performance, inflicting a 3-0 defeat on the hapless organiser Brandon Bratton, and in doing so getting the Greens off to a strong start.  In a single colour clash, ITL debutants Jonny Ellis and Nate Gordon fought out a hard five setter game, with Nate taking it, just, but both securing welcome early points for the Reds.  And on court D, Ginger Pap took three points for the Greens by defeating Jim May at racketball.  Our favourite corporate ringer Colin Woods did it yet again for the Blues, overcoming a handicap to beat Richard Allum in straight games – can someone from the club please stop this man!

Mike Parsons, the man from the deep south, shared some early Blue racketball points with Paul McCallum, winning three games to one.  In a battle of the Kevins, the Yellow Miret strain overcame the ducking and diving Uphill version, three games to one in a handicapped match.  Yellow’s James Mace took advantage of his generous handicap (no change there😉) to defeat Charlotte Fish in straight games.  Richard English took another tie for the Yellows 3-1, in the top string match against the Machine’s Godfrey Jordan.

Sue Denman and Jim May, both of the Yellow hue, played out a racketball match, with Sue winning 3-1.  Ian Drummond had to work hard to nullify a large handicap against Maggie May, but he managed it, winning precious Blue points in his 3-1 win.  Freddie Jenkins had a tight barnstorming match on the showcase court against the wily Stef Loucaides, with youth overcoming grizzled experience three games to two.  The Reds had brought their bomb squad to the party, effectively stacking this month’s line up with three number ones, and the first of these, Richard Jackson, had to take on Blue’s stalwart Darren Mackay.  Playing his first handicap match for about fifteen years, Richard overcame Darren, who rose to the challenge and was playing exceptionally well, three games to one. 

In the first doubles racketball match of the evening, Mike and Sue (and possibly Bob too), shared the winning points for the Blues and Yellows against Andy and Ginger.  Rob Essex, who had definitely and definitively retired from squash in November, somehow found himself back on court, and resurrected and rejuvenated, he defeated Stephen Lewis in straight games; yet another win for the Yellows.   Red’s Mike Pinggera Jnr, who seemingly had ‘drove all night, to get to us’, shook off his road rage, and made light work of a sizeable handicap, overcoming Joe Ales in straight games.  And in the showcase match of the evening, Reds drove home their powerful top order advantage, with the fit and returning Paul Rawden taking down Blue’s talisman, Wayne Beglan, in three tight games.

In a brief racketball hiatus on court D,  Coleen Cloherty came up against Blue’s Jonathan Hart, and took the first two squash games.  But Jonathan, fast developing a reputation for gutsy marathon ITL performances (which patently do him no good whatsoever!), hauled him in and won a precious match for the Blues 3-2.  Kevin Miret, playing his second match of the evening, proved his worth to the Yellow cause by beating John Miles in three tight games.  Waiting for Leah Beglan was her old nemesis Roy Taylor, who took advantage of his slight handicap to win 3-2 for the Reds.  In a couple of racketball doubles matches, further points were secured for the Reds and Greens by Coleen, Roger Crabb, Andy Catford and Matt Dwyer.  And proceedings were drawn to a close, with Callum Carmichael winning three straight games for the Greens against the venerable Peter Knee, who was obviously still getting used to the wearisome world that is the seventh age of man (ouch). 

So it was a rare old night for the underdogs, with both the Reds and Yellows delivering stonking performances against the top two teams.  Both teams secured 23.5 points, and closed the gap significantly on the Green Machine in second place.  But it’s Rhythm & Blues that still head the table by nine points, and with their final match up being against the Greens, they are strong odds on favourites to retain their title, and all the plaudits and accolades that go with it.

You don’t have to wait long for that final round.  Friday 13^th March, unlucky for none, let’s make it a finale for the ages!