Abingdon 1 are crowned 2025/26 County Champions
After almost a decade, Abingdon 1 clinched the OSRA Division 1 Title beating champions of the last 4 years Brackley 1 in a hard fought Play Off Final at Abingdon Squash Club.
First on court was Steve Rogers (Abingdon 5) against Tim Melvin (Brackley 5). What a start to the evening with Tim taking a 2- 0 lead only for Steve to pull the match level. The deciding 5th ebbed one way and then another but the determination of the Abingdon Captain edged it 11-9 giving the first Rubber to the hosts.
Next up was Nigel Rowe (Abingdon 4) against Mitch Mates (Brackley 4). Mitch was relentless not allowing Nigel to settle into his game and ran out a 3-0 winner. The tie was now all square at 1-1.
The 1st Strings now took centre stage – Joe Brooke ((Abingdon) against James Kettle (Brackley). The spectators couldn’t call this one, could the experienced Joe beat the talented Leicester University student James? The latter started well taking a 5-1 lead in the first game. However, Joe, deploying great accuracy and control took it 11-7. Sets 2 and 3 then followed this similar pattern giving Abingdon a 2-1 overall lead.
With matters now finely balanced, arguably the two most anticipated match ups of the evening played out. Both the 3’s and 2’s went on court simultaneously.
Kacper Kwiecinski, the Abingdon 3 pitched against the Brackley skipper, Richard Craven and what a match, neither of them giving an inch. The leading County Junior took a 2-1 lead but Richard is not just the captain in name but also in heart fighting back to level affairs at 2-2. Into the 5th it was any one’s game, could Richard level the Final or would Kacper take the title for Abingdon?
Meanwhile, the Number 2’s were having their own battle with former World top 10 player Mark Cairns (Abingdon) taking on an opponent around 20 year’s his younger in Odran Imlah. The former took the first 11-5 with what can only be described as vintage squash but Odhran hit back taking the 2nd 11-7. The following two sets were shared and we now had exciting climaxes to both on court games.
In almost perfect synchronicity both reached their conclusion. Richard Craven had put so much effort into getting back to 2-2 there was not a great deal left in the tank and the youth of Kacper prevailed. Fortifying Abingdon’s now dominant position, Cairns shaded Imlah with a near gladiatorial performance
And so concluded a magnificent night of hard-fought squash between two closely matched teams – Congratulations to Abingdon 1.
Runners Up (on court) – Brackley
L to R: Tim Melvin, Mitch Bates, Richard Craven (Captain), Odran Imlah, James Kettle
Champions (on court) – Abingdon
L to R: – Joe Brooke, Steve Rogers (Captain), Mark Cairns, Kacper Kwiecinski, Nigel Rowe
….and the same players but now in civvies
L to R: Mark Cairns, Kacper Kwiecinski, Steve Rogers, Alan Horton (Club Viceroy touching glory!), Joe Brooke and Nigel Rowe
….and the Runners Up – Brackley
L to R: Tim Melvin, Mitch Bates, (a somewhat shorter!) Alan Horton, Richard Craven, James Kettle and Odran Imlah
Kettle & Brooke
Rowe & Bates
Kwiecinski & Craven
Imlah & Cairns
Melvin & Rogers
