The Royal Automobile Club (RAC) is located on Pal Mall, roughly half-way between St James’ Palace and Trafalgar Square. It is accessed via beautiful old oak revolving doors with polished brass fittings. The lobby is imposing and often houses the finest motor cars ever produced. The squash courts are located opposite the balcony of a swimming pool made up of mosaic tiles with giant pillars that make me think of the Roman Empire, being in such proximity of the pool, the courts are warm and lend themselves to long, arduous rallies with each player striving to find the perfect drop. This is all set within an underground leisure complex that would befit a King, this is place every squash player should aspire to play.
With limited players available from the RAC club, the fixture was only to be a 4 person match, representing the Army we had our No1 and current Army Champion Paul Jones playing at string 1 against a regular RAC foe in Ex US Marine Tucker George. After a fast paced game with some lung busting rallies , Paul defeated Tucker 3 games to 1. At String 2 we had Army Vet Chris O’Brien who quickly settled into his match and soon found his short game and pin point accuracy for which he’s well known, cutting the rallies short with some fine racquet skills, Chris defeated his opponent 3 games to 1. Next up at string 3 was Army Vet Paul Ryan, this was to be a battle of fitness at times with neither player willing to shorten the rallies, after a highly physical battle Paul was Defeated 3-2 after a fifth game tie break. At String 4 we had Army Vet Rich Green who started well playing at high tempo and moving the ball around to inflict early punishment of his opponent, This however was not to go unanswered with the first game going to tie break after some tenacious play from the RAC Captain Angus Baillie, Rich finally managed to squeeze the 3-2 win showing some real quality in the later stages. The Fixture ended 3 -1 to the Army with some very competitive matches that were all played in a good spirit and sporting manner.
The matches were all PAR 11 so there was at least some time for a post-match supper afterwards. Following the match, the visiting Army contingent was hosted in the decadent Long Bar, nestled underneath the splendour of the RAC. The food, wine and hosting were all impeccable as usual and the atmosphere was warm and welcoming. A big thank you to all the players for making the effort to travel and compete in the annual Army vs RAC fixture which is, in my opinion, the most prestigious of the friendly matches in the ASRA calendar. It is an absolute privilege to be able to play at the RAC and a fixture that is a firm favourite with those of us lucky enough to have been invited to play there. On this occasion all the matches were highly competitive and hard fought with all played in right spirit. A well deserved win the Team Army but I’m sure the RAC will be fielding a team to reverse the result next year!