THE grand final of the Mildura Squash 2025 Autumn Pennant was one of the closest in recent memory.
The teams were Sean Darcy, Cliff Pistorius and Travis Winton against Gary Callaway, Wayne Sparks and Brody Tanner.
The opening standoff between Tanner and Winton saw scores locked at 13-all in the fifth game, after Tanner came back from two games down against an inspired Winton.
Rattling off two points in quick succession, Tanner took home the victory 15-13 in the fifth and got his side off to a crucial early lead.
The next match between Sparks and Pistorius threatened to put an end to the suspense, if Sparks could claim a victory for his team.
Feeling inspired, Sparks got off to a quick start before Pistorius drew even at 1-game all, then Sparks got out to a 2-1 lead before Pistorius again equalised.
Sparks appeared troubled in the fifth game by hamstring tightness and Pistorius raced to a 12-6 point advantage, needing three points to keep his team alive.
The score line continued to tighten, 12-7, 12-8, 12-9, 12-10, before Pistorius refocused at 13-10.
Sparks locked in to roar back 13-11, 13-12, 13-13, and then 13-14.
With a match ball and grand final deciding ball in play, Pistorius fired off a clear winner to tie the scores at 14-all.
Sparks elected to play ‘short’, meaning the first to 15 points would be crowned the winner, and the fate of the night would ultimately be determined by one rally.
After a lengthy trading of shots, Sparks drew an error from his opponent and cemented his team’s victory for the season, 15-14 in the fifth.
A consolation match was played between Darcy and Callaway, and Darcy was in ominous form, covering all corners of the court and slotting winners with ease, winning comfortably in three straight games.
The pennant victors, Callaway, Sparks and Tanner named their team ‘Hit and Run’, perhaps a nod to stealing of victory from the jaws of defeat.
Hit and Run 2-6-158 defeated Team Three 1-8-173
Gary Callaway 0-0-21 lost to Sean Darcy 1-3-45, Wayne Sparks 1-3-71 d Cliff Pistorius 0-2-70, Brody Tanner 1-3-66 d Travis Winton 0-2-58
