Week FOUR Results Latest TABLES
19-Nov-02 Week FOURManchester 2-3 Hallamshire
Duffield 0-5 Nottingham
Edgbaston 2-3 Wolverhampton
Tek Sing Lexden 4-1 UK Packaging
Broxbourne 4-1 Lee on Solent
Chichester 5-0 GuildfordNottingham cruise to Whitewash ... Edgbaston crash
Howard Harding reportsIn a night of 'local derby' clashes in the fourth round of the National Squash League, FPD Savills Nottingham cruised to their second 5-0 win of the season as Derbyshire's Benz-Bavarian Duffield slumped to their fourth successive loss, and Birmingham's Edgbaston Priory crashed to their first defeat of the season as West Midlands rivals Wolverhampton secured their first win. There was a tense finish in a partial 'War-of-the-Roses' Group A battle in Pontefract where Manchester-Pontefract lost 3-2 to Sheffield visitors HLW Solicitors Hallamshire after a nail-biting first-string decider went the full distance.
Hertfordshire's TVS Broxbourne maintained their slender lead at the top of the Group B table, beating Lee-on-Solent 4-1 at home - though still sharing the same number of points as Colchester's defending champions Tek Sing Lexden who also won 4-1 at home, against London's Connaught Club-based UK Packaging.
Chichester hold third place, but are only a single point behind top-placed Broxbourne following their 5-0 home rout of foot-of-the-table UniSport Guildford.
Duffield's woes were brought to a head in the second string clash between the club's new Australian star Dan Jenson, the former world No5 climbing back up the world rankings, and Nottingham's world top twenty Frenchman Renan Lavigne. Jenson strolled to a first game win over his higher-ranked opponent, but was then troubled by a knee injury in the second and after losing the next two games, conceded the match at 9-2 6-9 4-9. "I think I did this about two months ago, doing Yoga, but thought nothing of it then," said Jenson, with an ice-pack covering his left knee. "Tonight it just seemed to go - so I'll have to head back to my base in Caversham in Berkshire and hope that treatment there will get me ready for the World Open in Belgium next month."
Home fans were optimistic of a consolation point when Duffield's Welsh champion Alex Gough took a 2-1 lead over Nottingham's top string John White, the world No5 Scot ranked 11 places higher. The match went into a fifth game, with White ultimately prevailing 9-6 7-9 5-9 9-3 10-8 to give Nottingham maximum points and a table-topping position for the first time this season.
Edgbaston Priory, with three wins out of three, would have been hoping for a straightforward evening hosting Wolverhampton, with three losses out of three. The home team's progress was best summed up by experienced fourth string Paul Lord, who fought back from 2-0 down, saved match balls against him in the third, then had two match balls of his own in the fifth before going down 9-7 9-6 10-12 8-10 11-9 in 74 minutes to Wolverhampton 22-year-old Chris Ryder. Priory's Adrian Grant and Davide Bianchetti, both following recent successes on the PSA Tour, went down meekly in four games to Scott Handley and Joey Barrington, respectively, but after five-times world champion Sarah Fitz-Gerald claimed the first point for Priory in a straight games win over world No11 Stephanie Brind, team stalwart Del Harris claimed the final point in a 9-6 7-9 9-7 9-4 victory over former British champion Mark Cairns to settle the tie at 3-2 to Wolverhampton.
Like the Wolverhampton/Edgbaston tie, the close battle between Manchester-Pontefract and Hallamshire ended 3-2 in matches, but 10-10 in games! Hallamshire's Nick Matthew levelled the tie at 2-2 when he closed out Manchester stalwart Nick Taylor, ranked 15 places higher, 9-0 7-9 9-4 12-14 9-7. Boosted by loyal home support at Pontefract, world No8 Lee Beachill twice came back against Hallamshire's Australian world No9 Anthony Ricketts in the decider, but the Yorkshireman ultimately succumbed 9-5 4-9 9-5 5-9 9-6 as visitors Hallamshire claimed the 3-2 victory.
World No4 Natalie Pohrer, appearing for Broxbourne for the first time as an American, crushed England's world No15 Vicky Botwright 9-4 9-0 9-0 to set the tone for the former champions' 4-1 win over Lee-on-Solent. While Alex Stait was the home team's only loser, he claimed two valuable games - and saved two match balls in the process - going down 2-9 9-1 9-6 8-10 9-6 to Lee-on-Solent's Mark Heather. Rodney Durbach, the Broxbourne No1 from South Africa, finished off the night with a 9-7 9-6 9-6 victory over the visitors' Bradley Ball - which had the additional distinction of marking Ball's first loss at the Hertfordshire club for over four years.
Two weeks after the luxury of playing at third string, UK Packaging team captain Tim Garner stepped up to No1 against Lexden at the title-holders' Colchester base. The tie was already out of reach when he took to the show court against the home team's former British Open champion David Evans. At 2-0 and 8-3 down, the plucky Garner threw everything at his higher-ranked opponent and saved at least seven match balls to take the tussle into a fourth game. By this time he was spent, however, and Evans duly wrapped up the match 9-3 9-4 9-11 9-2 to give Lexden their 4-1 win.
Tim's younger brother Ben Garner added an impressive scalp to his growing collection when he helped Chichester to a 5-0 home win over Guildford. The fourth string maintained his composure as he beat New Zealand's former world champion Ross Norman 9-5 9-4 11-13 10-8 to register his first League win of the season.