Round THREE Roundup

Clyne keeps Nottingham in the hunt as both divisions go tight at the top

Birmingham & Nottingham
Birmingham & Nottingham

Tonight was third round of action in the Premier Squash League – the penultimate before the Christmas break – and while it’s still too early to count anyone out, there were some tough looking ties involving several of the teams who had enjoyed successful starts to the season.

In Group A Nottingham hosted high-flying Birmingham. The spoils were shared at the bottom of the order with wins for Nottingham’s Emma Beddoes and Birmingham’s Joel Makin. Nottingham’s Mark and Chris Fuller brothers took to the courts, Mark losing from two game up to Jonny Harford while Chris beat Peter Creed to set up the decider. Nottingham’s Alan Clyne raised home hopes by going two up, Cameron Pilley recovered to force a fifth, but it was the Scot who gave Nottingham a nailbiting late-night win.

Crowd at Coolhurst
Crowd at Coolhurst

Coolhurst were playing their second home match in a row and were the first to put a win on the board as their 3, 4 and 5 put them 3-0 up against Pontefract – although Madeline Perry was taken all the way by Sarah Kippax before taking the decider 13-11. Ben Coleman and Ong Beng Hee put Coolhurts 4-0 up before Saurav Ghosal took a consolation point for Ponte with an upset win over Simon Rosner.

Duffield’s Laura Massaro came from 0-2 down to beat Jenny Duncalf – also 13-11 in the fifth – and the ever-reliable Andy Whipp put Duffield 2-0 up at Chapel A with a fine 3-1 win over Chris Simpson. Declan James clinched the win for the visitors and Nick Matthew – fresh from a “Question of Sport” recording session – wrapped it up 4-1 with a three-nil win over Daryl Selby.

Family day at Chichester, 3 Kemps and 2 Sermes !
Family day at Chichester, 3 Kemps and 2 Sermes !

In Group B Chichester hosted struggling Bristol, and the opening pair of matches were shared but the returning Jackie Kemp (nee Hawkes) came close to pulling off a big upset as she took two games off Bristol’s Camille Serme. Olly Pett and Rex Hedrick won at strings #3 and #2 to give Chichester the win, and at top string Jon Kemp denied a French hat-trick as he beat Lucas Serme to give Chichester the 4-1 win.

Winchester went 1-0 up against visitors Exeter as Emily Whitlock renewed her junior rivalry with Victoria Temple-Murray with a 3-0 win, but the visitors stormed back to take the next four matches and the win.

Leaders and reigning champions Surrey found themselves one down to local visitors St George’s Hill thanks to Henrik Mustonen’s 3-0 win over Richie Fallows, but Alison Waters and Gregoire Marche put Surrey in front, the young Frenchman putting in a great performance to beat Tom Richards in three games. Surrey’s Adrian Waller then came from 1-2 down to beat Joe Lee to put the ghosts 3-1 up. “Marche and Waller out of this world tonight,” said a delighted Surrey manager Pete Smith. St George’s Borja Golan beat Adrian Grant to make it 3-2 on the night.

The end result is that the top of  both divisions is very close – six points between the top four in Group A, and seven between the top three in Group B.

Group A

Nottingham  3-2     Birmingham
Alan Clyne   3-2  Cameron Pilley  11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6
Chris Fuller  3-1  Peter Creed   11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3
Mark Fuller  2-3   Jonny Harford   11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 8-11
David Wardle   0-3  Joel Makin  6-11, 9-11, 9-11
Emma Beddoes  3-0  Deon Saffery  11-2, 11-8, 11-8

Coolhurst    4-1    Pontefract
Simon RÖsner  1-3   Saurav Goshal  6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 9-11
Ong Beng Hee    3-0   Lee Beachill  11-9, 11-7, 12-10
Ben Coleman    3-0    Chris van der Salm  11-4, 11-5, 11-8  (36m)
Adam Auckland    3-0     Taminder Gata-Aura  11-2, 11-1, 11-4 (21m)
Madeline Perry  3-2  Sarah Kippax   6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 13-11

Chapel A    1-4   Duffield
Daryl Selby  0-3  Nick Matthew  6-11, 1-11, 9-11
Chris Simpson 1-3  Andrew Whipp  8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 13-15
Dylan Bennett  0-3  Declan James  9-11, 6-11, 9-11
Simon Parke 3-1  Scott Handley  9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-5
Jenny Duncalf  2-3  Laura Massaro  11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-13

Standings:
Duffield 46, Coolhurst 45, Nottingham 41, Birmingham 40, Chapel A 30, Pontefract 14

Group B

Chichester    4-1   Bristol
Jon Kemp  3-1   Lucas Serme  9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10
Rex Hedrick   3-1  Jethro Binns  6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Olly Pett  3-0   Sam Ellis  11-8, 11-6, 11-3
Anthony Graham  3-0   Stuart Haddon   11-7, 11-4, 11-7
Jackie Kemp   2-3   Camille Serme  11-6,  9-11,  11-9  5-11,  6-11

Winchester    1-4    Exeter
Greg Lobban  0-3  Laurens Jan Anjema  7-11, 6-11, 2-11
Robert Downer  0-3  Olli Tuominen   11-13, 8-11, 3-11
Alex Phillips  1-3  Joey Barrington  5-11, 11-7, 2-11, 7-11
Angus Gillams 0-3  Tim Vail  6-11, 4-11, 5-11
Emily Whitlock  3-0  Victoria Temple-Murray  11-7, 11-8, 11-6

Surrey   3-2  St George’s
Adrian Grant   0-3  Borja Golan  4-11, 8-11, 10-12
Gregoire Marche   3-0  Tom Richards  11-9, 11-3, 11-3
Adrian Waller   3-2  Joe Lee   5-11, 13-11, 7-11,  11-8, 11-9
Richie Fallows  0-3 Henrik Mustonen   9-11, 9-11, 6-11
Alison Waters  3-1 Dom Lloyd-Walter  11-3, 11-1, 9-11, 11-4

Standings:
Exeter 49, Surrey 49, Chichester 42, St George’s 36, Bristol 19, Winchester 12

Twitter report card:

How did tonight’s home teams do on twitter ?

Nottingham: much improved performance, only slightly confused … B+
Coolhurst: spot on, and winners too … A
Chapel A: sterling service from Emma Stallworthy … A
Chichester: On the mark, just add a bit of colour (and the last result) for top marks … B-
Winchester: Helped out by the away side, but full scores missing … C
Surrey: Pete Smith could hardly contain his excitement but got it done … A