Selby Secures PSL Play-Off Place For St George's Hill

England international Daryl Selby notched up his first win since becoming British National champion for the first time a month ago when he clinched the deciding match which ensures TWP St George's Hill a place in next month's semi-final play-offs of the Premier Squash League (PSL), the world's most prestigious squash league.

The Weybridge club were hosting county rivals Surrey Health & Racquets, the title-holders whose squad featured Peter Nicol, the now-retired former world number one and world champion.  The home side set the early pace in the crucial ninth round Group B clash, with Dominique Lloyd-Walter and Stephen Meads claiming four-game victories over the visitors' opposition.

But the Croydon club struck back – Adrian Waller reducing the deficit when St George's stalwart Joe Lee was forced to withdraw midway through the second game with a back injury, then Nicol taking on new England internationalTom Richards in a match described by St George's team manager Danny Lee as 'the best game of squash ever seen at the club'.

Richards, the 24-year-old world No29 fresh from making his England debut at last week's World Cup in India, recovered from a game down to open up a 2/1 lead over his experienced opponent.  But Nicol, 13 years his senior, refused to bow down – taking the fourth game and saving three match-balls from 7-10 down in the decider to win 11-8, 3-11, 5-11, 11-9, 13-11 in 64 minutes.

Eager to recover from a three-match losing streak for his club since beating world number one Nick Matthew in February's British National Championship final, Selby chose the perfect occasion to rediscover his earlier form to beat Surrey Health's rising Egyptian star Karim Abdel Gawad 11-8, 11-7, 11-8 

The 3/2 victory takes St George's Group B points haul for the season to 147 - 19 points ahead of Surrey Health.  But both clubs have done enough to make the end-of-season play-offs – with St George's simply needing two points from their final tenth round tie against Exeter Diamonds to guarantee a top-of-the-table finish.

Elsewhere in Group B, Team Chichester moved up to third place after beating Exeter Diamonds 4/1, and PSL newcomers IGT Winchester celebrated their first 5/0 win of the season with a comprehensive home victory over UWE Bristol.

A three-horse race has developed in Group A where former champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield battled to a 4/1 away win over LEBC Group Chapel Allerton to leave the two clubs heading the table just three points apart.

But CLFS Esporta Oxford, not in ninth round action, lurk less than 20 points behind – and are still in contention for an all-important finish in the group's top two.

World champion Nick Matthew led Duffield to away success at Chapel Allerton, the 2009 champions from Leeds.  A stalwart of the Derbyshire club for eight seasons, Matthew beat Frenchman Renan Lavigne 11-4, 11-6, 11-2 – but it was arguably team-mate Andy Whipp who exhibited the bravest Duffield performance, the 30-year-old part-timer holding off the challenge of Chapel Allerton's Laurence Delasaux by beating the 25-year-old world No77 12-10, 9-11, 11-3, 11-13, 11-6.

Duffield, PSL champions in 1998, 2006 and 2007, began the night 16 points behind top-placed Chapel Allerton – but are now just three points adrift of the Leeds club.

Fellow Yorkshire club Courtcraft Pontefract celebrated their fourth PSL victory in a row with a 4/1 win over bottom-placed MB Nottingham.  Before a crowd described by Pontefract team manager Malcolm Willstrop as "the biggest I've ever seen at the club – it was jam-packed", there were various standout performances by home team players – including an 11-7, 15-13, 13-11 win over Nottingham's Emma Beddoes by Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson. 

The indefatigable Yorkshire legend Simon Parke, now 38, defeated full-timer Lewis Walters 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 - and team number one James Willstrop, who led England to the WSF World Cup final in Chennai at the weekend, dug deep to recover from two games behind, and 5-10 down in the decider, to overcome Eddie Charlton 4-11, 11-13, 11-6, 11-9, 13-11.