31-Jan
VICTORY FOR EDGBASTON
  
With Steve Cubbins on a warpath again and haunting the courts of Duffield, we will have more details for you a bit later, but already, we can tell you that although the score of 4/1 seems quite punishing, it was a close call on a few matches, and the end result could have been easily reversed.

Frenchman Renan Lavigne gave Peter Barker a good run for his money, and as Peter is recovering from a broken ankle, his fitness  not at his top, if Renan had taken the 4th, it wouldn't have been a walk in the park for the Englishman.

And what about Gavin Jones missing out on a match ball in the 5th while playing Hadrian Stiff? A victory there for Duffield would have made the first string the decider, and probably motivated young Nick Matthew to reiterate his exploit of the night before, in Super League, where he beat new Chicago Champion and future father (read all about it in a few hours...) David Palmer in five close games.

So tonight again, Nick and Dave fought hard, no one was ready to say die, and they hit, and they fell, and they run... But David was tonight  able to give his team the win that allows Edgbaston to remain at the top of the league...

A superb finish to a good evening, of course disappointing for the home supporters, but who'll have the satisfaction to know that their boys and girl have given it all...

HOWARD HARDING REPORTS....

Edgbaston Keep Manchester
Pontefract At Bay,
And Chichester Bounce Back

Churchill Edgbaston Priory and Manchester/Pontefract resumed their campaigns for success in the Premier Squash League in the New Year with identical 4-1 wins in tonight's (Tuesday) sixth round ties, with the Birmingham club maintaining their three-point lead over the trans-Pennine cooperative at the top of the North Group points table. The lead has changed, however, in the South Group after Team Chichester pulled off a 3-2 home win over rivals Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury to replace the Gloucestershire club at the top of the table.

Edgbaston Priory hosts Benz-Bavarian Duffield took a quick lead when full-time firewoman and part-time squash player Laura Hill scored a stunning 9-2 9-10 9-2 9-4 win for the Derbyshire club over Manchester-based world No27 Rebecca Botwright. It turned out to be a good night for non-full-timers when Edgbaston's Hadrian Stiff, a 33-year-old from Devon who last played on the PSA Tour three years ago, held off the challenge of Duffield's fast-improving world No40 Gavin Jones, beating the 25-year-old Welshman 11-9 4-9 6-9 9-1 10-8 in 53 minutes.

Priory stalwarts Peter Barker and Stewart Boswell also recorded notable wins for the visitors – over Frenchman Renan Lavigne and Englishman Jonathan Kemp, respectively – leaving team-mate David Palmer, the world No4 from Australia, to contest the final rubber against Duffield No1 Nick Matthew.

The pair met only 24 hours earlier in a Super League clash – but Palmer reversed that result to ensure the vital extra points needed by Edgbaston to maintain their North Group lead, and beat the English world No9 10-8 6-9 9-5 11-9 in 58 minutes.

Manchester/Pontefract also lost the opening match in their tie at Pontefract against bottom-placed Nottingham when the visitors' Sarah Kippax beat Kirsty McPhee 6-9 9-4 9-7 9-3. But it was downhill for the hosts thereafter as Andrew Whipp, Nick Taylor and David Evans all gained straightforward wins over their Nottingham opponents to leave home hero James Willstrop to face long-time Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke in the end-of-evening top string battle.

The Yorkshire pair always provide an entertaining spectacle for the loyal crowd – and tonight was no exception. Willstrop, focused on success in next week's British National Championships in Manchester, battled for four games to keep Parke at bay, eventually taking 38 minutes to win 9-7 10-8 2-9 9-7 to strengthen his team's position in second place in the North Group – 14 points ahead of Duffield and 54 ahead of bottom-placed Nottingham, who are still looking for their first PSL win of the season.

Coming into tonight's tie, Team Chichester were in third place in the South Group table. But fine early performances by Sussex players Linda Elriani and Tim Vail, and Surrey's Tom Richards, put the hosts into a 3/0 lead over league leaders Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury – British champion Elriani crushing the visitors' Selina Sinclair in 14 minutes for the loss of just a single point.

The Gloucestershire club, national semi-finalists in their debut season last year, reduced the deficit when Daryl Selby fought back from two games down to beat Chichester star Peter Genever 6-9 7-9 9-3 13-11 9-5, then South African Rodney Durbach held off the challenge of Chichester's Ben Garner to win 9-6 9-11 9-7 10-8.

The 3-2 result takes Chichester to the top of the table by the narrowest margin over Strings – both teams sharing 66 points but the Sussex clubs holding a better 'games lost' figure than their rivals.

The other South Group battle saw the league's two University sides battle for honours in the West Midlands, with University Sport Birmingham hosting UniSport Guildford. Matches were shared going into the top string clash – with the hosts claiming the early lead through wins by Laura-Jane Lengthorn and Steve Coppinger and the University of Surrey squad fighting back with confident straight games victories by Scotland's Neil Frankland and Zimbabwe's Jesse Engelbrecht.

The decider was an exhilarating display of squash – with Guildford's ex-pro Stephen Meads taking on the fast-improving young Joey Barrington. Meads was in excellent form, fresh from national coaching duties in Hong Kong – but Barrington, the 26-year-old son of the legendary Jonah Barrington, was untouchable – and soon despatched his opponent 9-3 9-2 9-4 to give the Birmingham squad a notable 3-2 win.
  

Battle at the Bottom
Steve Coppinger reports from Birmingham

With Unisport Guildford not at full strength tonight, University Sport Birmingham were looking to take full advantage and hopefully leapfrog Guildford at the bottom of the table. Confident of their chances and eager for the extra points, Birmingham went in to the fixture very determined. This is how the events unfolded:

Laura Lengthorn bt Rachael Wilmott
   9-2 9-5 9-1

First up on centre court for the Birmingham University side was Laura Lengthorn taking on Guildford’s Rachael Wilmott. Laura wasted no time in getting Birmingham off to a great start. She raced through the match which was over in 21 minutes, despite losing concentration momentarily in the second when Rachael managed to put a few points on the board, she was otherwise flawless. Another class performance- but we are beginning to get used to those from Laura Jane.

Steve Coppinger bt Phil Rushworth
   9-5 9-6 9-5

Kicking off proceedings on court 1 was Steve ‘Zulu’ Coppinger for Birmingham up against Phil Rushworth of Guildford. Zulu started the stronger of the two and built up a lead that ultimately was too much for Phil to recover from. The second and third followed a similar pattern with Zulu guilty of going for a bit too much on occasions and falling back on his perverted desire to chase the ball. Over all a resolute performance and his first win for Birmingham this season. 2-0 to Birmingham

Joel Hinds lost Neil Frankland
   4-9 6-9 6-9

Joel ‘Snoop’ Hinds was next up on court 1 and struggled to find his rhythm against Unisport’s Neil Frankland. Frankland took advantage of Joel’s sloppy play well and had the youngster under pressure for most of the match. Joel’s abysmal performance left his team mates wondering whether his player had taken his new Bob Marley image a bit too far. End result a relatively straight forward win for Guildford and leaving the tie at 2-1 to Birmingham.

Jonny Harford lost Jesse Engelbrecht
   7-9 8-10 4-9

Jonny ‘BOI’ Harford was looking forward to taking on Zimbabwean Jesse Engelbrecht who looks as if he’s been plucked out of ‘That 70’s Show’ and given a squash racquet to compliment his sideburns. He made good use of his racquet though and had Jonny under more pressure for most of the first game with some long working rallies. A very tight game ensued which Jesse managed to close out 9-7. The second game saw Harford take the initiative and work Jesse with some great structured rallies. Unfortunately unable to convert his game ball at 8-7, Jonny fell victim to a gutsy few rallies from Jesse who took the 2nd 10-8. With Jonny a little disheartened from the missed opportunity and Jesse full of confidence the 3rd was a more one-sided affair. Some lovely touch drops from Jesse pushing Harford that little bit too far. On the whole a solid performance from the Birmingham player with good structure but lacked the penetration to really put Jesse under pressure. The tie now at 2-2, it was all down to the number 1 strings.

Joey Barrington bt Steven Meads
   9-3 9-2 9-4

Despite his fashionably late arrival Joey was as sharp as ever against Steve Meads. The Birmingham player was typically hunting down everything that was thrown at him and delighted the crowd with an impressive repertoire of winning shots. Despite a gutsy effort from Steven, Joey was in charge and never looked like being in trouble. A tenacious performance giving Birmingham the win 3-2.

While the Varsity Cup is now in Birmingham’s hands for the first time since its inception, unfortunately the win was not enough to elevate us off the bottom of the table but brings us to within 2 points of Guildford with 3 matches to go so all to play for to avoid the wooden spoon. Thanks to everyone involved in the match, especially to the members of the University Squash Club whose fine efforts enabled an enjoyable night to be had by all. A special mention must also go out to Hydey for the ‘rather lively’ Chilli Con-Carne after the match.

We now look forward to the trip down to Surrey, on the 7th of March, who will be looking for revenge after they sent up a weakened team to Birmingham in the first half.