Premier Squash League 2014/15, Round NINE Report by Steve Cubbins March 10, 2015
Duffield suffer their first defeat as St George's seal a semi-final spot ...
With
just two rounds of league action left, at the start of tonight’s
matches only one team was already guaranteed a place in the
semi-finals, and with most fielding close to their strongest lineups
there were looked to be some close matches in store, and so it proved.
Division A leaders Duffield had already booked a home match in the
semis, but were rocked by the late withdrawal of Nick Matthew through
injury. That gave visitors Coolhurst London, who started the evening in
third place by a solitary point, a chance to end Duffield’s unbeaten
record. ~
It didn’t start well for the visitors, who had to concede the ladies’
match as they only had one English player in their lineup - at least
two are required. James Earles and Declan James both won 3-1 to make it
2-1 to Duffield, but Cameron Pilley beat Joel Hinds 3-1 to set up a
decider, in which Coolhurst’s Simon Rosner beat Chris Simpson in
straight games to keep the division very much alive.
Nottingham started the evening in second place, just, but knew they had
a tough task against visiting neighbours Leicester, who had their
strongest side out. Emma Beddoes gave Nottingham the lead, but
Leicester took all four of the men’s matches to put a serious dent in
Nottingham’s playoff prospects.
Birmingham Lions also had hopes of making the semi-finals but needed to
win away to a strong Pontefract side to maintain those hopes. That they
duly did as Deon Saffery, Bradley Hindle and Peter Creed gave them a
winning lead, Pontefract winning the two matches at the top of the
order through Laurens Jan Anjema and James Willstrop.
That leaves Duffield still top, but with Coolhurst, Birmingham and
Nottingham only separated by six points, it’s still any one from three
for the second spot.
In Division B leaders St George’s tightened their grip with a solid 5-0
home win over Chichester, although Tom Richards and Yathreb Adel were
both takes to five games.
Meanwhile champions Surrey H&R came away with a 4-1 win against a
strong-looking Exeter side. Peter Barker won the final match for Surrey
with a 3-1 win over world number one Mohamed Elshorbagy, while debutant
Michael Craig made sure Surrey only dropped one point as he lost in
five to James Snell.
Bristol kept alive their slender hopes of qualification with a 4-1 win
away to Winchester to make it six wins out of nine, although
realistically they needed one or both of the top two to drop more
points.
The resulting tables show that St George’s are now guaranteed a
semi-finals place, but they are just seven points ahead of Surrey - who
need just six more to guarantee a top two finish - and finishing top
will be a priority as they aim to avoid a trip to Duffield in the
semi-finals.
Division A
Benz Bavarian Duffield 2-3 Coolhurst London (7-15)
Chris Simpson 0-3 Simon Rosner 6-11, 9-11, 6-11
Joel Hinds 0-3 Cameron Pilley 4-11, 9-11, 3-11
Declan James 3-1 Greg Lobban 13-11, 9-11, 11-6, 11-8
Ashley Davies 1-3 James Earles 15-13, 0-11, 7-11, 6-11
Millie Tomlinson w/o Madeline Perry teams need to field two English players
Pontefract 2-3 Birmingham Lions (10-14)
James Willstrop 3-0 Jaymie Haycocks 11-7, 11-6, 11-9
Laurens Jan Anjema 3-0 Chris Ryder 11-8, 11-5, 14-12
Ben Grindrod 2-3 Peter Creed 11-9, 4-11, 11-5, 9-11, 6-11
Lee Beachill 1-3 Bradley Hindle 2-11, 11-7, 9-11, 6-11
Katie Smith 1-3 Deon Saffery 4-11, 11-9, 8-11, 9-11
Air-IT Nottingham 1-4 Everards Leicester (8-17)
Alan Clyne 1-3 Daryl Selby 3-11, 11-9, 4-11, 7-11
Eddie Charlton 2-3 Shaun Le Roux 9-11, 11-8, 13-11, 7-11, 9-11
Lewis Walters 1-3 Ben Coleman 5-11, 11-6, 7-11, 1-11
Mark Fuller 1-3 George Parker 11-8, 6-11, 6-11, 4-11
Emma Beddoes 3-0 Mari Taylor 12-10, 11-1, 11-3
Division B
Exeter Diamonds 1-4 Virgin Active Surrey HRC (6-19)
Mohamed Elshorbagy 1-3 Peter Barker 11-8, 6-11, 5-11, 11-13
Olli Tuominen 2-3 Mazen Hesham 6-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-7, 8-11
Tim Vail 0-3 Piedro Schweertman 9-11, 5-11, 4-11
James Snell 3-2 Michael Craig 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, 4-11, 11-7
Rhianne O'Donnell 0-3 Alison Waters 5-11, 7-11, 1-11
Luxford/9 Group St George's Hill 5-0 Team Chichester (20-6)
Borja Golan 3-0 Adrian Waller 11-0, 11-3, 11-1
Joe Lee 3-1 Rex Hedrick 11-6, 7-11, 11-8, 11-7
Tom Richards 3-2 Robbie Temple 8-11, 11-8, 11-1, 8-11, 11-9
Charles Sharpes 3-1 Nathan Lake 11-5, 11-8, 5-11, 11-8
Yathreb Adel 3-2 Lauren Briggs 8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 11-5, 11-5
Round TEN, 31-Mar:
Birmingham v Duffield, Coolhurst v Leicester, Nottingham v Pontefract
Bristol v Exeter, Surrey v Chichester, St George’s v Winchester
