Round FOUR – Duffield and Exeter get a grip
Round Four as it happened …
Round four of the PSL season, approaching the halfway stage, and it was Duffield and Exeter who moved to the top of their respective divisions …
In Group A leaders Duffield hosted neighbours Nottingham, just five points behind. Aqeel Rehman drew first blood to put Duffield one-nil up, but Emma Beddoes levelled for Nottingham with a stunning 3-2 win over world #2 Laura Massaro. Andy Whipp restored Duffield’s lead with three extra-point games against Mark Fuller, and Joel Hinds clinched the bonus points for Duffield with a 3-0 win over Ollie Holland before Nick Matthew – sadly not nominated on the BBC’s SPOTY shortlist – wrapped it up 4-1.
Pontefract played host to Yorkshire neighbours Chapel Allerton, and it was the visitors who went home happy with a 3-2 win.
Birmingham University entertained Coolhurst, both teams handily placed in the table. The first pair of matches were shared with wins for Bradley Hindle and Madeline Perry, but Adam Auckland and Yann Perrin took Coolhurst into a 3-1 lead. Chris Ryder limited the damage for Birmingham but Coolhurst continue an impressive start to their first season.
In Group B St George’s were at home to Chichester, and their too the opening pairs of exchanges were shared, setting up a decider between Borja Golan and Jon Kemp at top string which the Spaniard won in three to move St George’s ahead of the visitors in the table.
Exeter had a big crowd to watch the table-topping clash with champions Surrey, both starting the evening on 49 points. Alison Waters quickly put the visitors one up, but Tim Vail made it one-all. Joey Barrington and David Bianchetti fought a gruelling four-setter with “too many stoppages”, finishing at past 10pm as the Italian put Surrey back in the lead with two matches still to play and a long drive home waiting for Surrey. Olli Tuominen levelled with a close three-nil win over Raphael Kandra, and at 11pm the decider was on, finished mercifully quickly by Omar Mosaad beating Adrian Grant 3-0 to take Exeter to the top pf the table.
Bristol and Winchester started the night at the bottom of the table. Yathreb Adel made a winning home debut for Bristol but Daniel Poleschuck brought the visitors level. Mike Harris and Tom Ford – coming from 0-2 down to beat Alex Phillips – secured Bristol’s first win of the season, and David Evans put the icing on the cake for a rare 4-1 home win.
Group A
Duffield (46+19) 4-1 Nottingham (41+4)
Pontefract (14+6) 2-3 Chapel Allerton (30+17)
James Willstrop 3-1 Daryl Selby 7-11, 11-5, 11-3, 11-6
Saurav Ghosal 0-3 Chris Simpson 6-11, 8-11, 1-11
Lee Beachill 0-3 Shaun le Roux 10-12, 5-11, 7-11
Adam Taylor 0-3 Simon Parke 6-11, 10-12, 5-11
Sarah Kippax 3-2 Jenny Duncalf 8-11, 9-11, 8-3 rtd
Birmingham (40+7) 2-3 Coolhurst (45+14)
Chris Ryder 3-0 Ben Coleman 11-9, 11-3, 11-2
Jaymie Haycocks 0-3 Yann Perrin 10-12, 8-11, 8-11
Nathan Lake 0-3 Adam Auckland 4-11, 2-11, 3-11
Bradley Hindle 3-0 Steve London 11-5, 11-9, 11-5
Deon Saffery 1-3 Madeline Perry 11-9, 7-11, 6-11, 8-11
Standings: Duffield 65, Coolhurst 59, Birmngham 47, Chapel A 47, Nottingham 45, Pontefract 20
Group B
St George’s (36+15) 3-2 Chichester (42+7)
Borja Golan 3-0 Jon Kemp 11-7, 12-10, 11-6
Tom Richards 3-0 Rex Hedrick 11-5, 11-6, 11-7
Henrik Mustonen 3-1 Robbie Temple 8-11, 11-9, 12-10, 11-8
Alex Ingham 1-3 Ollie Pett 7-11, 12-10, 8-11, 8-11
Dom Lloyd-Walter 0-3 Jackie Kemp 8-11, 6-11, 7-11
Exeter (49+15) 3-2 Surrey (49+7)
Omar Mosaad 3-0 Adrian Grant 11-7, 11-5, 11-7 (35m)
Olli Tuominen 3-0 Raphael Kandra 11-5, 13-11, 14-12 (42m)
Joey Barrington 1-3 Davide Bianchetti 9-11, 11-13, 11-6, 10-12 (75m)
Tim Vail 3-1 Richie Fallows 13-11, 11-9, 9-11, 11-2 (59m)
Rhianne O’Donnell 0-3 Alison Waters 2-11, 2-11, 1-11 (13m)
Bristol (19+18) 4-1 Winchester (12+6)
David Evans 3-0 Robert Downer 11-3 11-8 11-3
Tom Ford 3-2 Alex Phillips 10-12, 6-11, 11-6, 11-3, 11-6
Mike Harris 3-1 Phil Bull 11-5, 11-3, 9-11, 11-4
Jethro Binns 1-3 Daniel Poleschuck 11-7, 7-11, 3-11, 8-11
Yathreb Adel 3-0 Emily Heyes 11-2, 11-3, 11-7
Standings: Exeter 64, Surrey 56, St George’s 51, Chichester 49, Bristol 37, Winchester 18
Twitter report card
how did today’s home teams do …
Duffield: Not bad, but delegated mostly to the many helping hands from the away side … B
Pontefract: They’ve not heard of Twitter in Ponte … F-
Birmingham: All there in the end but game scores and hashtags a mess … C-
St George’s: Lots of input, but mostly cryptic or superfluous or half-done … D
Exeter: @ESR_SW putting in another good (late) shift … A
Bristol: Few frills, but everything neat tidy and timely … A
Twitter tip: You can do a match with six tweets, Lineup photo and 5 results. Start from there …