It’s all away again as Nottingham dent Duffield
Just as happened in round six, tonight’s round eight saw all five away teams win as the PSL season drew close to deciding the teams who will contest the semi-finals.
Nottingham dent Duffield record to edge close to semi-final place
Runaway leaders of Group A, Duffield had the BBC in attendance to record some of the atmosphere and some of Nick Matthew’s match. Going on first the world champion beat Chris Simpson 3/1, but at the bottom of the order Emma Beddoes, Mark Fuller – saving a match ball in the fourth against PSL debutant Ashley Davies – and finally Lewis Walters all won to give visitors Nottingham a big boost towards the playoffs as they overtook second-placed Oxford who were enjoying – or not, as it happens – a rest night.
“Baby Spartan, young Ashley played great on debut but Notts deserved winners tonight,” tweeted Matthew, who also commented on his match against Chris Simpson: Not the ideal opponent @simposquash played like a dog with a bone tonight, had to dig deep to beat him.
Bottom of the table Pontefract travelled to fellow strugglers Birmingham, and Dipika Pallikal, Simon Parke and Saurav Ghosal gave them a 3/0 lead before Birmingham struck back with wins from Jonny Harford and Chris Ryder – against none other than former and current world number ones Lee Beachill and James Willstrop! – to reduce the deficit.
Results: Duffield 2-3 Nottingham (9-16), Birmingham 2-3 Pontefract (7-15)
Points: Duffield 118 (7), Nottingham 81 (6), Oxford 71 (6), Pontefract 53 (6), Birmingham 49 (7) (TBC)
So Duffield are assured of a semi-final place and need just four points in their final match – at home to Pontefract in round ten – to secure top spot, while Nottingham are now favourites to join them unless Oxford can pull off a good away win at their rivals, also in round ten on 27th March.
Surrey, Winchester and St George’s wrap up away wins
The visitors made the early running in each of the Group B matches too.
At Chichester Alison Waters, Adrian Waller and Alan Clyne gave leaders Surrey the win, Adrian Grant struggled to an 11/9 win over Olly Pett to make it 4-0 (“the solution to jetlag is not to play,” he tweeted!), and Peter Barker mopped up to give Surrey maximum points and an increased lead.
Winchester were similarly ruthless at bottom of the table Bristol as Lauren Selby, Dan West and Stacey Ross put them 3-0 up. Bristol’s Arthur Gaskin and Mohamed El Shorbagy – against his brother Marwan – won at the top of the order to make the final result 2-3. The win takes Winchester up to fourth place above Chichester, but still out of realistic playoff contention.
At Exeter, where the hosts faced their main rivals St George’s for a semi-final spot, Aisling Blake gave them hope with a 3-2 win over Dominique Lloyd-Walter, but St Georges’ took the lead with 3/0 wins from Joe Lee and Nicolas Mueller. Exeter’s Peter Creed made a valiant effort to take the match into a decider as he pulled back a two-game deficit against Tom Richards, but it was the St George’s man who took the fifth to seal another away win.
Daryl Selby wrapped up a 4-1 win for the visitors, and a 19-6 points advantage which takes them two points ahead of Exeter into second place.
Results: Exeter 1-4 St George’s (6-19), Bristol 2-3Winchester (10-15), Chichester 0-5 Surrey (3-20)
Points: Surrey 130, St George’s 113, Exeter 111, Winchester 80, Chichester 73, Bristol 50 (TBC)
With St George’s set to visit Surrey in round nine, and Surrey travelling to Exeter in the final round, it’s still any two from three in this group.
[box]28-Feb, Round Eight Results:
DUFFIELD 2-3 NOTTINGHAM (9-16)
Nick Matthew 3-1 Chris Simpson 11/6, 11/9, 10/12, 11/8
Andy Whipp 3-1 Shaun Le Roux 7/11, 11/9, 11/5, 11/4
Laurence Delasaux 1-3 Lewis Walters 9/11, 11/8, 12/14, 5/11
Ashley Davies 2-3 Mark Fuller 11/9, 5/11, 11/7, 13/15, 4/11
Laura Hill 0-3 Emma Beddoes 6/11, 5/11, 6/11
BIRMINGHAM 2-3 PONTEFRACT (7-15)
Chris Ryder 3-0 James Willstrop 11/5, 11/5, 11/7
Jaymie Haycocks 0-3 Saurav Ghosal 8/11, 6/11, 0/11
Jonny Harford 3-1 Lee Beachill 9/11, 11/4, 11/3, 11/4
Chris Truswell 0-3 Simon Parke 3/11, 7/11, 9/11
Deon Saffery 1-3 Dipika Pallikal 5/11, 12/10, 5/11, 8/11
EXETER 1-4 ST GEORGE’S (6-19)
Tim Vail 1-3 Daryl Selby 10/12, 11/5, 7/11, 3/11 (43m)
Peter Creed 2-3 Tom Richards 10/12, 6/11, 11/8, 11/8, 3/11 (63m)
James Snell 0-3 Nicolas Mueller 12/14, 6/11, 6/11 (37m)
Lyell Fuller 0-3 Joe Lee 4/11, 5/11, 12/14 (46m)
Aisling Blake 3-2 Dom Lloyd-Walter 11/5, 7/11, 9/11, 11/8, 11/6 (55m)
BRISTOL 2-3 WINCHESTER (10-15)
Mohamed El Shorbagy 3-1 Marwan El Shorbagy 12/10, 12/10, 4/11, 11/6
Arthur Gaskin 3-0 Jethro Binns 11/6, 11/2, 12/10
Tom Ford 2-3 Stacey Ross 6/11, 10/12, 11/8, 12/10, 10/12
Peter Joyce 2-3 Dan West 14/12, 11/7, 9/11, 8/11, 6/11
Rebecca Quiney 0-3 Lauren Selby 2/11, 7/11, 1/11
CHICHESTER 0-5 SURREY
Robbie Temple 0-3 Peter Barker 12/14, 5/11, 7/11
Olly Pett 2-3 Adrian Grant 11/5, 8/11, 4/11, 11/9, 9/11
Anthony Graham 0-3 Alan Clyne 10/12, 10/12, 3/11
Alex Gough 1-3 Adrian Waller 11/9, 3/11, 8/11, 5/11
Lauren Briggs 0-3 Alison Walters 1/11, 5/11, 3/11