Riverside 3 (17pts), Sidmouth 2 (10pts) Sidmouth Squash Club suffered their fourth defeat in five games and looked to have missed their chance to gain the second promotion spot from Division 3 of the Devon Squash Leagues.

The most recent disappointment came last Sunday when the team travelled to Riverside in Exeter. Having beaten their opponents 4-1 back in November the side had high hopes of a repeat, but had to settle for a narrow 3 - 2 defeat.

Captain Rob Cann got the evening off to a good start with a 15-6, 11-15, 15-9, 15-9 victory over fellow fifth string Martin Wilson. Cann looked in control from the opening game, but a lapse in concentration saw his opponent back on level terms before the skipper took charge again.

Paul Clare struggled to find his best form and lost out narrowly to Riversides number four, Adrian Carpenter. This is a game Paul should have won, but matters beyond his control seemed to go against him and he slipped to a 15-8, 5-15, 17-15, 9-15, 15-13 defeat.

Sidmouth regained the lead when Alick Russell came from 2 - 1 down to defeat veteran Brian Lamb. Russell could well have won this rubber much easier had it not been for some crucial errors at the wrong times. However he did prevail to come through 15-13, 12-15, 15-13, 13-15, 15-10.

Yet another five game battle saw Sidmouth’s Nigel Desousa lose out narrowly to Riversides second string Jon Hill. In one of the tightest games of the night where small errors had great effects Nigel had to settle for two games from a narrow 15-7, 7-15, 15-10, 14-16,15-10 defeat.

The final and deciding rubber saw Sidmouth’s Chris Marriott take on home top string Ty Festa. Despite some excellent squash Marriott could not find winning shots and whilst his opponent retrieved and ran his way to a 15-7, 15-8, 15-10 victory.

There is a welcome two week break now before the final two games of the season with the hopes Sidmouth could get one or two players back from injury before taking on second placed Newton Abbot 4th’s at Sidmouth Sports Centre on March 22.