Tiverton 2 (10 Pts ) - Sidmouth 3 (17 Pts )

Sidmouth Squash Club continued their good start to the second half of the season and moved top of Division 3 with victory over Tiverton Squash, writes Rob Cann.

The evening started poorly when fifth string Paul Clare lost 15-11; 9-15; 10-15; 13-15 to opponent Greg Birchmore. Having beaten Greg at home, Paul was confident of a repeat but the lack of squash and a two week holiday in South Africa were to blame!

Alick Russell recovered from a two game deficit and saved two match balls before defeating fellow fourth string Chris Boumphrey.

Chris's disappointment was clear to see at the conclusion of the 15-9; 15-8; 14-16; 10-15; 7-15 result.

Sidmouth took a 2-1 lead when Dave Maskill defeated Tivvy third string Mark Stimpson 13-15; 15-11; 15-12; 15-5. As is customary nowadays, Maskill’s slow start is followed by much more controlled squash

Tivvy levelled in the next rubber when home player Alistair King just shaded the second string game with Nigel Desousa. Against one of the best second strings in the league, Nigel did well to recover from 1-2 down to force a deciding game, however, he came up a few points short losing 11-15; 15-11; 15-13; 9-15; 15-10.

The final and deciding rubber saw Sidmouth's Chris Marriott take on Tivvy No 1 Simon Kingston.

Having never played each other before, the potential outcome was a total mystery.

Kingston took the opener only for Marriott to respond taking the second. The third proved crucial, with neither player wanting to give ground but it was Marriott who held his nerve to win 20-18 in a marathon tie-break. From then on it was Kingston who had to take the risks and this he did, all too often, as Marriott held his nerve to win 10-15; 15-9; 20-18; 15-11.

?Sidmouth's next game is a home tie with Newton Abbot 3rds with the team hoping for a repeat of the away victory back in October.