Chichester win battle of southern cathedral cities

Lauren Briggs was first on court for the hosts and played British junior champion Georgina Kennedy.

This was always going to be a close match and the first two games were extremely evenly-matched with both going to a tie-break and both winning one apiece.

From then on Briggs mixed the pace and added more variety to her game which slowed down Kennedy’s fast game. Briggs won the third and fourth 11/5, 11/6 in what proved to be a very entertaining match.

Chichester’s Nathan Lake (world No116) was first on the glass-back court and was in total control against Sean Conroy. He convincingly won 11/7, 11/4, 11/1.

Next, Robbie Temple played Winchester’s Scott Handley. Temple’s pace and quick hitting took Handley out of his comfort zone.

Handley competed well up to the middle part of the match before Temple’s game, and the pressure, took hold. Temple won in 11/4, 11/5, 11/6 to give Chichester an unassailable 3-0 lead.

Brandon Hanley for the hosts played Robbie Keefe and right from the start Hanley was focused. Brandon’s unorthodox style of squash, incorporating a lot of disguise, kept his opponent back on his heels while Hanley’s pace anticipation and deception proved too much for Keefe as he struggled to find his own game. Hanley won 11/6, 11/0, 11/5 in 25 minutes.

The final match on the championship court was between the number-one strings, Chichester’s Adrian Waller (world 26) and Robert Downer.

Waller made a sluggish start and Downer capitalised on this to take the first game 11/9. Waller then regained control of the match.

Although Downer gave a very good account of himself throughout the next games, Waller’s experience and class proved too much for the young man. Waller won the next three games 11/6, 11/5 11/9 to give Chichester the best possible start to the new season.

The next fixture is away to Exeter on October 27 and the next home fixture will be against Surrey on November 10.

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