Squash: Chichester and Bognor serve up a thriller

Chichester were the visitors for a division two west table-topping clash with Bognor at Hawthorn Road.

It provided some nail-biting squash as Chichester edged home in four of the five contests.

Bognor No5 Steve Enfield was soon under pressure from Leon Haycock, finding himself two down in quick time but staging a great recovery to level it. The decider was hard-fought with Haycock just getting home - score 2-9, 1-9, 9-5, 9-0, 7-9.

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Fourth string Glen Peskett was up against Hannah Wright-Davies, the top lady player in Sussex, but he established a two-game lead before Wright-Davies found her form and pulled a game back.

In the fourth game Peskett had match point but could not convert and Wright-Davies took that game and the next as the Bognor player tired. The score was 9-1, 9-5, 7-9, 9-10, 3-9.

Bognor No3 Paul Thompson played Jamie Allday in a see-saw match which finally swung Chichester’s way in the decider - score 9-7, 6-9, 9-7, 3-9, 7-9.

The second-string tussle between Luke Allen and Miles Davy was no less enthralling. Davy went two games up but Bognor’s Allen was equal to the challenge and came back to level before Davy had the upper hand in the decider.

The score was 6-9, 4-9, 9-5, 9-6, 6-9.

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Despite their best efforts Bognor were looking at a whitewash but captain Steve Porter had other ideas after losing the first game against Lewis Strudwick, who was unbeaten in the league to date.

Porter came back to win the next two, with Strudwick making it 2-2 to set up yet another five-game thriller, won this time by Bognor as Porter showed his determination in a 2-9, 9-2, 9-5, 4-9, 9-7 triumph.

Bognor took 11 points to Chichester’s 19 in one of the best contests seen at Hawthorn Raod in recent seasons.

Bognor’s second team carved out a third successive win when they entertained Storrington to move into third spot in division four west with a 3-2 win.

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Captain Dave Meagher was at No5 playing Perry Lewis and seemed to be on the way back after losing the first two 9-7, 9-7, winning the third comfortably 9-1. But he could not maintain the push and Lewis replied strongly to win the fourth game 9-0.

Steve Darlington had a routine victory against Colin Buck winning 9-2, 9-3, 9-5 and third string Josh Bennett was far too strong for Paul Kearsley with a straight-games victory 9-2, 9-2, 9-0.

Bognor No2 Steve Carruthers had a difficult match with Russell Cooper, levelling at 1-1 but losing out in four games 3-9, 9-4, 4-9, 6-9.

With the match finely-balanced at 2-2, it was left to No1 Luke Allen to cement victory for the home team with a convincing 9-3, 9-0, 9-3 margin over Michael Standring which gave Bognor 16 points to Storrington’s six.

The next match at Hawthorn Road is tomorrow (7pm) when the first team host Bluecoats Sports, Horsham. Visitors are welcome - call 01243 865462 for details.

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