Following a one-week break, our three local squash clubs returned to action last Thursday in the men’s North West Counties League.

There were differing fortunes for their 11 teams – although five of the six across Divisions Two, Three and Four enjoyed little of the good variety, as they suffered 5-0 defeats against strong opponents.

The exceptions, in Division Four South, were Bollington 2 who remain handily placed in third after securing a 4-1 win at home to Sandbach. Rick Walters, Stuart Arnold, Mark Collins and Aldo Palazzo were all victorious in the course of a third successive triumph for the ‘Bolly Seconds’.

Both local teams in Division Two East endured their five-game losses on the road. Bollington 1 were beaten at second-placed Bowdon 2 to drop to ninth – one position above the relegation zone. And Prestbury 1 slipped to sixth, being leapfrogged in the process by their hosts Warrington 2.

In Division Three South-East, it was the same story results-wise – although both bottom-placed Macclesfield Squash 1 and Prestbury 2, who are now ninth, went down at home: against Grove Park 3 and table-topping Tollgate 1, respectively.

And Bollington 2’s divisional companions Prestbury 3 remain in the basement position, having not won since the opening night of the season. Their latest victorious visitors Radbroke Hall 1 will, incidentally, become hosts at Prestbury with effect from tomorrow – having moved the remainder of the campaign’s home fixtures from Macclesfield Leisure Centre to Bollin Grove.

In Division Five South, the top two teams – Bollington 3 and Prestbury 4 – both won, and duly swapped places, again. Prestbury now lead by a point after maintaining their 100 per cent record with a 5-0 defeat of the club’s Sixth Team, with wins for Paul Minshull, Paul Wilson and Pat Hunter, as well as juniors Jonny Murray (14) and Keon Raked (15).
Bollington, meanwhile, hosted Buxton 2, and won 4-1 thanks to Tom Binder, Andy Phillips, Martin Ogden and 15-year-old James Walton.

As well as staging the match between its ‘Fourths’ and ‘Sixths’, Prestbury was the venue for a second local derby of the night – featuring the Fifth Team and Macclesfield Squash 2. Prestbury 5 captain Phil Colville led by example to win his first-string match, although the remaining four went to the visitors – courtesy of wins by Daz Glazer, David Birtwistle, Annika Hall and Jon Stoker – who, as a consequence, edged up to fifth.

In the Cheshire Ladies’ League, three days earlier, Prestbury, despite victories for Linda Maher and Sarah Lonsdale, lost by the odd game in five to their guests Barnton 1 (but nonetheless still moved up a position to fifth in Division Two). And, after some near misses in previous weeks, Third Division Bollington achieved a first success of the season – rocketing to fourth place by virtue of a 5-0 thumping of Village Hyde.

Don’t forget to look for Gareth’s squash news in the Macclesfield Express.

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