Edgbaston Priory Stretch North Lead, While Strings Tighten Up In South

A last ditch win by Churchill Edgbaston Priory in tonight's eighth round of the Premier League (PSL), sponsored by insurance specialists THB Clowes, extends the Birmingham club's lead to 30 points in the North Group - and virtually assures their place in the end-of-season play-offs. A similar nail-biting 3/2 victory by Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury sees the Gloucestershire regain top position in the South Group, a single point ahead of Surrey Health & Racquets Croydon whose 3/2 win pushes former group leaders Team Chichester into third place.

A long-awaited first win of the season looked on the cards for former champions Nottingham as the hosts forged a 2/1 lead against Edgbaston Priory - squad third and fourth strings James Wright and Arthur Gaskin beating Priory's Adam Stevenson and Peter Creed, respectively, after the visitors' Rebecca Botwright fought off a string challenge from Sarah Kippax, ranked 11 places lower in the world, before beating the Nottingham player 9-10 9-1 9-5 10-8 in 56 minutes.

Devonian Hadrian Stiff levelled the tie for the West Midlands visitors, before rising English star Peter Barker beat Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke 9-6 9-7 11-9 to clinch victory for Edgbaston, their sixth of the season.

Manchester/Pontefract, Priory's main rivals for the North Group title, suffered their second defeat of the season - going down 4/1 to PSL champions Wolverhampton. Both teams were fielding depleted squads, with many of the world's top players currently undergoing final Commonwealth Games preparations in Melbourne. Hosts Wolverhampton were already celebrating victory - boosted by "the result of the night" when veteran Mark Cairns beat the visitors' 24-year-old Andrew Whipp 6-9 9-2 9-6 9-6 - before Welsh Commonwealth Games team-mates Alex Gough and David Evans took to the court for the top string clash.

Wolverhampton team manager Stephen Russell introduced the pair to the packed crowd by thanking the players for "postponing their trip to play a more important match tonight!". In what was only his second win against his long-time national rival in more than seven years, Gough beat Evans 9-3 9-4 9-7 in 41 minutes to seal the 4/1 victory for Wolverhampton.

Both ties in the South Group kept the crowds on the edges of their seats until the final balls were struck. Fresh from her success in the Swiss Open in Geneva on Sunday, Lauren Briggs caused a major upset when she defeated world No13 Laura-Jane Lengthorn - ranked 15 places higher - 9-7 5-9 9-7 9-7 to put Surrey H&RC into an early home lead against University Sport Birmingham. Club debutante Simon Rosner, the first German to compete in the league, extended the Croydon club's lead with an impressive 9-3 9-11 9-4 9-4 win over Joel Hinds - but the Birmingham University side came back to level the tie thanks to notable victories by Jonathan Harford and Steve Coppinger.

The decider was a 74-minute marathon in which Italian Davide Bianchetti, leading the Croydon squad for the first time, romped to a 2/0 lead against Joey Barrington - but the fast-rising English star battled back to force the match into a fifth game. Bianchetti maintained his focus to win 9-3 9-3 1-9 6-9 9-6 to take Surrey HR&SC into a close second position in the table.

There was even greater drama in the other South Group clash when UniSport Guildford entertained Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury. Victories by Pakistan No1 Carla Khan and Alex Stait for the visitors, and by Neil Frankland for Guildford meant that a win by second string Stephen Meads was essential if the home team's hopes were to be kept alive. The 35-year-old former Tour pro was facing fast-rising Daryl Selby, the 23-year-old from Essex whom he edged out in Sunday's semi-finals of the North of Scotland Open in Aberdeen.

The score reached 2-2 in games and 8-8 in the decider when Meads caressed a drop shot into the front backhand corner - and, in trying to reach the ball, Selby's elbow accidentally struck Meads on the back of the head. The match came to a halt for ten minutes while team-mates tried to stop the bleeding from Meads' wound. On the resumption of the match, plucky Meads won the first point after a long rally, before Selby took the next to bring it back to 9-9. But it was Meads who forced the ultimate advantage by winning the next two points to earn a courageous 9-6 8-10 9-7 4-9 11-9 victory - before heading off to the local hospital for treatment.

In the tie decider, Tewkesbury's Australian No1 Cameron Pilley proved too strong for Guildford's Stacey Ross, winning 12-10 5-9 9-1 6-9 9-4 to give Strings a 3/2 victory.

8th round, Tuesday 7 March 2006

North Group:
Nottingham 2 Churchill Edgbaston Priory 3
Simon Parke lost to Peter Barker 6-9, 7-9, 9-11 (42m)
Duncan Walsh lost to Hadrian Stiff 4-9, 1-9, 1-9 (25m)
James Wright bt Adam Stevenson 9-4, 9-1, 9-6 (21m)
Arthur Gaskin bt Peter Creed 10-8, 9-0, 8-10, 9-6 (38m)
Sarah Kippax lost to Rebecca Botwright 10-9, 1-9, 5-9, 8-10 (56m)
Wolverhampton 4 Manchester/Pontefract 1
Alex Gough bt David Evans 9-3, 9-4, 9-7 (41m)
Scott Handley bt Nick Taylor 8-10, 9-11, 9-6, 9-7, 9-2
Mark Cairns bt Andrew Whipp 6-9, 9-2, 9-6, 9-6
Chris Ryder bt Shaun le Roux 9-2, 5-9, 9-2, 9-6
Fiona Moverley lost to Jenna Gates 4-9, 1-9, 2-9

South Group:
UniSport Guildford 2 Oberthur Strings Tewkesbury 3
Stacey Ross lost to Cameron Pilley 10-12, 9-5, 1-9, 9-6, 4-9
Stephen Meads bt Daryl Selby 9-6, 8-10, 9-7, 4-9, 11-9
Jesse Engelbrecht lost to Alex Stait 6-9, 4-9, 4-9
Neil Frankland bt Philip Nightingale 9-6, 4-9, 9-3, 9-4
Rachel Willmott lost to Carla Khan 3-9, 1-9, 3-9
Surrey H&RC Croydon 3 University Sport Birmingham 2
Davide Bianchetti bt Joey Barrington 9-3, 9-3, 1-9, 6-9, 9-6 (74m)
Phillip Barker lost to Jonathan Harford 3-9, 2-9, 7-9 (29m)
Simon Rosner bt Joel Hinds 9-3, 9-11, 9-4, 9-4 (49m)
Chris Simpson lost to Steve Coppinger 6-9, 9-7, 6-9, 9-5, 5-9 (47m)
Lauren Briggs bt Laura-Jane Lengthorn 9-7, 5-9, 9-7, 9-7 (69m)