Esporta Oxford Crush Nottingham To Top PSL Group

Esporta Oxford scored the first maximum points win of the season in Tuesday's second round of the Premier League - beating MB Nottingham 5/0 to head the Group A table in the world's most prestigious squash league.

Elsewhere in the group, former champions Benz-Bavarian Duffield began their 2008/09 season campaign by resisting a strong challenge from Pontefract, fighting back from behind to clinch a 3/2 win over their Yorkshire visitors. In Group B, league newcomers Exeter Diamonds inflicted the first defeat of the season on title-holders PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC, beating the Croydon club 3/2 - while Probuild Bristol also scored their second win of the season in a 3/2 away win at TWP St George's Hill. But the biggest smiles were to be found at another venue in Surrey where UniSport Guildford scored their first win in more than two years over PNH Properties Chichester, beating the Sussex club 4/1 at home.

Pontefract, featuring the two highest-ranked players in their stable - James Willstrop and Lee Beachill - arrived at Duffield's Derbyshire base looking for victory. And Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson put the visitors into the driving seat with a four-game win over local star Laura Hill. Duffield-based Joel Hinds, playing for his local club for the first time after three years at Birmingham University, levelled the tie - but Leeds-based Indian champion Saurav Ghosal restored Pontefract's lead with a straight games dismissal of Andrew Whipp.

It was a capacity home crowd at Duffield that roared on Joey Barrington as the club debutant beat higher-ranked fellow Englishman Lee Beachill 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4, before squad number one Nick Matthew - in his sixth season for Duffield - despatched his England team-mate James Willstrop 11-8, 11-5, 11-9 to clinch victory for the three-time champions.

The last-minute withdrawal of club stalwart Simon Parke left MB Nottingham having to promote Arthur Gaskin to third string and introduce local player Lewis Walter at four in their away fixture at Esporta Oxford. And it was Irish champion Madeline Perry that kicked off the Oxford onslaught as she beat Emma Beddoes 11-3, 12-10, 11-2 - a win which was followed by straight games defeats of Walters and Gaskin. In his debut for the hosts, top-ranked Spaniard Borja Golan let slip a two-game lead over Nottingham's Renan Lavigne - but refocused in the decider to beat the Frenchman 12-10, 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 11-8.

In the final match - described by Oxford team manager Jason Martin as "the best game I've ever seen at the club" - Australian Cameron Pilley beat Malaysian star Ong Beng Hee 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12 to round up a 'whitewash' evening.

"I'm the happiest I've been in PSL for a long time," exclaimed the jubilant UniSport Guildford team manager Ian Robinson after his club's 4/1 home win over last season's runners-up PNH Properties Chichester. While Guildford's Alison Waters secured an early 3/0 win over English compatriot Dominique Lloyd-Walter, team-mate Jamie Mathews was making a good start in his debut for the club against the visitors' Nafzahizam Adnan. But the Malaysian - also making his PSL debut for Chichester - fought back to beat Mathew, the World Deaf champion from Surrey, 11-13, 11-5, 11-1, 11-6.

Long-time UniSport campaigners Stephen Meads and Stacey Ross carved out valiant victories against their respective opponents - but the day's standout success came when new club number one Jesse Engelbrecht defeated experienced Chichester top string Alex Gough 11-5, 11-5, 11-2.

While Nafzahizam Adnan was making a successful debut for Chichester, his higher-ranked younger brother Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan was also in winning form for TWP St George's Hill against Probuild Bristol. But the 22-year-old's four-game win over Bristol captain Hadrian Stiff wasn't enough to lead the home club to victory.

Welsh veteran David Evans clinched Bristol's win after beating rising star Tom Richards 11-6, 11-6, 11-2 - but it was a match perhaps overshadowed by the consolation victory by the Surrey club number one Daryl Selby. The world No36 from Essex continued the fine form he showed in last week's World Open in Manchester when he beat fellow Englishman Adrian Grant, ranked 13 in the world, 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7.

Some 48 hours after making a surprise appearance in the women's World Open final on Sunday, Manchester squash star Vicky Botwright came down to earth with a bump for champions PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC in their away tie against Exeter Diamonds. Vicky lost 15-17, 8-11, 4-11 to Australian Natalie Grinham - the 2007 runner-up - but later watched her fiancé Stewart Boswell clinch victory for the opposing team when he battled to an 11-6, 16-14, 5-11, 5-11, 11-5 win over higher-ranked Egyptian Wael El Hindi.

Exeter Diamonds manager Tony Snell was overjoyed with his team's performance: "In the first round we beat last season's runners-up - and now we've beaten the champions. It really is unbelievable!"

Group A:
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 3 Pontefract 2
Nick Matthew bt James Willstrop 11-8, 11-5, 11-9
Joey Barrington bt Lee Beachill 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 11-4
Andrew Whipp lost to Saurav Ghosal 9-11, 5-11, 2-11
Joel Hinds bt Neil Cordell 11-6, 12-10, 11-9
Laura Hill lost to Vanessa Atkinson 11-5, 4-11, 5-11, 4-11

Esporta Oxford 5 MB Nottingham 0
Cameron Pilley bt Ong Beng Hee 11-13, 11-9, 11-7, 9-11, 14-12
Borja Golan bt Renan Lavigne 12-10, 12-10, 3-11, 6-11, 11-8
Chris Ryder bt Arthur Gaskin 11-6, 11-6, 11-2
Scott Handley bt Eddie Charlton 11-9, 11-9, 11-8
Madeline Perry bt Emma Beddoes 11-3, 12-10, 11-2

Group B:
TWP St George's Hill 2 Probuild Bristol 3
Daryl Selby bt Adrian Grant 11-7, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7
Tom Richards lost to David Evans 6-11, 6-11, 2-11
Mohd Nafiizwan Adnan bt Hadrian Stiff 5-11, 11-7, 11-2, 11-7
Joe Lee lost to Peter Marshall 7-11, 11-9, 6-11, 6-11
Rachel Willmott lost to Vicky Hynes 7-11, 6-11, 7-11

Exeter Diamonds 3 PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC 2
Stewart Boswell bt Wael El Hindi 11-6, 16-14, 5-11, 5-11, 11-5
Jonathan Kemp lost to Peter Barker 10-12, 3-11, 9-11
Rob Sutherland lost to Adrian Waller 9-11, 11-8, 8-11, 6-11
Tom Pashley bt Nic Birt 11-9, 11-9, 11-8
Natalie Grinham bt Vicky Botwright 17-15, 11-8, 11-4

UniSport Guildford 4 PNH Properties Chichester 1
Jesse Engelbrecht bt Alex Gough 11-5, 11-5, 11-2
Stacey Ross bt Robbie Temple 9-11, 11-6, 12-14, 12-10, 11-8
Stephen Meads bt Peter Genever 2-11, 12-10, 11-5, 11-5
Jamie Mathews lost to Nafzahizam Adnan 13-11, 5-11, 1-11, 6-11
Alison Waters bt Dominique Lloyd-Walter 11-4, 14-12, 11-4