PSL Newcomers Exeter Diamonds Sparkle With Lone Unbeaten Run

With only three rounds of the new season completed, newcomers Exeter Diamonds are already the only unbeaten club in the Premier League (PSL) after securing a 3/2 away win at UniSport Guildford in Tuesday's third round of the world's most prestigious squash league in its 26th season.

But the standout match of the night was in the decider between title-holders PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC and Probuild Bristol - when Peter Barker save a match ball to defeat England team-mate Adrian Grant to clinch a 3/2 win for the Surrey club hosts. Elsewhere in Group B, last season's runners-up PNH Properties Chichester made up for their poor start to the season by whipping TWP St George's Hill 5/0.

Yorkshire newcomers Chapel Allerton claimed their first win of the season in fine style, beating Esporta Oxford 5/0 away from home in Group A - while former champions MB Nottingham overcame East Midlands rivals Benz-Bavarian Duffield 3/2 to take pole position in the Group A table for the first time.

Vicky Botwright, the surprise runner-up in last month's World Open Championship in her hometown of Manchester, put Surrey H&RC into the driving seat against Probuild Bristol with an 11-4, 11-3, 11-5 win over Warwickshire teenager Sarah-Jane Perry. But the visitors' Peter Marshall struck back to level the tie after beating the Croydon club's Steve Richardson - and later Bristol's Welsh star David Evans again restored parity when he battled to a four-game victory over the hosts' Tim Garner.

The decider was a mouth-watering affair between fellow London left-handers Barker, the world No10, and Grant, ranked just three places below. It was the pair's third domestic meeting this year - with underdog Grant boasting a 2/0 advantage. It was nip and tuck throughout - with both players saving match-balls in the fifth game before Barker finally triumphed 11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11 to give Surrey H&RC a 3/2 win to consolidate their mid-table position.

The Exeter Diamonds hero in Guildford was Egyptian teenager Mohamed El Shorbagy. Welshmen Peter Creed and Rob Sutherland had already put the league's Devon debutants into a 2/1 lead when the 17-year-old Millfield schoolboy took to the court against the experienced UniSport Guildford former top string Stacey Ross. Shorbagy has been making rapid strides on the senior Tour over the past few months - and showed the same form in beating Ross 12-10, 11-9, 11-7 to clinch an unbeatable lead - and three wins out of three this season - for Exeter Diamonds.

Malaysian Delia Arnold ignited a winning streak for PNH Properties Chichester in her debut for the Sussex club against TWP St George's Hill. Arnold beat the visitors' Rachel Willmott 11-8, 12-10, 11-8 - and victories followed for team mates Peter Genever, Robbie Temple and Tim Vail, the Chichester captain returning to action after the birth of his first-born son Cameron.

But the bravest performance of the night was delivered by the hosts' Welsh veteran Alex Gough. The former world No5, now retired from the PSA Tour, faced Tom Richards, a 22-year-old rising English star who celebrated a career-high world No47 ranking this month. Richards recovered from two games down to level the match - but the wily Welshman kept up the pressure to win 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9 to ensure a maximum points win for Chichester.

In the East Midlands derby at Nottingham, the host club's Emma Beddoes set the scene for the evening by beating higher-ranked opponent Laura Hill 11-9, 11-1, 8-11, 11-4 - a victory which team-mates John Rooney and Renan Lavigne followed to ensure a popular home win. Rooney exacted revenge on the player who beat him in the final of the West of Scotland Open at the weekend, beating Cheshire star Andrew Whipp 11-8, 11-3, 11-4, while Frenchman Lavigne was leading 2/1 against Duffield's Joey Barrington when the winner of last week's African Open in Nigeria conceded the match.

Like Exeter Diamonds, Leeds club Chapel Allerton also delighted in an impressive maiden season victory - dishing out a 5/0 drubbing at Esporta Oxford. Again, it was perhaps the opening women's match which set the scene for the flavour of the evening: Oxford's Irish international Madeline Perry recovered from two games down to take the third against English international Jenny Duncalf and move into the ascendancy. But at 8-8 in the fourth, Perry sustained an 'adductor twinge' which led to Duncalf clinching the match.

Chapel Allerton team-mates Adam Murrills, Scott Arnold and Stephen Coppinger built on the score before the visitors' number one Alister Walker survived a 26-minute first game against Oxford's Chris Ryder and went on to win 15-17, 11-3, 7-11, 11-8, 11-3 to clinch a memorable 5/0 win for Chapel Allerton.

RESULTS: 3rd round, Tuesday 4 November 2008

Group A:
Esporta Oxford 0 Chapel Allerton 5
Chris Ryder lost to Alister Walker 17-15, 3-11, 11-7, 8-11, 3-11
Scott Handley lost to Stephen Coppinger 5-11, 7-11, 3-11
Kristen Johnson lost to Scott Arnold 5-11, 7-11, 6-11
Thomas Phipps lost to Adam Murrills 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, 3-11, 5-11
Madeline Perry lost to Jenny Duncalf 9-11, 6-11, 11-8, 8-11

MB Nottingham 3 Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2
Ong Beng Hee lost to Nick Matthew 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 9-11
Renan Lavigne bt Joey Barrington 7-11, 11-4, 11-4 ret.
John Rooney bt Andrew Whipp 11-8, 11-3, 11-4
Eddie Charlton lost to Alex Stait 11-8, 8-11, 11-9, 8-11, 4-11
Emma Beddoes bt Laura Hill 11-9, 11-1, 8-11, 11-4

Group B:
PCL Whitehall Security Surrey H&RC 3 Probuild Bristol 2
Peter Barker bt Adrian Grant 11-9, 11-13, 11-8, 4-11, 13-11
Tim Garner lost to David Evans 11-6, 5-11, 10-12, 6-11
Ben Ford bt Hadrian Stiff 11-8, 11-9, 11-8
Steve Richardson lost to Peter Marshall 4-11, 9-11, 7-11
Vicky Botwright bt Sarah-Jane Perry 11-4, 11-3, 11-5

UniSport Guildford 2 Exeter Diamonds 3
Gilly Lane bt Jonathan Kemp 6-11, 7-11, 11-7 ret.
Stacey Ross lost to Mohamed El Shorbagy 10-12, 9-11, 7-11
Stephen Meads lost to Rob Sutherland 14-12, 6-11, 6-11, 4-11
Jamie Mathews lost to Peter Creed 3-11, 8-11, 4-11
Alison Waters bt Victoria Temple-Murray 11-0, 11-2, 11-3

PNH Properties Chichester 5 TWP St George's Hill 0
Alex Gough bt Tom Richards 12-10, 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-9
Tim Vail bt Nicolas Mueller 11-6, 4-11, 11-9, 12-10
Robbie Temple bt Neil Hitchens 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-6
Peter Genever bt Philip Nightingale 11-7, 11-4, 11-4
Delia Arnold bt Rachel Willmott 11-8, 12-10, 11-8