Chapel Allerton Destroy Duffield Dream

After a 21-year absence, Leeds club Chapel Allerton marked their return to the Premier League in sensational style by beating Benz-Bavarian Duffield 3/2 in Tuesday's final before a packed crowd in Nottingham. Chapel Allerton not only became the first Yorkshire club to win the world's most prestigious league title, but prevented the Derbyshire club from cl;aiming the trophy for a record fourth time.

Duffield - champions in 1998, 2006 and 2007 - started well in the climax of the 25th season of the PSL when club stalwart Tania Bailey, fresh from captaining England to success in the European Championships in Sweden, crushed Chapel Allerton newcomer Carrie Ramsey 11-2, 11-1, 11-3.

While Bailey, the world No14 from Lincolnshire, was chalking up her 23rd successive PSL match win, 18-year-old Leeds student Ramsey was making her maiden appearance in the league!

Bailey, beset by injury and illness in her recent career, will travel to London immediately following the final to check into a London hospital at 7.00am tomorrow for an operation to repair the cartilage on her hip joint.

"I did think about tomorrow's operation a couple of times during the match - the surgeon is the best in England, who has treated a lot of Manchester United players (including Roy Keane)," said Bailey after her convincing win. "But I enjoyed every minute I was on court, making the most of my last game for a few months. I kept thinking about how much I love playing.

"I couldn't have been happier with my game over the last few months - and I love playing for England. Being captain of the team in Malmo was extra special - we've really got a good thing going with our team.

"The rough estimate is that I'll be back playing in four months - but they won't really know for certain until they do the operation," added the former world No4.

Surprises looked on the cards when Duffield's Joel Hinds took a 2/0 lead against Chris Simpson, and Andrew Whipp twice came back from behind to reach match-ball in the fifth against Chapel Allerton's Australian international Aaron Frankcomb.

But Frankcomb saved two match-balls before clinching success with his own third match-ball to beat dogged Duffield campaigner Whipp 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 4-11, 14-12 after 70 minutes.

And Simpson - who had never before lost to Hinds, and prevailed against the Derbyshire 21-year-old in last month's British U23 Championship final - battled hard from eight-all in the third to win 6-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 in 72 minutes.

The Leeds club now had a 2/1 advantage - leaving Duffield requiring the final two matches to make PSL history.

But disaster struck for the former champions early in the second match on the showcourt when Englishman Joey Barrington, who had led 5-1, injured his foot when stretching for a drop shot delivered by Chapel Allerton's second string Alister Walker.

"I'm not sure what happened, but he went for it and clearly pulled something in his foot," said Walker after the devastatingly brief 6-5 (retired) win which gave Chapel Allerton the title.

"We always have brutal matches and that was what I was expecting tonight," said Walker, the 26-year-old from Leeds who made his England debut in last week week's European Championship - winning the first match towards England's victory over France in the final. "I took loads of energy drinks in preparation for tonight's match - I think I'll need to go out now and burn it off!"

In the dead rubber that finished the evening, Duffield stalwart Nick Matthew, the England number one, entertained the crowd - and gained a further consolation point for his club - by beating Frenchman Thierry Lincou 11-7, 5-11, 13-11, 11-6 in 55 minutes.

Chapel Allerton team manager Neil Guirey was full of praise for his team for lifting the PSL trophy in, essentially, its maiden season in the league. "What's really pleasing is that everyone in the team is a genuine Chapel Allerton player - either based full-time at the club or, like Thierry, often training here when he's in the UK.

"This success will really be good for us, especially after the one million pound refurbishment the club has recently undergone, which has increased our squash courts to six. In fact our two new courts replaced a tennis court - and it's always nice to do that!

"Tonight has been really spectacular - it was quite difficult to predict how we'd do at the beginning of the season, even though I knew we had a good squad," Guirey added.

"It's also good for Yorkshire squash that we've now established ourselves in the most prestigious league in the world. We've had great local support throughout the season - in fact we could have sold out three-times over.

"But I hope the biggest knock-on effect of this will be to expand the professional side of the club, and attract more elite international players to Chapel Allerton. I hope this will put us on the map as an elite club."

Chapel Allerton 3 Benz-Bavarian Duffield 2
Thierry Lincou lost to Nick Matthew 7-11, 11-5, 11-13, 6-11 (55m)
Alister Walker bt Joey Barrington 6-5 ret.
Aaron Frankcomb bt Andrew Whipp 11-8, 9-11, 11-8, 4-11, 14-12 (70m)
Chris Simpson bt Joel Hinds 6-11, 2-11, 11-8, 11-2, 11-5 (72m)
Carrie Ramsey lost to Tania Bailey 2-11, 1-11, 3-11 (22m)