Nottingham In Sight Of National League Play-Offs

While defending champions Manchester/Pontefract stretched their lead at the top of Group A to more than 50 points after a 4-1 away win at Benz-Bavarian Duffield in Tuesday's ninth round of the National League, Norwest Holst Nottingham clinched a 4-1 home win against former champions Edgbaston Priory to keep alive their hopes of second position in the Group - and a place in the end-of-season play-offs.

Nottingham started their penultimate tie of the season disappointingly when former club champion Jane Fletcher - who stepped in as a last-minute replacement for the injured Scottish international Pamela Nimmo - went down 9-2 9-1 9-3 to Edgbaston Priory's Laura-Jane Lengthorn, the world No21 from Preston in Lancashire.

But the rot stopped there as the hosts delighted loyal fans by storming through to victory in the next four matches. The charge was led by Welshman David Evans, the former British Open champion who quietly announced his retirement from the international circuit today by not featuring in the PSA world ranking list for the first time since making his debut in September 1993. The former world No3 from Pontypool despatched the Birmingham club's South African junior Steve Coppinger 9-5 9-1 9-2.

Next up was Dutch champion Tommy Berden, who brushed aside the visitors' Adam Stevenson 9-3 9-3 9-4, before Nottingham stalwart Simon Parke - one of only two English players in the Nottingham line-up - entertained the crowd with a 9-3 6-9 9-0 9-0 victory over Hadrian Stiff, a Devonian and former Nottingham-based professional.

The climax of the evening came from Frenchman Gregory Gaultier, who was making his first appearance on a squash court this year after suffering a quadriceps injury last year. The 22-year-old from Aix-en-Provence produced nicks from all areas of the court to defeat Priory's Peter Barker 9-5 9-5 9-5.

Nottingham, now only five points behind second-placed Wolverhampton face the west midlands club in the final tie of the season on 22nd March - the outcome of which will determine which team joins Manchester/Pontefract in the play-offs from Group A.

Meanwhile Manchester/Pontefract finished their Group A campaign in grand style, claiming their seventh victory of the season with a 4-1 win at Duffield. The Derbyshire club's dreams turned to nightmares in the opening match when Tania Bailey, the Lincolnshire 25-year-old who has been beset by a variety of injury woes over the past few years, was forced to concede after two games against the visitors' Jenny Duncalf.

It was Duncalf's seventh successive win for the trans-Pennine cooperative this season - and it inspired team-mate Shaun le Roux, the 18-year-old from Yorkshire making his league debut, to beat Duffield stalwart Kevin White 9-5 3-9 9-2 9-7. White, a long-time regular for the hosts, was also in his first outing this season after recovering from shoulder surgery.

In an all-Yorkshire clash, European junior champion Laurence Delasaux provided the sole Duffield win after overcoming Peter Billson 6-9 10-8 4-9 9-5 9-4. But, in his eighth successive appearance this season for Manchester/Pontefract, Marcus Berrett clinched victory for the visitors with a 9-3 9-7 9-4 win over Phillip Barker.

It was left to top string Lee Beachill to extend the victory to 4-1, but the three-times British National champion had to fight back from 1/0 and 6-8 down to overcome France's Renan Lavigne 7-9 10-8 9-5 9-3.

Group A:
Benz-Bavarian Duffield 1-4 Manchester/Pontefract
Renan Lavigne lost to Lee Beachill 9-7, 8-10, 5-9, 3-9
Phillip Barker lost to Marcus Berrett 3-9, 7-9, 4-9
Laurence Delasaux beat Peter Billson 6-9, 10-8, 4-9, 9-5, 9-4
Kevin White lost to Shaun le Roux 5-9, 9-3, 2-9, 7-9
Tania Bailey lost to Jenny Duncalf 5-9, 1-9, ret.

Norwest Holst Nottingham 4-1 Edgbaston Priory
Gregory Gaultier beat Peter Barker 9-5, 9-5, 9-5
Simon Parke beat Hadrian Stiff 9-3, 6-9, 9-0, 9-0
Tommy Berden beat Adam Stevenson 9-3, 9-3, 9-4
David Evans beat Steve Coppinger 9-5, 9-1, 9-2
Jane Fletcher lost to Laura-Jane Lengthorn 2-9, 1-9, 3-9