Chichester not shipshape and Bristol fashion win

Chichester and Bristol began the night third and fourth in the league and separatede by only two points in the race for the play-offs.

Chichester’s Lauren Briggs produced a solid performance and dispatched Kip Quiney in double-quick time.

The youngster ran bravely and was involved in some good rallies but points were hard to come by for her and Briggs ran through an 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 winner.

Chichester’s Tristan Eysele played Bristol’s Mike Harris (world 129). During the first two games, Harris was frequently hitting nicks and both players played a hard-hitting game, but Harris forged a 2-0 lead.

Eysele began to read Harris’ nick-hitting and was able to get forward to force errors. He clawed back the third game 11-8 to keep himself in it.

But during the fourth, Harris re-established control and was always a couple of points ahead of Eysele to take the game and match 11-6.

Kyle Finch, for Chichester, played Josh Masters and the two youngsters battled well during the first game, with nothing to separate them.

Masters’ good all-court squash enabled him to snatch the game 14-12. In the second game, Finch never got his game together and Masters quickly wrapped it up 11-1.

The third game was much more competitive as both players found their range. Masters, however, just had the edge with his fast-flowing squash and he took an 11-9 win for the match.

New signing Sanjay Singh made his Chichester debut, playing Tom Ford. Both players are left-handed and very gifted with superb racket skills. The match contained many fantastic touches and both excelled at the front of the court.

Ford took the first but Singh replied to win the next and level it. The third was yet another tight game with Ford the victor.

In the fourth, there were some great cross-court nicks from the front from Ford and he just kept the edge to win for Bristol and give his team an unassailable 3-1 lead.

The final match was between Robbie Temple and Bristol’s Lucas Serme. Serme won the first 11-8 to take an early lead before Temple retired injured after a few points of the second.

Chichester’s next match is at home to Exeter tomorrow (Tues 17) and tickets are on sale now on 01243 785664. To have any impact on the final positions, Chichester will need maximum points.

MIKE PHILLIPS