Prestbury seconds land Edge double

ONLY two of the four teams from our local squash clubs saw North West Counties Summer League action during the last week.

But both were to enjoy fine 4-1 victories, with just one round of fixtures left to play.

Prestbury 1 were without a match, while Bollington 1 conceded theirs after failing to raise a team for the scheduled trip to Grove Park - leaving the spotlight on each club’s ‘2’ side, and a pair of contests against higher-placed opposition.

Bollington 2, occupying second-to-bottom position with a solitary summer win to their name, received mid-table Club AZ.

But Bolly soon made light work of the visitors from Alderley Park - with Mark Collins and Gareth Ainsworth securing straight-games victories, and, further down the order, Daz Glaser and 16-year-old Forbes Hunter seeing off their respective opponents for the loss of just one game apiece.

Prestbury 2 made the short journey over the Edge to take on Alderley 2.

And the roller-coaster nature of their drive there was to be replicated in the see-saw first-string and second-string matches, which eventually saw both Nathan Mayers (against Alderley’s former Macclesfield Leisure stalwart, Andy Dunn) and Stuart Melia triumph by the odd game in five.

In the middle order, Paul Maher took on Chris Jackson with the hope of avenging a Summer League defeat from five weeks earlier.

But some hard-fought opening exchanges, combined with the rigours of a recent cycling trip around Italy, looked to have taken their toll as Prestbury’s number three suffered a 3-1 reverse.

The visiting side did, however, proceed to ensure victory – their third in succession – following relatively comfortable straight-games wins for captain Gareth Evans and junior player Keon Raked (15).

As a result, Prestbury 2 moved to within two points of their hosts and completed a unique ‘double’ for the summer against both Alderley Edge teams.