Northumbria Squash Leagues
End of Season Report
The weather delayed 2010/11 season was finally completed during the second week of May with all the league issues being decided. It culminated in an excellent Presentation Night on May 14th hosted at Northumberland Club, Jesmond. Along with the trophies for league and county honours, presented by one of the north-east’s Squash favourites Bryan Beeson, the top men’s and ladies’ teams competed over two nights for the Northumbria Cup. An excellent weekend of squash was followed by an excellent curry washed down with just sufficient alcohol. Thanks to all the staff at Jesmond and the Squash Committee for a very successful night.
The new league reporting system seems to have worked well with everyone’s help, and we look forward to continue using this for future seasons. For those statisticians amongst you a complete picture of league status, match results and player rankings for the season are available on the website. Follow the link to Northumbria Leagues and then Results Zone for a full up to date review.
Northumberland 1 continued their dominance in the men’s Premier Division and won the title, with Tynemouth 1 overhauling Sunderland 1 to finish in the runners-up spot. Dave Barnett (Northumberland) remained unbeaten and was player of the year for the Division. Dave also retained his title in the County closed competition. In the Ladies top division, Tynemouth 1 had a formidable squad and deservedly took top honours. Runners-up were Northern 1 who finished the season quite strongly. Tynemouth’s Samantha Ward was player of the year for the ladies, also winning the County closed competition and being picked to represent England in her age group. Lucy Beecroft, also of Tynemouth, deserves a special mention for achieving top ranking position for England under 15’s.
In Division 1, the police team Northumbria Blues remained unbeaten and won the title in a canter. In this division’s rankings, the Blues’ Mike Burton was easily player of the year. Good luck to the Blues in the Premier next season. Northumberland 2 won the second spot as Ashington 1 faltered with injuries and absences. This shows the effect of a strong squad for the whole season. Westoe 2 pulled away with the title for Division 2 with their Tony Bisset hanging on to the player of the year award, holding off a strong challenge from Northumberland’s Elliot Park. Newcastle University 2 pipped Hexham 1 at the last minute for the runners-up spot, we will await with interest as always for the University’s squad for next season!
In Division 3 Primrose confirmed their position as top dogs, with Eldon Square possibly surprising themselves in number two spot, just overtaking Northern Juniors 1 in the last few weeks of the season. Kevin Carr of Boldon won the player of the year title beating Primrose’s Derek Allan in a close contest. Despite my prediction of a two horse race in Division 4, while Hexham 2 deservedly won the title, Benwell Hill put on a strong finish to claim runners-up position ahead of Northern 5. Hexham’s Simon Graham had an excellent season and took the player of the year award.
In Division 5, Westoe 3 finished well ahead of the rest to claim the title with Dunston 2 managing to pull ahead of their rivals to finish in second. Westoe’s Lee Anderson was player of the year for the Division. Northern Juniors 2 had a tremendous squad for the season and took the title easily in Division 6. In a tough battle for the runners-up spot Consett SD 3 eventually claimed the honours with their Matthew Youngman achieving player of the year status.
In Ladies Division 2 the favourites Northern 2 won the title with their Ros Edwards leading the rest of the pack for player of the year. Good luck to them next season in Division 1. Tynemouth 3 took the runners-up spot.
In the season’s finale, the Northumbria Cup, Northumberland and Tynemouth were surprisingly beaten by Westoe and Sunderland in the semi-finals of the men’s competition on Friday night. In the final on the Saturday night, Westoe achieved a worthy win for the second year running. After some tremendous and powerful matches, the best was left until last with Westoe’s Paul Lord and Sunderland’s Gareth Lumsden of Sunderland serving up some squash of exhibition quality. Match result, 4-1 to Westoe.
In the Ladies’ final it was a closely fought event all the way, 2 matches all between Tynemouth and Northumberland before the final rubber between Samantha Ward (T) and Sarah Oswald(N). The result was on a knife-edge all the way, with Samantha coming from behind in the final set to win 3-2. Match to Tynemouth, also 3-2. What a great game Squash is!
The Leagues wish to thank again the sponsors, Whitfields Building Services, for their continuing support.
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