WESTOE WIN SUMMER SILVERWARE

4 teams descended on Tynemouth on a late-summer night with 1 aim – to get their hands on the coveted Northumbria Squash Summer League Cup and be crowned 2026 champions.

Semi-final 1 saw no.1 seeds Tynemouth Vikings take on surprise package Consett, who reached the playoffs in their debut season, with a tiebreaker on matches won v Tynemouth Romans (after both finished on 141 points) seeing them advance! It was always going to be an uphill battle for Consett against the home favourites, and despite a valiant effort, they were conquered 4-0 by the Vikings, led from the front by the Southern’s, Nick and James, and looked to have saved some much-needed energy for their final.

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The 2nd semi-final was the polar opposite, as the 2nd and 3rd seeds, Westoe and Eldon, took to court in some almighty battles. Tom McKay put Eldon 1 up after a commanding performance at 4 against Philip Sheeran. Rich Hodges levelled for Westoe after Rajat retired at 2-1 down and 7-2 down in the 4th. The match of the night, however, was on court 4 as Paul and Will went back and forth for what must have been close to an hour in the decisive tie, which Paul just closed out in Westoe’s favour, 15-12 in the 5th. Dave Elsender Jnr then sealed the deal with a measured 3-0 win over Mark Steven, setting up a final between the top 2 seeds!

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The final looked close on paper, but was even closer on court! Both teams had met earlier in the league phase, where Tynemouth won 9-6 in games, so Westoe were out for revenge in their 2nd finals appearance in 3 years!

James showed no mercy and absolutely powered past Rich at no.1 to give Tynemouth an early lead, but that was quickly matched by Westoe super-sub Stephen Boyer beating Chris Brock 3-0 to even up the standings.

Viking Eric seemed on course to take another 3-0 and put Tynemouth in pole position, taking advantage of Paul’s earlier mammoth match. However, after going down 2-0 in quick fashion, Paul came out all guns blazing in the 3rd and grabbed an all-important game before going down 3-1.

This meant the result was in the balance for the 4th and final match between Nick and Dave, with Nick needing just a single game to seal the win for Tynemouth. No one can fault Nick’s effort and determination in the match, but with all the pressure on his shoulders, Dave showed his quality and accuracy, and he kept composed throughout to hold off everything Nick had to throw at him and seal the win 3-0, and the title for Westoe by 7-games to 6!!

Congratulations to Westoe on their well-deserved inaugural Summer League triumph! After 7 previous failed attempts in the playoffs, they finally managed to get their hands on the trophy!