Alan Clyne pulled off the shock of the night as Nottingham beat Birmingham 3-2 in the PSL.
The battling Scotsman clinched victory with a massive fifth-game performance.
The match was the most dramatic clash of the night as Air-IT Nottingham hosted University of Birmingham. After four matches, the score was tied at two-all. And after four games between the hosts’ Scottish No.1 Clyne and Birmingham’s top-ranked Australian Pilley, the score was again poised at 2-2.
But, much to the delight of the home fans, Clyne recorded his first ever win over Pilley when he beat the world No.16 11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6 to give Nottingham a 3-2 win, and third place in the table, just five points adrift of leaders Duffield.
“I was very happy to get the win in the deciding match of the night,” said a jubilant Clyne afterwards. “I feel like I was due to get a win because the rest of the team put in such a fantastic effort tonight. The crowd were unbelievable and kept me going in the fifth. So happy!”
With only a single point separating the top two Premier Squash League (PSL) teams in Group A – and just a ‘games loss’ total providing the difference between the pair leading Group B – the tension is already mounting after Tuesday’s third round of the 30th season of the world’s most prestigious squash league.
Exeter Diamonds became the third team to top the Group B tables this season after a resounding 4/1 away win over Winchester. 2012 European Junior Champion Emily Whitlock scored an early win for the hosts after beating Victoria Temple Murray 11-7, 11-8, 11-6 – but it was one-way traffic for visitors Exeter thereafter, with decisive wins by Tim Vail, Joey Barrington and Finnish number one Olli Tuominen.
Dutch champion Laurens Jan Anjema rounded off the evening by despatching Scot Greg Lobban 11-7, 11-6, 11-2 to give Exeter their third successive win of the season.
But title-holders Integrity Surrey Health & Racquets also maintained their unbeaten run this season with a 3/2 victory over county rivals Luxfords St George’s Hill – a win which sees the Croydon club sharing the Group B lead with Exeter, both on 49 points.
Surrey Health owe their success to stars Adrian Waller and Gregoire Marche – Englishman Waller twice fighting from behind to topple career-long rival Joe Lee 5-11, 13-11, 7-11, 11-8, 11-9, and Frenchman Marche crushing higher-ranked Englishman Tom Richards 11-9, 11-3, 11-3.
“Won my match tonight against TomRichards ! 11/9 11/3 11/3 !” tweeted the exuberant 23-year-old from Aix-en-Provence later. “The team won 3/2 as well !! Good job guys !! :)”
Surrey Health team manager Pete Smith added: “It was a good win for the team tonight – they (St George’s) were strong and it could have gone either way. But Greg played out of his skin – we really needed to win that one – it was high intensity squash!”
But Team Chichester made sure that they are very much still in the race for the Group B title after beating UWE/Elitesquash Bristol 4/1 at home to move into third place in the tables. The evening was characterised by two Kemp/Serme clashes, with a third Kemp looking on as honours were shared.
Chichester number one Jonathan Kemp, fresh from reaching the Toronto Cup final in Canada at the weekend, rounded off the evening perfectly for the home fans by beating France’s Lucas Serme 9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10 – while, earlier in the evening, Jonathan’s wife Jaclyn Kemp (the former New Zealand No1 Jaclyn Hawkes playing her first competitive match for more than a year) narrowly lost to Lucas’ sister Camille Serme, the world No7, 11-6, 9-11, 11-9, 5-11, 6-11 as baby daughter Maia Kemp looked on!
Action in Group A was no less dramatic, with last season’s runners-up Benz-Bavarian Duffield making up for a surprise Round 2 loss by beating Chapel Allerton 4/1 away from home. The tie opened with a battle between two of England’s leading women players Jenny Duncalf and Laura Massaro, both double British National champions. World No8 Duncalf took a 2/0 lead, but Duffield’s world No2 Massaro fought back to clinch the match 13-11 in the fifth!
Veteran PSL campaigner Simon Parke, the former world No3, was the Leeds club’s sole winner – while Duffield’s never-say-die unranked player Andy Whipp produced one of the night’s most astonishing results when he beat Chapel Allerton’s world No24 Chris Simpson 11-8, 4-11, 11-9, 15-13.
The Derbyshire club’s number one Nick Matthew, in his first PSL outing since winning the World Championship title for the third time earlier this month, brushed aside England team-mate Daryl Selby 11-6, 11-1, 11-9 in the night’s final match.
“The team did me proud tonight,” said Duffield manager Felix Frixou. “Nick had spent the day recording a ‘Question of Sport’ programme, yet put everything he had into that win – and as for Andy, I’ve never seen anything like it. He was just inspired!
“The crowd was amazing – they were there from the very first ball of the night through to the very end,” added Frixou. “It was not just a good night for the teams, but a good night for squash!”
Selby tweeted after his match: “Disappointing loss for the team tonight against Duffield. Wish I could have played better but world champ too good.@ChapelAClub we’ll be back”
Duffield top the tables with 46 points – but close on their heels, with 45, are PSL debutants Coolhurst London, their round two victors. With wins by Irish No1 Madeline Perry, Adam Auckland, Ben Coleman and Malaysian No1 Ong Beng Hee, the southern newcomers were on course for a maximum points home win over AJP Pontefract.
But the Yorkshire visitors had a trump card in the form of Indian number one Saurav Ghosal. The world No17 from Kolkata pulled off a major upset over Coolhurst’s top-ranked German Simon Rosner, the world No 13, by winning 11-6, 7-11, 11-5, 11-9 to reduce the London club’s winning margin to 4/1.
Group A
Nottingham  3-2   Birmingham
Alan Clyne  3-2  Cameron Pilley  11-8, 11-5, 7-11, 7-11, 11-6
Chris Fuller  3-1  Peter Creed  11-4, 8-11, 11-6, 11-3
Mark Fuller  2-3   Jonny Harford   11-9, 11-8, 7-11, 9-11, 8-11
David Wardle  0-3  Joel Makin  6-11, 9-11, 9-11
Emma Beddoes  3-0  Deon Saffery  11-2, 11-8, 11-8
Coolhurst   4-1   Pontefract
Simon RÖsner  1-3   Saurav Goshal  6-11, 11-7, 5-11, 9-11
Ong Beng Hee    3-0  Lee Beachill  11-9, 11-7, 12-10
Ben Coleman    3-0   Chris van der Salm  11-4, 11-5, 11-8  (36m)
Adam Auckland   3-0   Taminder Gata-Aura  11-2, 11-1, 11-4 (21m)
Madeline Perry  3-2  Sarah Kippax  6-11, 11-7, 11-8, 11-13, 13-11
Chapel A Â Â 1-4 Â Duffield
Daryl Selby  0-3  Nick Matthew  6-11, 1-11, 9-11
Chris Simpson 1-3  Andrew Whipp  8-11, 11-4, 9-11, 13-15
Dylan Bennett  0-3  Declan James  9-11, 6-11, 9-11
Simon Parke 3-1  Scott Handley  9-11, 12-10, 11-4, 11-5
Jenny Duncalf  2-3  Laura Massaro  11-5, 11-7, 8-11, 7-11, 11-13
Standings:
Duffield 46, Coolhurst 45, Nottingham 41, Birmingham 40, Chapel A 30, Pontefract 14
Group B
Chichester   4-1  Bristol
Jon Kemp  3-1  Lucas Serme  9-11, 11-4, 11-6, 12-10
Rex Hedrick  3-1  Jethro Binns  6-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-5
Olly Pett  3-0  Sam Ellis  11-8, 11-6, 11-3
Anthony Graham  3-0  Stuart Haddon   11-7, 11-4, 11-7
Jackie Kemp  2-3   Camille Serme  11-6,  9-11,  11-9  5-11,  6-11
Winchester   1-4   Exeter
Greg Lobban  0-3  Laurens Jan Anjema  7-11, 6-11, 2-11
Robert Downer  0-3  Olli Tuominen  11-13, 8-11, 3-11
Alex Phillips  1-3  Joey Barrington  5-11, 11-7, 2-11, 7-11
Angus Gillams 0-3  Tim Vail  6-11, 4-11, 5-11
Emily Whitlock  3-0  Victoria Temple-Murray  11-7, 11-8, 11-6
Surrey  3-2  St George’s
Adrian Grant  0-3  Borja Golan  4-11, 8-11, 10-12
Gregoire Marche  3-0  Tom Richards  11-9, 11-3, 11-3
Adrian Waller  3-2  Joe Lee   5-11, 13-11, 7-11,  11-8, 11-9
Richie Fallows  0-3 Henrik Mustonen  9-11, 9-11, 6-11
Alison Waters  3-1 Dom Lloyd-Walter  11-3, 11-1, 9-11, 11-4
Standings:
Exeter 49, Surrey 49, Chichester 42, St George’s 36, Bristol 19, Winchester 12