Yorkshire Squash League: Barnsley pull clear of Hallamshire at the top

Although the Sheffield club also triumphed, it was by a 17-5 margin at Pontefract, whereas Barnsley thumped the defending champions 20-1 at home.

The York club’s solitary point came from Gareth Lumsdon’s 3-1 defeat by Shaun Le Roux as Declan James, Ashley Davies, Tom Bamford and Oli Harris cruised to 3-0 wins against Ed Shannon, Matthew Stephenson, Ian Hilton and Dan Busby.

Meanwhile, Chris and Mark Fuller, and Alex Cutts were also straight-games winners over Alex Hodgetts, Taminder Gata Aura and Lewis Doughty at Pontefract.

With Jack Alcock beating Sam Wileman 3-2, the result was never in doubt, George Wileman’s 3-0 success against Ed Stallworthy being a consolation.

At the other end of the table, Heaton are now 31 points adrift of Pontefract 2nds at the bottom after their 19-9 home loss to Hull and East Riding and Pontefract’s second win of the season, by a 16-9 margin at Chapel Allereton.

Heaton battled hard, but it was not enough, with Hamish Falconer and Glyn Saunders overcoming Isaac Rawcliffe and Matthew Powell in four games, while Yusef Forster and Paul Norton edged out Phil Bowker and Darren King in five.

The top match – between Stuart Macgregor and Harry Falconer – also went the full distance, with Macgregor notching Heaton’s sole success.

In contrast, Pontefract’s reserves largely put their trust in a mixture of English and Malaysian youth – and it paid off.

Although Eddie Charlton and Ben Merchant defeated Eain Yow Ng 3-2 and British Junior Open under-13 champion Sam Todd 3-0, victories by Patrick Rooney, Ong Sai Hung and Andrew Cross against Simon Parke, Declan Christie and Ross Williamson clinched the bonus points for the South Yorkshire side.

The week’s other match was a tightly-fought contest between Abbeydale and Queens in Sheffield, with the latter squeezing home 14-10.

Wins from James Earles, Matt Sidaway and Connor Sheen over Matthew Broadberry, Adam Turner and Nick Wall junior proved sufficient for the Halifax side, despite Nick Wall senior’s and Oli Turner’s 3-0 successes against David Hymas and Chris Morse.