Thornbury Squash Club news

THORNBURY A’s title hopes were all but shattered this week as they were sent to a crushing 16-4 defeat away to bottom side Vivo in the league.

Thornbury travelled to Vivo with only four players instead of the normal five due to a late drop out and that made the task of winning quite a big uphill struggle.

The Davidson brothers both lost their matches 3-0, Alex McMillan lost his match 3-1 and although Brad Jenkins restored some pride winning 3-1 it was too little too late.

With not one stand-out team in the division, the chance of taking the title was within Thornbury’s reach but unfortunately it was not to be for them this time.

Nevertheless, there was far better news for the Thornbury B side as they celebrated their promotion last week with confirmation of the the division one title this week.

They were not going to take any prisoners in their bid to seal the deal and a comprehensive 19-3 rout of David Lloyd B ensured that the B team finished the season with nine wins from ten matches and clinched promotion.

Mark Toseland and Justin Edwards had a 3-0 victory, with 3-1 for Dale Curtis and Nigel Tovey.

Captain Justin Edwards did a great job during the season and is looking forward to the challenge of playing in Premier C division when they go up the league in January.

Meanwhile, this week a depleted Thornbury C team lost by 15 points in a tough defeat by 4-19 away to Gordano. A very cold night and no heating in the building made conditions very difficult, with the courts playing more like a walk in fridge.

Cliff Hall and Ian Talbot both had close games, though, and were unlucky to lose 2-3 at second and fourth strings respectively.

And Mick Dixon struggled with the cold at the venue at third string and Steve Morley was outclassed at first string, with both playes losing 3-0.

The post match hospitality did make up for the chilly courts to some extent though after both teams had showered and changed and entered the warmth.

The C team will now be dropping a division after Christmas, where hopefully they will get some closer games.

The Thornbury D team won their final game of the season by 16 points to five. There were 3-0 wins for each of Ian Johnson, Colin Preece and Mark Dalziel. Pete Bowen fought hard in taking a 3-2 win after a long battle and Viv Bailey-Gard was unlucky to lose 3-0 in a close game. The result means the D team will finish either second or third in division four with third place BAWA having a game in hand. It has been a good season for the D team in a tough division with six closely matched teams all contending for the honours.

l Stay in touch with squash news in Thornbury at gazetteseries.co.uk/sport and read the latest in the Gazette each week.