SRA National Squash League

RESULTS: SRA National Squash League

Tuesday 28^th March: Semi-finals (2^nd leg)

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Triage Broxbourne 3-2 Capital One Nottingham Rodney Durbach beat Peter Marshall 9-2 9-6 9-5 Adam Stevenson lost to Jason Nicolle 3-9 9-6 9-6 7-9 6-9 Alex Stait beat Matthew Oxley 9-7 9-6 10-8 Alistair Walker beat Michael Hopkins 9-5 6-9 9-7 9-4 Stephanie Brind lost to Natalie Grainger 5-9 9-2 9-6 5-9 8-10 (At 5-5 in matches over the two legs, Broxbourne win 22-19 on games countback) UK Packaging 4-1 UNW Northumberland Tim Garner lost to Chris Walker 9-11 3-9 6-9 Julian Wellings beat Lee Beachill 9-7 11-9 5-9 9-6 Ong Beng Hee beat Tony Hands 7-9 9-7 3-9 9-3 9-7 Lee Jemmett beat John Dale 5-9 9-4 6-9 9-5 9-1 Linda Charman beat Pamela Nimmo 9-0 9-3 9-1 (At 5-5 in matches over the two legs, UK Packaging win 22-20 on games countback)

Broxbourne & UK Packaging to Meet
In Surprise All-southern National League Final

In a remarkable conclusion to the semi-finals of the SRA National Squash League, both London's Connaught Club-based UK Packaging and Hertfordshire's Triage Broxbourne upset the odds to overturn first leg losses against northern opposition to reach next month's final only after a games countback.

Broxbourne, making a return to the league this season after a three-year break, entertained defending champions Capital One Nottingham - eager to make up the 2-3 deficit after the first leg. Both teams were missing top players, including Mark Chaloner (Broxbourne) and Simon Parke and Alex Gough (Nottingham) - in action in the PSA Masters in Egypt. Nottingham's hopes were boosted by the last-minute arrival from Egypt of British champion Peter Marshall, via Cairo, Milan and Stansted. After an impressive 9-5 6-9 9-7 9-4 win by Broxbourne's 17-year-old Scottish Junior Open champion Alistair Walker, Nottingham's world No4 Natalie Grainger fought back from 2-1 down, saving a match-ball, to beat Kent's world No9 Stephanie Brind 9-5 2-9 6-9 9-5 10-8 in 57 minutes - leaving the tie finely poised at 2-2, and 19-19 in games over the two legs! Relishing his role as captain and No1 in the absence of Mark Chaloner, South Africa's Rodney Durbach swiftly overcame a jaded Marshall 9-2 9-6 9-5 to clinch Broxbourne's place in the final in his first ever win over the former world No2. "Rodney played magnificently tonight - you'd always want him in your team," said a jubilant Broxbourne team manager Gordon Wyper during the post-match celebrations. "He never let Marshall into the game - and he's now as pleased as punch!"

Newcastle's UNW Northumberland arrived in London with a 4-1 advantage and a near full-strength squad - led by England captain Chris Walker, who with team-mate Tony Hands had returned from Egypt 24 hours earlier. The UK Packaging squad set about their fightback in determined style - with both Lee Jemmett and Ong Beng Hee twice coming from behind to beat Northumberland's John Dale and Tony Hands, respectively - and Julian Wellings taking just over an hour to defeat Lee Beachill, ranked almost 40 places above him in the world. Midway through the top string battle against Walker, Connaught captain Tim Garner knew that a game countback victory was already assured, irrespective of the outcome of his match. "We're a very close team, all of us training here together every day - and it's a credit to the team spirit that we pulled off this fantastic win tonight, and our second successive appearance in the final," said Garner.