Melbourn won 19-8

It took 14 goes, but Melbourn 1sts are finally off the mark for wins in this season’s Cambridgeshire Squash Leagues Division 1 following a 19-8 victory over March 1sts.
The victory was a battle as none of the five strings were won in straight games. The closest match of the evening was Miles Jeanneret’s 3-2 victory at fourth string – all three of the Melbourn player’s games won (which were the 1st, 2nd and 5th) coming after tie-breaks. Chris Shaw (2), Vinod Duraikan (3) and Mark Oppen (5) all wore their opponents down to win 3-1, in each case the fourth game being taken pretty comprehensively. The winning bonus for the evening was under Melbourn’s belts before Matt Sampson (1) took the court. Sampson has struggled with injuries this season, but was back to near his best in another close encounter. However he eventually ran out of gas and was beaten 3-2.
The victory gave Melbourn hope of Division 1 survival as they are now back in touch with the pack, having previously been adrift at the foot of the table. They face a big match against 8th-placed Stamford next.