EVESHAM came to Malvern full of optimism for this Worcestershire League Division Three fixture but left with their tails well and truly between their legs.

MALVERN SQUASH CLUB 5, EVESHAM III 0

The early matches looked very evenly balanced but in each of them the fifth game was a bit of an anti-climax.

Kevin Sandercock looked distinctly uncomfortable as Dave Potter levelled at two games all but then he won the last game in a flash; likewise George Leeds whose match seesawed back and forth until he got a real grip to win the fifth 9-4.

But the most amazing by far was Lorraine Wilde whose two game lead disappeared in the face of Steve Porter's fierce driving. At this point, though, Steve completely ran out of ideas and concentration as Lorraine crushed him 9-0 in the fifth!

Then at two, Robin Broad, whose demise last week was obviously exaggerated, won but played the sort of untidy match he will be happy to forget against Pete Scully.

The last match was between the diminutive Nigel Long and the massive bulk of Errol Ferris, both of them great strikers of the ball possessing an impressive armoury of shots. However, Errol's 17 stones on suspect knees could not compete with Nigel's nimble feet so a series of entertaining rallies only served to delay an inevitable result.

RESULTS: 1. Nigel Long bt Errol Ferris 9-1, 9-4, 9-2; 2. Robin Broad bt Dave Scully 6-9, 10-8, 9-5, 10-8; 3. Kevin Sandercock bt Dave Potter 4-9, 9-1, 9-6, 9-10, 9-1; 4. George Leeds bt Paul Heneghan 9-6, 7-9, 9-5, 7-9, 9-4; 5. Lorraine Wilde bt Steve Porter 9-5, 9-8, 4-9, 6-9, 9-0.