THERE was a raucous atmosphere at Kendal Squash Club when the winless B team and C teams squared up against each other in a Cumbria League fixture.

Club captain Shayne Holliday opened proceedings playing at number five for the B team in a fast and furious opener against Ian Garnett.

The game was closer than the 3-0 score suggests, with the games 12/15, 11/15, 10/15 in Garnett’s favour.

Kendal B team looked to Steve Couper to steady the ship as he put up an impressive win over Joel Howse easing to a 3-0 victory with the games 15/4, 15/9, 15/13. The wily B team player outfoxed his opponent who never gave up but could not get on the scoreboard.

With the match level at one game all the number three match saw little versus large as pint-sized whippet Russ Lilliebridge was pitched against team squash newcomer Ben Cook.

Cook started well and eased comfortably through the first game and into the second before the whippet got into his stride. The second game was a nail-biter with a succession of game points before Lilliebridge managed to squeeze a two point advantage to take the game. The momentum stayed with the C team as Russ accelerated to a 3-1 win 10/15, 19/17, 15/11, 15/10.

With the C team leading two games to one, another C team newcomer Gary Major took to the court against the B team’s Owen Haines. In a fast paced game the power play of the debutant gave Haines no chance to settle into a rhythm and Major ran out an easy winner 15/13, 15/8, 15/11 to clinch the team win for Kendal C.

The final game of the evening was a very tight affair between Christian Hoyle and Dave Archer. With only pride left to play for the B team’s Archer, 2014 Team Player of The Year, gave his all coming back twice to push the match into a fifth game but Hoyle left enough in the tank to see off the challenge 15/9, 6/15, 15/12, 14/16, 15/8 to give his side a deserved 4-1 win.