THE week started for Okehampton Squash Club with the second team welcoming Barnstaple to the club for a Devon Mixed League match.

With Barnstaple only arriving with four players hopes were high for a home victory, although Okehampton were weakened themselves with Shawn Jones at string one unavailable.

At string 4, Tom Wilkins battled hard and shows signs of further development in his game, just losing out to an experienced opponent 2-3. At string 3 the returning Jack Barkwell recovered from a slow start to really press his opponent, drawing level at 2-2, but losing a close final game to also go down 2-3. Stuart Lord, playing higher at string 2, came up against an opponent who was too strong, losing out 0-3. At string 1 Shane Vallance also came up against a skilful opponent who had too much in his game, resulting in a further 0-3 loss. Therefore the match ended for Oke seconds in a heavy 7-17 defeat. 

Later in the week the first team travelled to local rivals Crediton, hoping for a much needed win. Their cause was not helped by the home side pulling in a couple of premier standard players.

At string 5, Shane Vallance eventually became used to the warm courts to win 3-1. At string 4, Dan Yeoman played some good squash and enjoyed a close encounter with a tall opponent who used his reach and range to good effect — Dan eventually going down 1-3. At string 3 Justin Gliddon could not quite get into his game against a young opponent, losing 0-3.

At string 2, Phil Allin was up against one of the stronger opponents and although he started well by winning the first game, eventually his opponent started to dominate the court to win 3-1. A similar story unfolded in the string one match, with Phil Kemsley not having enough in his locker against his premier-standard opponent.

It is now likely that the first team, losing 1-4, will need at least one more victory in one of their remaining three fixtures to avoid relegation.