Durham County

The very young and inexperienced County under-13 girls played the mighty Yorkshire and a very experienced Northumbria side at the David Lloyd Centre at Tees Barrage losing both matches.

This was the first taste of Inter-County squash for many of the girls and all gave 100 per cent for the county and will learn a lot from the experience. Shawnee Hall playing at No.2 string was unlucky to lose 3/1 giving a fighting display throughout her two matches.

The under-17 girls side had a baptism of fire at Preston losing all three matches against Cumbria, Lancashire and Northumbria. Losing No.1 string Laura Settersfield due to injury was a devastating blow for the team especially for Consett's Kay Wheatly who making her county debut at No.2 string and Chester-le-Streets Cheryl Cardy playing her 1st match for the under-17s. All the girls had to play up the order making a hard task even harder and it was Kay that scored the Counties only points of the weekend. Due to a lack of female chaperones the team had to travel to Preston twice over the weekend, which also did not help the girls cause.

The under-17 boys were in action at the Oak Leaf Sports centre in Newton Aycliffe where they finished behind Cheshire (1st) and Cumbria (2nd), a whitewashing of Lancashire on the final day meant a third position overall. Despite still being 16, County under-17 champion Lee Skinner was not allowed to play as he would be over age for Stage 2 next January, this meant all the team had to play up the order which proved to be a bridge too far for the young side. Player of the weekend was Darlington's Andrew Scott who won 2 of his 3 games winning and losing a match 3/2. Guisborough's 13-year-old Chris Allinison found the going tough at the older age group, despite winning two matches, but reserve Michael Mackay looked an exciting prospect for the future. The Nunthorpe pairing of Richard Collins and Ben Harrison both won a match apiece but looked uncomfortable in the company of more experienced juniors. Aycliffe's Graham Johnson showed flashes of brilliance against nationally ranked opposition and deserved more then 1 win over the weekend.

Under-17s Boys results: Durham & Cleveland v Cumbria: Graham Johnson Lost 1/3 Paul Bell 9/4, 7/9, 6/9, 4/9

Richard Collins Lost 0/3 Craig Winthrope 3/9, 7/9, 1/9

Ben Harrison Lost 0/3 Simon Grey 2/9, 1/9, 0/9

Andrew Scott beat 3/2 Daniel Catton 9/1, 9/7, 1/9, 6/9, 9/7

Chris Allinson beat 3/0 Chris Stevenson 9/1, 9/5, 9/3

Michael Mackay Lost 0/3 Scott Smith 6/9, 1/9, 8/9

Durham & Cleveland v Cheshire: Graham Johnson lost 0/3 Nathen Langley 0/9, 5/9, 7/9

Richard Collins lost 0/3 Robert Begg 8/9, 0/9, 3/9

Ben Harrison lost 1/3 Oliver Hutson 1/9,5/9,9/4, 3/9,

Andrew Scott lost 2/3 Oliver Wildig 10/8, 2/9, 9/7, 3/9, 0/9

Chris Allinson lost 0/3 Adam Murrillf 0/9, 0/9, 1/9

Michael Mackay lost Shawn Hunter 9/10, 2/9 8/10

Durham & Cleveland v Lancashire: Graham Johnson won 3/0 Daniel Turner 9/4, 9/2, 9/3

Richard Collins won 3/0 Nathan Liddle 9/3, 9/2, 9/2

Ben Harrison won 3/0 Andy Grove 10/8, 9/5, 10/8

Andrew Scott won 3/1 Ben Molener 4/9, 10/8, 9/2, 9/6

Chris Allinson won 3/1 Ryan Atterton 9/4, 3/9, 10/9, 9/4

* Durham & Cleveland under-15 and under-19 County squash teams were both in action two weeks ago with mixed fortunes and results.

The under-19s were at Preston and had a fantastic two days with wins over Lancashire and Merseyside in Stage 1 of the Inter-County Championships. Maximum points leave the young side in a promotion spot of Stage 2, which will be held in the South of England next January.

With Redcar's Nick Pugsly and Durham's Michael Burton the only genuine under-19s the rest of the team were made up from the County under-17 side, which made the result even more impressive, especially as the team had already been promoted last season.

County Coach Bill West was in a buoyant mood at the end of the weekend as the team gained the maximum points possible and all five players had played very well. It was particularly nice to have Redcar ace, Nick Pugsly playing back for the County at No. 2 and he was in a particularly menacing mood the whole weekend denying the Lancashire No. 2 a single point in an awesome display of power.

Nunthorpe's Richard Collins and Durham's Michael Burton both gave solid performances on both days and the Aycliffe duo of Lee Skinner and Graham Johnson playing at No. 1 and No. 3 maintained the high standard set by the rest of the team. With Nunthorpe's Ben Harrison back from Army training college and 'chomping at the bit' to get back into the side, competition for places should be fierce for Stage 2 next year.

Final positions and points: 1st Durham & Cleveland 40 points; 2nd Lancashire 16; 3rd Merseyside.

Scores - D & C beat Merseyside 5/0: Lee Skinner bt. Mark Thompson 9/2, 9/2, 9/3; Nick Pugsly bt. Jason Reed 9/2, 9/2, 9/1; Graham Johnson bt. Alex Cunningham 9/3, 9/0, 9/2; Michael Burton bt. Chris Mann 9/2, 9/1, 9/1; Richard Collins bt. Daniel Reed 9/5, 9/2, 9/5.

D & C beat Lancashire 5/0: Lee Skinner bt. Michael Pearson 9/7, 10/8, 2/9, 9/2; Nick Pugsly bt. Nigel Howell 9/0, 9/0, 9/0; Graham Johnson bt. Daniel Turner 9/1, 9/0, 9/4; Michael Burton bt, Adam Borrowcliffe 9/0, 4/9, 9/2, 9/0; Richard Collins bt. Nathan Liddle 9/1, 9/3, 9/0.

The under-15 side had a long trip down to Stoke-on-Trent and were initially in confident mood, but No.2 seed Simon Robinson from Darlington was struck down with a fever the day before the team travelled. The three-and-a-quarter hour drive to Stoke took it out of all the team especially when they were due to meet favourites Lancashire in round one and a 5/0 whitewash was the disappointing result. The afternoon's match against Northamptonshire was lost 3/2 despite heroics from Robinson who tried in vain to play with a temperature of 102, but managed to claim one game for the team. Sunday saw the team beat Staffordshire 3/2 to clinch third position with Guisborough's Chris Alinson and Joss Harris both playing well. Alex Collins from the Nunthorpe club played up an age group and had a fine weekend but it was down to Norton's Chris Hall to clinch the tie with the teams locked at 2/2. Hall won his game 3/1 to give the side some consolation on their long trip home.