Leaders edge epic battle

Harvey Round Motors Wanganui still lead the points table after a nail-biting second round of the Premier Central Interclub Squash Series in Marton on Tuesday night.

Wanganui came up against a strong Squash Gym Gold team and the match went right down to the wire with the River City side snatching victory in the final game.

First up for Palmerston North-based Squash Gym Gold was a talented sportsman Wanganui knows well.

Tennis pro Victor Romero, head coach for the Wanganui Tennis Club, was pitted against Steven Bennett. Romero lives in Palmerston North and commutes to Wanganui for tennis coaching duties.

In an epic battle Romero, who has only been playing squash for 18 months and is nearly at A-grade level, won in five sets - 6/11, 14/12, 12/14, 9/11, 11/6.

Second up for Wanganui was Ant Rountree against 15-year-old Daniel Foster. After dropping the first set 4/11 Rountree went on to win the next three sets 11/4, 11/9, 11/4.

Third up was Harvey Round Motors Wanganui No1 Rod Bannister against top CD player Matt Nation.

This was a massive match going to five sets, but the old boy Bannister was piped at the post, losing 12/10 in the fifth set - final score 11/9, 11/8, 5/11, 9/11, 12/10.

That put Squash Gym Gold up 2/1 and it was all up to the final two players from each side.

Up stepped Matt Ratcliffe against Brent Foster. Ratcliffe took control early on and went on to win the match in three sets 11/7, 11/3, 11/6, giving Wanganui the win by 10 sets to 7.

After two rounds the points read: Harvey Round Motors Wanganui 22, Tararua 20, Rangitiki 17, Squash Gym Gold 14, Squash Gym Blue 13, Massey 8. Next round is in Wanganui on Tuesday at the Bassett Street courts starting at 7pm. The public is most welcome.