TAVISTOCK Squash Club played host to Lloyds Bank. Lloyds started the season with a hastily put together team but have recruited a strong squad.

First up for Tavistock was Rich Baxter. He has played a couple of games for the team so far and had no serious opposition. Tony Worth changed this with accurate and hard hit shots not normally seen at no 5. Tony took a commanding two-game lead before Rich started a fight back and took the game easily.

The fourth was a close fought contest, where Rich was always a couple of points ahead, to level the match. By the fifth game Tony's style had let him down and Rich took a comfortable game and retained his unbroken record.

At fourth string John Jameson started as if he was warming up and was soon 2-0 down and match point against him. John sneaked home to take the third game and breezed through the fourth 9-0 before Bruce recovered his composure and led throughout the fifth to take the match 3-2.

The third string match saw Pete Middleton meet Yannick Tremain. After close initial rallies Yannick surged ahead to take the first game with Pete doing the same in the second to level at 1-1. The third was nip and tuck all the way with Yannick squeezing home at the last. in the fourth youth overcame experience and Yannick won the match 3-1.

The second string saw Phil Honey play Tony Brown. Tony normally plays at first string but was at two for this night. Tony showed his class to take the first game 9-0 before Phil took the second 9-5. Phil put up a good fight for the next two games but could not overcome Tony's power and accuracy.

With Tavistock looking to salvage a few points Steve Tripp played Darren Critten at number one. They have met several times in competition this year and Steve has the upper hand. Careful not to get complacent Steve started cautiously and with a great display of accuracy and patience quickly established the upper hand to take the first game 9-5 and and complete his mastery over Darren with a 3-0 win.

Tavistock have a couple of games still to go in the league and play the plate competition semi-final in a couple of weeks before the summer break.

Anyone interested in playing squash in Tavistock at any level should call Malcolm Tripp 01822 615239 or come along to the courts on Pixon Lane on Wednesday from 6.45pm.

l Tavistock's penultimate game of the season saw them pit their wits against Exmouth. Tavistock's numbers 5 and 4, Stuart Cox and Colin Grice, both had comfortable 3-0 victories.

The pair played solidly and mistakes were kept to a minimum; their range of shots and court awareness were fair superior to their opponents.

Andy Gauler at no 3 was involved in a hard fought five-set match. It was a tense affair with both players battling for each point and often getting in each other's way. There were a lot of stop/starts and a number of lets awarded. Andy lost the final game to give Exmouth their first win of the evening.

Steve Tripp at no 2 soon found himself two games up in his match after his opponent made early mistakes. His opponent came back into the match with some punishing drives and drop shots.

Steve soon found himself at two games all but showed determination and control in the fifth to win and give Tavistock their third match.

Jim Massey playing at no 1 also found himself in a similar situation to Steve, winning the first two games with relative ease. However, his opponent, who did not stop running, clawed his way back to win the match 3-2.