BOTH of Okehampton’s squash teams enjoyed victories in their respective fixtures of the Devon Squash League.

The first team, in division three, were up against a Tiverton side that were only able to field three players, therefore both of the first two strings (five and four) were walkovers. 

At string three Justin Gliddon had a close match against an evenly matched opponent, eventually coming through 3-2 after some accurate hitting and using his drop shots to good effect. Phil Allin at string 2 played well hitting good length and moving well around the court to win 3-0. 

In the string one match Phil Kemsley also won after a slow start. After going 0-2 down he fought back after hitting improved depth and attacking play and eventually won 3-2 for a 5-0 match victory — 20 points to 4pts.

In their first match of the season, the second team began with an away victory against Torquay.

At string five Pete Twort enjoyed a fairly comfortable opening 3-0 win. In the string four game Jack Barkwell showed some rustiness after not playing too much recent squash, and also coming up against an opponent with a good short game, losing 0-3.

In the string three game Chris Elphick persevered well after losing a two set lead, holding his nerve and continuing to play a good length to come out with a 3-2 victory.

In both the string one and two matches, both Shawn Jones and Shane Vallance played some inconsistent squash but came out with victories. Jones won a tight match 3-2 in the string 1 fixture, whilst Shane won 3-1.

It meant Okehampton won 4-1, by 17pts to 8pts.