Central Retain Newbigin Shield

Central has beaten Eastern 19-5 to retain the Newbigin Shield in Palmerston North on the weekend.

Central Squash won its annual representative challenge against Squash Eastern for the Newbigin Shield by 19 matches – 5 matches, the exact same score line as last year when they beat Eastern on their turf.  The Central squad had 10 out of the 12 players from the powerful Squashgym club and won the Newbigin shield for a second year running after it was reintroduced in 2012.

The shield has plenty of heritage and is highly sought after, having been played for between the two neighbours for over 40 years.  It was originally donated by Jim Newbigin who was a leading figure in the establishment of squash in the Hawkes Bay but also spent some early years in Palmerston North.  

Central were without two of its leading players in Kashif Shuja & Matt Nation, however they were still able dominate and show that the district is creating some depth in its high performance programme.  A lot of the players beat there higher graded opposition which certainly impressed the team management of Kent Darlington (Manager), Jason Fletcher (Coach) & Grant Watts (Coach).  The team had four new players on their Senior debut in Ben Calvert, Luke Jones, Emily Nash & Rebecca Clifford who all came through with flying colours.  Players to stand out were Calvert who won both his matches in five sets, his second producing a great win against the higher ranked Bryce Redman.  Jones also performed well as he won both his matches and again his second match produce a gutsy effort against Chapman Kutia, after he was down two sets, he fought hard to come through & win in five.  Alison Whyte, Jackie Tapp & Emily Nash also produced solid wins while youngster Kaitlyn Watts won her morning match with a gutsy display to come back from two nil down and win in five against the higher graded Mel Goodchild.

Results:

Central Squash (19 matches) beat Squash Eastern (5 matches)

Mens Results

1 Joseph Watts (Squashgym)  Beat Todd Redman 11/4, 11/6, 10/12, 11/9  Lost to Cameron Jamieson 11/1, 11/9, 11/5

2 Tom Nash (Squashgym)   Lost to Cameron Jamieson 13/11, 11/7, 11/7 Beat Todd Redman 11/2, 7/11, 11/8, 11/4

3 Ben Calvert (Squashgym)  Beat Jason Baty 10/12, 11/9, 11/7, 5/11, 11/2  Beat Bryce Redman 7/11, 13/11, 11/5, 4/11, 11/7

4 Regan Smith (Squashgym) Lost to Bryce Redman 11/7, 11/8, 5/11, 11/7 Beat Jason Batty 13/11, 11/8, 11/8 

5 Luke Jones (Squashgym)  Beat Dylan Pahina 11/8, 11/9, 11/8 Beat Chapman Kutia 8/11, 8/11, 11/3, 12/10, 11/6

6 Stephen Bennett (Hawera)  Beat Chapman Kutia 11/9, 11/7, 6/11, 11/7 Beat Dylan Pahina 11/8, 7/11, 11/5, 11/4

Womens Results

1 Danielle Fourie (Squashgym)  Beat Puti Ferguson 11/2, 11/2, 11/5 Beat Audine Grace-Kutia 11/4, 11/3, 11/2

2 Alison Whyte (Squashgym)  Beat Audine Grace-Kutia 11/5, 12/10,11/3 Beat Puti Ferguson 11/2, 11/9, 11/8

3 Jackie Tapp (Taihape)  Beat Julie Evans 11/4, 7/11, 11/2, 11/4 Beat Mel Goodchild 11/3, 9/11, 11/4, 11/1

4 Kaitlyn Watts (Squashgym)  Beat Mel Goodchild 10/12, 10/12, 11/7, 11/7, 11/8 Lost to Julie Evans 11/7, 11/9, 1/11, 11/9

5 Emily Nash (Squashgym)  Beat Parearua Kutia 11/7, 11/5, 12/10 Beat Kandyce Bevan11/8,5/11,13/11, 11/9

6 Rebecca Clifford (Squashgym)  Lost to Kandyce Bevan 11/9, 12/14, 11/9, 5/11, 11/7 Beat Parearua Kutia 11/9, 11/9, 11/9