HEXHAM Squash III endured a torrid night as they picked up just three points in Division Three as they started a busy February schedule with a 5-0 defeat to the much strengthened Westoe IV.

Dave Robson got the match underway and it looked for a while that he might repeat his performance of the first half against Westoe and give Hexham a head start. However, his opponent got the upper hand this time and he lost 3-0 (11-15, 13-15, 8-15).

On the adjacent court, Tim Anderson was involved in a very competitive game. He took the first game 15-12 and the third 15-14, but lost the second 10-15, the fourth 13-15 and the final game 8-15.

Sally Anderson came up against a hard hitting opponent and, as she struggled to find her game, lost the first two games 10-15, 7-15 before fighting back in the third only to narrowly lose 14-15.

Jim Chambers tried to restore some credibility to the score but started slowly by losing 7-15, but he recovered to take the second game 15-10. The next two games were both very tight but Chambers lost them both 14-15 and 13-15.

Joe Anderson played the final game of the evening and his run of successes at number one string came to an end as he battled well but went down 6-15, 11-15, 12-15.