DORSET Boys Under-15s travelled to Devon in an inter-county squash match against the hosts and Somerset, but lost out against some difficult opponents.

Sam McIntyre was first on court and put on a spirited show against Devon’s Jo Pyre and was unlucky not to take the first game of his four-game defeat, eventually going down 10-12, 4-11, 11-4, 9-11.

Will Sargent’s match against Richard Harvey was the closest of the day for Dorset and he led 2-1 in games before running out of steam to crash to defeat in five.

Scott McGrail battled hard against Jonny Robinson, but lost in three tight games, while Adam Aldridge and 10-year-old Liam Aldridge, by far the youngest player at the event, also lost their matches in three straight games.

Somerset proved to be much more experienced opposition and the boys were unable to make any serious impression, but all battled hard, kept up a solid and supportive team spirit and will now be working towards raising their game.

Dorset Boys Under-13s gained a great result against Gloucester II in a stage II inter-county game, winning all five of their matches.

All five boys displayed some excellent squash – Phil Sargeant, Charlie Sawyer, Haden Holburn and Rory Bell all beat their opponents 3-0, while Joe Grange had a superb battle to come from 2-1 down to win 3-2.

The Under-13 girls faced Gloucester in their first match, but only Abigail Hurd could celebrate a win.

Dorset number one Jessica West fought hard but found herself outclassed by England number six Elin Jones.

Elise Bailey, nationally ranked at 43, took on Amber Peacey, who is 29 places higher and succumbed to a 11-2, 11-1, 11-1 defeat.

On a brighter note, Hurd registered a win for the home team, beating Freya Lane with a convincing 11-6, 11-6, 11-3 scoreline.

In their second match against Gloucester II, again the Dorset team faced three nationally-ranked players, giving everything before each slipped to a 3-0 loss.