THE omens were not good as Malvern Squash Club Ladies quickly went down 2-0 against the powerful Stourbridge team.

MALVERN LADIES 3, STOURBRIDGE LADIES 2

With Hilary Soms and Mal Goodwin unable to withstand the pressure from their lively opponents, it was left to number three Sue Oliffe to stop the rot.

In a typically uneven game punctuated with good shots and lapses of concentration, Sue fought back from an early deficit to eventually win convincingly.

Andy Wright continued the improvement at two, possessing far too much experience to be seriously troubled.

So once again, the final outcome rested on the shoulders of skipper Lorraine Wilde and she fashioned a victory far more easily than the team had dared to hope, tantalising Sam Fearnley with her delicate disguised drops and angles interspersed with high cross courts to her opponents less reliable backhand.

RESULTS: Lorraine Wilde beat Sam Fearnley 9-4, 9-1, 9-6; Andy Wright beat Denise Salter 9-3, 9-3, 9-5; Sue Oliffe beat Lesley Kimberley 2-9, 9-1, 9-4, 7-9, 9-0; Hilary Soms lost to Sheila Morley 4-9, 3-9, 6-9; Mal Goodwin lost to Joy Hinton 5-9, 2-9, 1-9.