Warrington won their 8th consecutive North West Counties Squash League title last week, a league record – an amazing achievement.
Here’s a look at 3 key matches during the season, from Lewis Doughty
Warrington v Liverpool CC 21-Jan
Liverpool had looked like serious title contenders since the opening day of the season, and had won the tie earlier in the season with Merseyside-born World no.58 Patrick Rooney and World no.45 George Parker bolstering their line-up, adding some firepower to their home-grown talent. Patrick proved to play a big part on the night, thriving in front of a lively Liverpudlian crowd, and took advantage of an off-colour Joel Makin. George beat Warrington favourite, World no. 56 Rui Soares, in another entertaining match.
So, the return fixture at Warrington Sports Club, needless to say, was a huge match. By this stage in the season Liverpool had dropped a few points and it was now Bowdon who had emerged as the main challengers. However, Liverpool were still more than capable of ruining our chances of winning the league. The fixture didn’t disappoint.
We were helped out by a straightforward win at no.3 to kick the night off. Then the no.2’s Sam Osbourne-Wilde and Lwamba Chilese took to the show court. Sam has had a great season on the Challenger Tour, being named as ‘PSA’s one to watch in 2025’. He was up against New Zealand international Lwamba, who is an established top 100 in the World player. This was an epic back-and-forth match, with some highly entertaining, gut busting rallies. Lwamba won in 5 very hard games.
Meanwhile, on the adjacent court, Connor Sheen and Josh Owen were battling it out in another tight match, with Connor getting the win in 4. Ollie Hudson then followed and made quick work of his opponent with a classy performance. 2 matches all to set up the perfect finale.
Following on the show court, barely giving the crowd time to catch their breath, was the main event of the night, Jonah Bryant vs Patrick Rooney. Jonah, who has been a sensation on the PSA World Tour this season, had just flown back from the USA where he reached the Quarter finals of a Silver World Tour PSA event, narrowly losing out to World no.6, Tarek Momen 3-2. Patrick had also been showing some good form after a layoff due to injury. Both players had something to prove and wanted to win badly. What followed was the best league match I’ve ever seen.
Patrick played some great squash again, luring Jonah into his game and had 3 match balls to win in 4. Jonah looked down and out but pushed himself past his limits to win that game 13-11, and get himself to 9-9 in the 5th . It was close to midnight by this stage and after 2 more incredible points, Jonah managed a dramatic win, stealing the win for Warrington. The crowd could not believe what they’d just witnessed and both players were met by a standing ovation. ‘Possibly one of the best matches in the North West Counties Squash League 70 year history’, said Andy Whipp, Warrington captain, when asked his thoughts on the match.
Jonah Bryant 3-2 Patrick Rooney
Sam Osbourne-Wilde 2-3 Lwamba Chilese
Lewis Doughty 3-0 Lewis Harding
Josh Owen 0-3 Connor Sheen
Ollie Hudson 2-3 Adam Pritchard
Warrington vs Wigan 12-No, The ElShorbagy Show
This match was all about Mohammad El Shorbagy. On paper it was a straightforward win for the team but the story of the night was former World no.1, World champion and one of the most successful squash players to ever play the game gracing the Warrington show court. This was the only match of the season that was ticketed and it sold out weeks in advance (albeit free tickets to prioritise our faithful Warrington fans).
It was packed to the rafters, as El Shorbagy dismantled Rhys Evans in exhibition style. This is taking nothing away from Rhys, who has excelled recently on the Challenger tour, but El Shorbagy was oozing with class.
The subtleties in his swing and his backhand technique in particular are amazing to watch up close. I remember watching him play on a traditional court in Nottingham at the British University Championships and being blown away by how good he was. At the time he was the World no.5 and beating everyone in his path. It was the same watching him more than 12 years later at Warrington. It’s inspiring to watch a player like him up close.
Mohammed El Shorbagy 3-1 Rhys Evans
Jonah Bryant 3-0 Ben Hetherington
Lewis Doughty 3-0 Ryan Atherton
Josh Owen 3-1 Nat Fairhurst
Ollie Hudson 3-2 Paul Mcdonald
Warrington v Bowdon 18-Mar
The away fixture against Bowdon went right down to the wire at their place. Warrington managed to win that one 3-2.
The return leg vs Bowden on home turf at Warrington was a classic ‘winner takes all’ match. It was the top two teams in the league battling it out. A win would clinch the title for Warrington, a loss would hand Bowdon the title. The stakes were high, as was the anticipation from the home supporters. It was the busiest it’s ever been at Warrington Sports Club, with squash fans from far and wide crammed into every available space to watch some of the best squash players in the world.
It was an almost identical line-up to the first leg, except both teams had been made stronger by their superstar no.1’s. We had the new world no.5 Joel Makin playing, and Bowdon had world no.25, in-form Declan James.
I went on first against shot-maker, Pete Billson in a repeat of the first leg and was able to settle some of the nerves by winning 3-0. At the same time, on the ‘back court’ – a large crowd had gathered to watch the rematch between no.5’s Ollie Hudson and Dan Ince. A fast-paced rollercoaster of a match, bringing out the best from both players, eventually led to a 3-2 win for the Bowdon player, tying the fixture at 1-1.
The no.2 Strings, rising stars Jonah Bryant and Sanjay Jeeva were up next. When these two met earlier in the season, Jonah won 3-1. They’ve both shot up the rankings since then and this was reflected in the match, a similar encounter to the first fixture, but even better quality – Jonah looked in control, but Sanjay is dangerous. 3-1 to Jonah.
Matches tied at 2-2 after a quickfire win for Bowdon’s no.4 Charles Keeble vs Josh Owen in another identical match to the first leg.
So to decide the league, the main event, World no.5 Joel Makin vs. World no.25, in-form Declan James. What a match. Joel set off at a ridiculously high pace, Declan matched him. Joel is constantly improving his game and showed why he’s where he is, winning in 3 close games and making almost no unforced errors.
Lewis Doughty 3-0 Peter Billson
Ollie Hudson 2-3 Dan Ince
Jonah Bryant 3-1 Sanjay Jeeva
Josh Owen 0-3 Charles Keeble
Joel Makin 3-0 Declan James
Reflections on the NWCSL
We are so lucky to have matches like this on our doorstep in the North West of England and they provide such a good parallel to the stories happening on the PSA World Tour, it’s fascinating to watch the players season’s unfolding and to see them playing league matches in-between some of the major events on the PSA World Tour, battling out on ‘traditional’ courts inside proper squash clubs.
I always think Squash is at its best in these settings, you can really appreciate how good these top athletes are and the crowd feel like a part of the match, there rarely seems to be any of the interruptions and stoppages, or interactions with the referee that can happen in some of today’s PSA world Tour matches.
A big thanks to the sponsor who makes it all happen EWL, to the club chairman and photographer, Richard Bradbury and to team captain Andy Whipp who is always on hand for expert advice between games! The squad also included Emily Whitlock, Rui Soares and Ben Smith who all played crucial roles throughout the season.
Lewis Doughty
