Elijah Thomas clinches Pontefract victory over Abbeydale in Yorkshire Premier Squash League

A 17-6 victory looked comfortable, but the match swung one way then the other.

Barnsley-born Canadian Hollie Naughton and Pontefract club champion Matt Godson got Ponte off to the perfect start, but the visitors from Sheffield clawed the match back to parity when Pakistani Mutahir Ali Shah and Jordan Hardwick dug in for gutsy victories after both lost the first set.

That left 20-year-old Elijah Thomas – one of many New Zealanders learning their craft in Yorkshire – up against Welshman Elliot Morris Devred.

And it was the Kiwi who clinched the match for Ponte by virtue of a surprisingly smooth straight-games win.

Pontefract 2 were unable to prevent Dunnington from making it three wins from three.

York club Dunnington have lost just one individual match out of 15 thus far and recorded their second successive clean sweep this week by demolishing the Pontefract team 20-0.

Ponte were without several key players, but Dunnington were also without new signing Owain Taylor as they flexed their title muscles by going eight points clear at the top of the table.

Sam Gibbon and Seif Heikal gave Dunnington a quickfire start, Prithvi Singh and Michael Andrews swept to straight-games victories of their own and no.1 Chris Simpson finished the job by dispatching New Zealander Mason Smales.

Queens Club, of Halifax, also maintained their 100 per cent record with a tight win at winless Woodfield.

Lowri Roberts gave Queens a good start by defeating Polly Clark in three tight games, only for Alec Tomlinson to level matters for the home side.

Stephen Hearst and Bader Almaghrebi then grabbed wins to get the Halifax side over the line.

The top string match, although irrelevant to the result, was a cracker, with Commonwealth Games gold medallist Declan James returning from a long injury to overcome veteran James Earles in five.

Newcomers Ferriby Hall are still seeking their first win, but came close at third-placed Doncaster.

Asia Harris helps England to bronze medal in World Junior Squash Championships

Paul Norton defeated the highly talented Asia Harris in a five-setter, but Donny roared back with brisk victories by Brett Schille, Lewis Doughty and Toby Ponting.

Youngster Ben Smith kept up his 100 per cent YPL record this season by seeing off Kiwi Joel Arscott at top string to reduce the home side’s winning margin to 16-6.

Defending champions Hallamshire slumped to their second whitewash defeat of the season, crashing 20-2 at Harrogate, who move stealthily up to fourth.

Ross Kneller and Gabriel Cox began the rout with rapid three-game victories, Lewis Harding and Lwamba Chileshe dropped one game each in sealing the hosts’ five bonus points, then Harrogate top string Stuart MacGregor, the world no.149 from York, routed his teammate's brother, Temwa Chileshe, to seal a most emphatic win.

• Pontefract’s rising star Asia Harris has the Olympics in her sights with squash set to be included in the 2028 Los Angeles games.

Asia has now climbed to 87 in the world rankings and will be aiming to rise higher to be part of the GB team for the Olympics.

In order to fulfil her ambitions Asia is looking for a sponsor.