Week 5 saw some big wins for Warrington, Wigan and Liverpool, but notably league newcomers, City Of Manchester recorded their first win of the season.

They hosted the Northern 1st team who were without their regular number 1, Michael Andrews. The Northern went 2-1 up on the night with wins at 3 and 4, while the home side claimed the victory at No.5. This set the stage for COM's youngsters at numbers 1 and 2. Twenty-year-old Egyptian, Adam El Shazly plays at 1, while Pakinstani 18-year-old Mutahir Ali Shah is at 2. They both bossed their matches to win 3-0, and by doing so, completing a nice 3-2 match victory for their team. City Of Manchester still remain bottom of the table, but things are looking hopeful as they are only a point behind the Northern 2nd team, and they have a game in hand.

Even though the Northern 2nd team lost last night to a consistently strong Wigan, they did welcome Josh Owen to their line-up for the first time. Josh, who is the son of now famous coach Rob, impressed on his debut, beating the tenacious Julian Tomlinson in what I can only assume was a fantastic match to watch. I'm sure The Northern will be keen to have Josh playing for them as much as possible this season.

Jonah Bryant impressed once again, dispatching the lively Welsh No.4, Rhys Evans, as Warrington welcomed the visit of Welsh Dragons Wrexham Brymbo. This was a fast and furious match, with Jonah showing no signs of tiredness after winning the British Junior Championships a few days before. Welsh No.3, Owain Taylor put up a great fight against Adrian Waller at No.1. The first game was tight one which just went in favour of Waller, while Owain was unstoppable in the second. Adian then straightened up, and tightened up to generally control the next two games, giving the adopted Warrington man a 3-1 victory.

Liverpool had a reasonably straight-forward night against Alderley Edge, winning 4-1. Connor Sheen, who is not quite as sharp as he used to be, made his first appearance after recently becoming a father, but struggled against Muhammad Khan, who can fire in attacks from anywhere.

The final match of the night was a home win for Grove Park against Bowdon, with a particularly good performance from Morgan Hibberd at No.3, who beat the Cheshire Closed Runner-Up, Charles Keeble. Morgan has been a top player, and uses his experience and excellent ball control to dictate the pace of rallies. It's very hard for opponents to dominate Morgan for long periods as he always finds a way to re-gain control. The half-term break didn't appear to slow down Bowdon's Pete Billson, as he claimed another tidy victory, beating Luke McFarland, giving the 43-year-old a third win out of four matches. And on the subject of Bowdon, I forgot to mention in the week 4 review about the wonders of Nick Murrills... Several years after his last first division match, the wily, hobbly fella returned to help out his club, and scored a fine 3-0 win. I don't want to call him a super-hero but... I have heard Bowdon purchased a mask and cape for him to wear whenever he feels like gracing a squash court again. Who knows, we might have to wait another three years, but I'm sure it'll be worth the wait when he does!

By Andy Whipp