BOUNTY'S hopes of winning the Berkshire Squash League suffered a setback with a 5-0 home defeat to reigning champions Charters.

The home team’s cause was not helped by the enforced absence of their top two players, Anthony Brindle and Kyle Finch, while Charters were able to field their strongest side, including former world number 34 Jesse Engelbrecht, who played at fourth string.

Bounty will look to bounce back from this defeat when they travel to Aldershot to face Army.

The previous week, Bounty beat Wellington 5-0 at home, even though the Wellington team included former National Squash Champion and World number 11 Steve Meads.

Unfortunately he retired injured whilst 8-5 down in the first game of his match against Anthony Brindle.

The match of the evening saw second string Mike Elford recover from two games down to record a 7-11, 6-11, 11-9, 11-8, 11-4 victory.

Bounty II kept their unbeaten start to the season going following a high-quality 3-2 win over Wellington III.

Jack Lake, Will Vaughan and James Gibbs recorded convincing wins over seasoned opponents, whilst first and second strings Rashid Hashmi and Mark Palser both missed out narrowly.

The team’s next match is away at Temple Wycombe.