Results 2026/27

North Oxford 2 beat Old Millhillians 2 3 -0 at Mill Hill 13/10/26:

D.Patel & G.Pulsford beat J.Weller & B.Balcombe 3-0 (12-4, 12-4, 12-3)

C.Austin & N.Turnbull beat S.Shepherd & B.Briggs 3-0 (12-3, 12-3, 12-5)

O.Jones & J.Lai beat S.Barker & L.Vanhaesebroeck 3-0 (12-6, 12-5, 12-4)

There is a long and distinguished history of long, close NO v OM league matches on the Mill Hill courts (mainly involving Chris Austin...but last night wasn't one of them as the Division 2 team opened their title defence with a convincing win.

Chris Austin writes, with additional reporting from Grandad: This was a very comfortable 3-0 win against a slightly under-strength Millhillians second string. It was also a  hugely enjoyable match played in an excellent spirit.

At first, Darshan and Grandad proved they’re a fine pair as long as you keep them out of Kent, putting some recent Orpington-related trauma behind them to overcome Ben Balcombe & Jack Weller. Darshan was in dominant form and helped his aged partner through to a straight games win.

The Wizard teamed up with the returning Nathan – who claimed rustiness but frankly looked like he’d never been away! – at second, taking on Stan Shepherd (in borrowed gloves having left his at home) & Billy Briggs. The North Oxford duo made a somewhat slow start to each game before easing ahead once Nathan in particular found a returning groove, with greater consistency and some clinical volleying befitting his all-black ninja outfit ensuring a straightforward win. Magic fives.

Jamie “the Salmon” Lai & Ollie Jones faced Sam Barker & Lukas Vanhaesebroeck at third, also winning in straight games. Sadly there are no first-hand reports of the action, but it’s pretty safe to assume that Jamie leapt around a lot (occasionally even hitting the ball as well), while Ollie backed him up admirably,  his cutting especially effective, presumably while looking on bemused!

North Oxford also claimed a 5-4 victory in The Three Hammers, with the Millhillians numbers swelled by a non-playing appearance from Hal Gibson-Leitao, fresh from his latest squash drubbing at the hands of Charlie Plummer*. Conversation ranged from fond memories of Aldenham lock-ins at the Round Bush to the merits of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, via a couple of fives-related cryptic crossword clues.

*Disclaimer – I “think” this is true, but only caught the very end of the conversation! Either way, they could have done with Hal on the Fives courts rather than the squash one.

North Oxford 1 lost to Old Salopians ½ -2½ at Highgate 06/10/26:

N.Caplin & A.Abrahams lost to E.Taylor & S.Welti 0-3 (12-14, 9-12, 8-12)

T.McCahon & M.Asquith lost to T.Cox & R.Worth 1-3 (9-12, 13-11, 11-13, 2-12)

T.Campbell & D.Patel drew with L.Lloyd-Jones & M.Quinn 2-2 (8-12, 4-12, 14-12, 12-2, 6-6 timed out)

After two plain-sailing wins to start the campaign, some Division 1 reality kicked in at Highgate last night, with a ½ -2½ defeat at the hands of a strong Old Salopian side. Despite the result, however, the scores show that we are definitely capable of competing with the best teams around, with both of the first two pairs going down by tight margins and the third pair rescuing a valuable half point after going 0-2 down. Noah & Alex took on the undisputed OS first string of Ed Taylor & Sam Welti, with a lot resting on a tight first game which was set at 11-11 before the Salopians took it 14-12. Alex & Noah fought hard after that but once Ed & Sam got their noses in front, they were able to stay ahead in both of the next two games to win to 9 and 8. The ex-Durham pairing of Tom & Matt teamed up for the first time at second pair against another settled OS pairing in Rex Worth & Old Summerfieldian Tom Cox. Having lost the first game to 9, the North Oxford pair hit back to take the second 13-11 and the match was in the balance at 10-10 in the third. It was Tom & Rex who took it, though, and this proved decisive as they ran away with the fourth. The depth of the Salopian line-up is often one of their strongest suits and Darshan & Tancred found themselves up against 2025 Kinnaird quarter-finalist Luke Lloyd-Jones, playing alongside club stalwart Marc Quinn. Things looked tricky at 0-2 down, with the first two games ost to 8 and 4, but the North Oxford pair began to turn the tide in the third game; unlike in the first two pairs they then won the crucial set game, turning 11-11 into a 14-12 win before reeling off a devastating fourth game to level the scores. The fifth game was evenly poised at 6-6 when time ran out - a shame for such an excellent contest - but this very much ranks as a half point gained rather than one lost. Despite this defeat, a return of 6½ points from three away games against the Westminsters, Berkhamsted and the Salopians is an excellent start to the season and sets us up nicely to see if are again able to challenge at the top end of the table. 

North Oxford 1 beat Berkhamsted 1 3-0 at Berkhamsted 04/10/26:

S.Cooley & I.Weaver beat R.Perrie & C.Doe 3-0 (12-3, 12-5, 12-7)

T.McCahon & A.Abrahams beat S.Kaynama & W.Roen Tate 3-1 (12-3, 12-1, 6-12, 12-4)

B.Hart & D.Patel beat L.Faulkner & J.Whitby 3-0 (12-4, 12-2, 12-2)

The perfect start to the Division 1 seasonn continued at Berkhamsted continued with a second successive 3-0 victory, a relatively comfortable one with the opposition again not at full strength for the second time in a week. There was serious competition for places in the NOEFC line-up, with Noah sent away to earn brownie points with his girlfriend (to be cashed in later in the year when needed!), Lewis left on the bench and the team captain in his usual role as taxi-driver and photographer. Seb made a welcome first appearance of the year - clad head to toe in brand new NOEFC kit - as did Isaac Weaver, and despite a bit of early season rust at times, they proved to be far too strong for Ryan Perrie & Charlie Doe, the Berkhamsted team keenly feeling the absence of Jack Pemberton. Uncle Darshan was in a hurry to get to his niece's 8th birthday party (not enough of a hurry to turn up on time but still) and he and Ben made short workof schoolboy Laurence Faulkner and recent leaver Josh Whitby, who showed some nice touches but made too many errors to put the NOEFC pair under any pressure at all. Tom & Alex teamed up at second pair and headed round the sunny side to avoid a slightly slippery run off. They also raced through the first two games against former schools' champion Sam Kaynama and new Berko boss Will Roen Tate before a slightly surreal interlude which saw them go 1-10 down in the third game before losing it to 6, the first (and only so far) game lost by a North Oxford pair in Division 1 so far. Normal service was resumed in the fourth and in the King's Arms (minus Uncle Darshan) well before 1pm for another 6-0 win, a debrief, an in depth analysis of the newly released NOEFC stats and further admiring of Seb's new kit. A very satisfying morning's work all round. The initial mini-run of top flight games concludes on Tuesday evening with a tough away game against the Salopians at Highgate, who we assume will manage to put out something lke their best team against us. Whatever happens there, though, this has been a flying start to the Division 1 campaign and bodes well for the rest of the season.

North Oxford 1 beat Old Westminsters 3-0 at Westminster 30/09/26:

N.Caplin & A.Abrahams beat R.Houlden & G.Coren 3-0 (12-7, 12-7, 12-4)

T.McCahon & B.Hart beat N.Choustikov & B.Merrett 3-0 (12-2, 12-7, 12-2)

M.Asquith & C.Lyle beat B.Chen & S.Balaji 3-0 (12-1, 12-5, 12-2)

Last year's Division 1 campaign will take a bit of beating, but the 2026/27 season got off to a flying start with a convincing 3-0 away win against the Westminsters last night. There has been a bit of transfer activity around the squad in the off season, with Gwydion Wiseman being released on a free to the Olavians and Matt Asquith, Ben Hart and Tom Hoskins returning from loan moves to the US, Yorkshire and Devon respectively. Tom is currently on the injured list for a few weeks but Ben and Matt were straight into the team for the Westminster game, joining core players Noah Caplin, Alex Abrahams and Tom McCahon and valuable squad player Cameron Lyle. The Westminsters weren't at full strength, with no Laurie Brock or Hugo Young, but their firs pair still featured the formidable obstacle of Kinnaird champion Riki Houlden, playing alongside top celebrity Fives player Giles Coren. Noah & Alex were the pair to take them on and they did so in emphatic style with none of the rollercoaster five game ups and downs of some of their earlier career matches, combining well to storm to a 3-0 win. Further down the order, the two newer pairings of Tom & Ben and Matt & Cam won in equally impressive style, Tom & Ben overcoming Nick Choustikov & Ben Merrett for he loss of only 11 points and Matt & Cam doing a similar job on Brian Chen & Sudhir Balaji at third pair. This was the first of a run of three potentially tricky away games to start the Division 1 season, with Berkhamsted on Sunday and the Old Salopians next Tuesday to follow and got us off to a great start.

North Oxford beat Old Cantabs 3-2 at Eton 27/09/26:

C.Austin & J.Hopkins beat N.Shaw & L.Drummond 3-1 (7-12, 12-8, 14-13, 14-12)

P.Holland & M.Davis lost to W.Thomas & A.Shah 1-3 (5-12, 12-6, 7-12, 9-12)

A.Bishop & S.Nowinski lost to J.Lai & L.Maxwell 0-3 (5-12, 5-12, 2-12)

K.Smilovska & F.Pierce beat E.Collinson & L.Bland 3-0 (12-10, 15-14, 12-8)

S.Clifford-King & S.Howgate beat A.Fitzpatrick & E.Spencer 3-0 (12-5, 12-3, 12-2)

A new friendly on the fixture list, this one, and plenty of familiar faces in the opposition ranks as we took on the Old Cantabs acorss five pairs at Eton on Sunday. There was a late team change with the ankle injury sustained at the U25s keeping Tom Hoskins out of the side, Newbury's Jack Hopkins taking his place, with the club captain on standby as a late replacement for either side should one be required. Jack was alongside the Wizard of Wolverhampton at first pair against regular NOEFC Monday nighters Nick Shaw & Lewis Drummond. This was the closest match of the day on the men's side, with the first two games shared before Nick & Lewis somehow let an 11-6 lead slip in the third to lose 13-14. Even more remarkably, it was déjà vu all over again in the next game, an 11-6 lead again disappearing in the space of two hands and a 14-12 North Oxford victory. The second pair game saw more Newbury action, regular partners Paul Holland and Will Thomas up against each other for a change, Will alongside Akhil Shah and Paul partnering Matt Davis. There was some good Fives but also plenty of unforced errors in the first couple of games, which were shared before Will & Akhil moved away to win in four. The third pair on the men's side was a classic youth v experience match up, Jamie Lai & Luke Maxwell taking on Andy & Stefan. The scoreline shows a convincing win for youth ("The second five was much better than the first five, and even the two was better than the first five" according to the President) but if you factor in the Cox Coefficient it was probably a draw.  The Cantabs women's team featured three current students alongside another regular Monday Nighter in Emilia Collinson. The North Oxford line-up had a few ins and outs during the week, but settled on an exciting couple of pairs with two debuts, from another Newbury player in Sasha Howgate and only the second Old Rydalian to play for North Oxford (after Tom Cotterell) in Fflur Pierce, recently arrived in London for the first part of her gap year. Fflur is a highly talented player and she immediately settled into being part of a close and good quality match, partnering Kristiana Smilovska against Emilia & Lucy Bland. There was very little to separate the two pairs in the firs two games, with the extra precision of the NOEFC just making the difference at the end of each game; the third (and the fourth - they were having such a good time they carried on) went more in the North Oxford pair's favour as Fflur grew in confidence and began to dominate, The final pairing saw Sasha & Sophi Clifford-King up against Emma Spencer & Anna Fitzpatrick.  Again, there was plenty of good Fives played but the North Oxford pair had the stronger set piece and lower unforced error count and ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. There was a 7-6 win for the Cantabs in the Henry afterwards (although most of them play for us so it doesn't really count) to round off an excellent day.

North Oxford 3 lost to Berkhamsted School 1-2 at Berkhamsted 26/09/26:

F.Prickett* & N.Jamieson beat L.Faulkner & J.Bates 3-2 (9-12, 12-4, 14-15, 15-14, 15-12)

O.Lawton & J.Lai beat C.Davey & H.Seddon 3-1 (12-9, 11-12, 12-5, 12-7)

A.Bishop & R.McCormack lost to S.Finn & O.Bownes 1-3 (12-15, 15-11, 6-12, 8-12)

*ineligible player named in advance

A match with quite a tricky gestation in terms of getting a time together and trying to match it with the opposition ended up being a very successful outing indeed, as Bishop's Buccaneers recorded their second 1-2 away result in Division 3. With a sixth player proving tricky to find and former Kinnaird semi-finalist and Berkhamsted MiC Doug Foster provisionally in the home line-up, there was a late call up for Fred Prickett - ineligible due to being a named player this year - to balance out the first pair. In the event, it worked out perfectly, despite the eventual absence of Mr.F as Fred & Nick Jamieson ran out 3-2 winners in an epic match against Berkhamsted's top schoolboys. There was a welcome reappearance for Oli Lawton at second pair alongside Jamie Lai and despite a second game wobble, they came through 3-1 against their staff/pupil opponents. There was a further epic at third pair, as Yorkshire's finest Bishop & McCormack were reunited to take on another pair of school boys. The first two games were both set to 15 and shared, but after that the Berkhamsted pair got on top and went on to win 3-1. There was a comprehensive NOEFC victory in the pub afterwards, though.

North Oxford beat Harrow School 2-0 at Harrow 19/09/26:

A.Abrahams & J.Levinson beat Henry & George 12-4; George & Laurence 12-3, 12-6; A.Ranjan & A.Au 12-5

A.Bishop & G.Hoskins beat Isa & Steve 12-4, 12-8; Sam & Freddie 12-8

Additional matches: A.Abrahams & A.Bishop beat A.Ranjan & A.Au 12-6; J.Levinson & J.Dunbar beat Sam & Freddie 12-11

A very convivial and satisfactory friendly match at Harrow saw Alex & Jamie and Andy & Gareth take on various combinations of Harrow schoolboys while the Old Harrovians played the Old Westminsters round the other side. The club captain came in for his first appearance of the season once Fred Prickett finally realised he couldn't play in two matches in the same place simultaneously, and he and the club president played a very traditional "confuse the schoolboys by hitting it as slowly and with as much spin as possible" style game to great effect, although they did have to raise their game against their second opponents. Alex & Jamie adopted a similar - if perhaps rather less brazen - strategy in their matches, including a game against the hugely talented U15 pair who romped to victory in the U14 Beginners tournament at Repton last year. The final round of matches saw Alex team up for one final win, while there was a North Oxford debut for 13 year old Jamie Dunbar, who became the first member of his family to pass the stringent criteria required to play for NOEFC and then succeeded in partnering the other Jamie to a come from behind victory against his Harrovian opponents, his grandparents sensibly opting to watch this game rather than the Dunbar T v Houlden R battle going on round the other side. A fun afternoon all round.

North Oxford 3 lost to The Abbey 1-2 at Westminster 17/09/26:

F.Fairhead & T.Bush lost to A.Gupta & E.Phillips 0-3 (8-12, 8-12, 10-12)

A.Bishop & R.Swallow beat L.Beheshti & A.Devalpalli 3-2 (12-11, 4-12, 9-12 ret)

G.Day & S.Clifford-King lost to S.Shi & T.Chatterjee 0-3 (2-12, 0-12, 0-12)

Andy Bishop reports: Despite the cathedral security staff at the entrance to Dean's Yard having no information about the match nor the list of names we eventually managed to reach the school's security entrance f the traditional season opener, a Division 3 match against The Abbey.

Pair 1 could have done with more warm-up time before starting their match, especially as Freddie Fairhead hadn't played for a while. He and fellow Old Summerfieldian Toby Bush had a good close match, but they needed best of seven, which North Oxford would undoubtedly have won!

Pair 3 had a tough time - the oppo's pre-match assurance of "Yes, there will be a significant drop in standard between 2nd and 3rd pair...." was perhaps not entirely accurate and Grace & Sophie had their work cut out from the start. They competed in the rallies but struggled to return cuts and the match was over rather too soon. Grace stayed for a while to support, but then felt the responsibilities of her new job and the need to get home in good time. Sophie gamely stayed on to join the four Summerfieldians in the pub afterwards.

Rupert & I took an early lead and then they drew level at around 4-4. We edged our way evenly onwards, NO reaching 11 first (11-8) and Abbey coming back to 11-11, 2nd hand. Rupert called sudden death, and we took it. Rupert then switched the ball to an orange one (self-painted by him), with the oppo's agreement, as the white ball had been a bit difficult to see. Following that, I struggled to see the ball for the next two games! But Rupert saw it well and covered his older partner efficiently, both scuttling around at the back of the court and volleying effectively on top step. We rather lost our way (not returning many cuts) in the second, but competed strongly in the third. As we prepared to raise our game in order to win the fourth and fifth, our opponents suddenly and mysteriously disappeared (an homage maybe to Justin Byam Shaw on his home courts), so we claimed the victory and headed to the pub...