JOSEPH Rowntree School moved into the semi-finals of the National Schools' Boys Under-15 Squash Tournament with an emphatic 4-1 win against Royal Grammar School, Newcastle.

The Newcastle side featuring no fewer than three Northumberland junior county players were no match for the slick York outfit.

First on court was Mackenzie Nichol who, after a nervous opening, beat Ben Dinsley 3-1.

Next up was Jack Unsworth, who was recovering from a broken toe. He put up brave resistance in the first game, but his lack of match fitness was evident as the contest wore on and eventually he went down 3-0 to Ben Young.

The match was nicely poised as Ben Walker, who has only been playing seriously for 18 months, faced Tom Mathewson. He lost the first but overcame his obvious nerves and fought back with comfortable wins in the next three games.

Meanwhile, Tom Boyle was having the battle of the match. He had lost to his opponent, Christian Beck, in their previous three encounters but with a combination of deft drop-shots and blistering drives won the tie 3-1 and the match.

That left Tom Pepper, who was celebrating his call-up to the Yorkshire U17 side for the forthcoming Northern Cup, to complete a 4-1 match victory with a crushing win over Dan Ward, which was sealed with an outrageous cross-court nick.

Joseph Rowntree now go to the National Squash Centre in Manchester for the finals later this month.

Scores (Joseph Rowntree names first): Tom Pepper bt Dan Ward 9/1,9/4,9/6, Mackenzie Nichol bt Ben Dinsley 6/9,9/4,9/2,9/0, Tom Boyle bt Christian Beck 6/9,9/6,9/7,9/6, Jack Unsworth lost to Ben Young 7/9,1/9,4/9, Ben Walker bt Tom Mathewson 5/9,9/2,9/3,9/2.

Updated: 10:50 Wednesday, March 15, 2006