Rising Carlisle squash stars Keane Appleton and Adam Goad took the top titles at the Cumbria Junior County Championships as the area’s best young talent battled for supremacy.

The pair won the Under-19 and Under-17 championships respectively last weekend, fending off challenges from two strong opponents.

Keane, 17, beat Wigton’s James Wilkinson in the final, coming out on top of a five-set battle.

Keane raced out to a 2-0 lead with James pulling it back level before a packed crowd at Carlisle Squash Club. However, Keane proved in the end to be too strong and picked up his first Under-19 county title.

Adam, a former English national champion, beat club-mate Joseph Broadley, another youngster with a good national ranking, 3-0 in the Under-17 final.

Elsewhere, it was a maiden county championship for Penrith’s Matthew Davidson who won the title despite it being the first time the youngster had entered the competition. He fended off Wigton’s Zak Leathers in the final to win 3-0.

The youngest two age categories belonged to west Cumbria.

Josh Tang, representing Workington and Whitehaven, was the Under-13 county champion, pipping Carlisle’s Nathan Sellers in the final.

Josh, who had been playing at number one for Cumbria’s Under-13 inter-county team, beat his team-mate 3-1. Nathan had taken a 1-0 lead in the final but Josh ultimately proved too strong.

Another debutant won a championship with Liam White, who plays out of Workington and Windscale squash club’s, beating Carlisle’s Ollie Pritchard in the Under-11 final.

A Cumbria Squash spokesman said: “It was a thrilling day of squash which was exemplified with the stunning display put on by Keane and James in the Under-19 final.

“The pair, along with many other of the players over the course of the championships, showed what an excellent standard our junior players are competing at now.”

A special award is given out each year at the championships in memory of ex-county player Matthew Allison from Wigton.

Matthew died as a teenager about 13 years ago and the award is given to a youngster who shows determination and enthusiasm throughout the competition. This year it went to Tang.

Meanwhile, the county’s senior players are gearing up for their version of the championships.

The competition begins tomorrow at Carlisle with reigning champion Paul Bell favourite to win back his crown for an 11th straight time.

He’ll need to fend off a challenge from Whitehaven’s Mike Lowrey, who played Bell in the final last year.