14U Boys County Cup

Captains Report- written by Collen Mhlanga and Harry Malone

Captain - Collen Mhlanga

Assistant- Harry Malone

James Lea

Sam Atcheson

Lionel Zhang

Tin Ching Jeremy Man

Natan Luras

George Keating

Results

Vs East of Scotland 2-4

Vs Durham & Cleveland 4-2

Vs Cambridgeshire 3-3, won overall

To view the results please click here

After a completely uneventful, relaxing week leading up to the trip, the boys boarded the train to Edinburgh on Friday afternoon raring to go! When they arrived at the hotel, they had a quick dinner (especially quick for some, do they get fed at home?!), and then went up to their rooms for a nice early night ready to start play the following day. We had the morning off according to the schedule of play, which was no bad thing as some of the boys had been playing volley to volley in their rooms into the early hours!

Once we got to the club, we were allowed to practice on the (slightly dilapidated) stadium court, a nice treat before our tie with East Scotland, one of the strongest teams in the competition. We started with singles; Jeremy (4) went a set down but fought back brilliantly to take it to a match tie break, unfortunately losing out 10-6. Lionel (3) followed suit, going down a set but winning the second, and losing out in the tie break. 0-2. Sam (2) lost out against an East Scotland player who refused to miss, although the score didn’t reflect how close the game was. James (1) came through with a brilliant number 1 performance, leading from the front to put our first point on the board with a tie break win. With the score at 1-3 after singles, we went into the doubles needing both pairs to win to force a crucial shootout; we came so close. Jeremy and George (2) teamed up for the first of their (spoiler alert) 3 doubles wins this weekend, recovering from losing the 2nd set to blitz the East Scotland pair 10-2 in the tie break. James and Sam (1) came within 1 point of taking it to the shootout, but lost a sickener 9-11. They played really smart doubles and were a whisker away from getting us over the line. A 2-4 defeat.

Due to the journey south we would have to embark on the following day, Collen successfully petitioned the referee to let us play our singles matches against Durham and Cleveland on Saturday evening. Natan (3) kicked us off with a really comfortable 4-0 4-1 win, before George (4) completed an amazing comeback, having lost the first set 4-1, taking the match tie break for his first singles win. Lionel (2) and James (1) both lost out in their singles against tough opponents, meaning we finished Saturday at 2-2, with doubles to come Sunday morning.

The boys’ reward for their efforts was a team bonding trip to Nando’s. After some over-ordering, a couple of players (who shall remain nameless) made us all wait to leave while they finished off their sharing wing platter, having already eaten their own individual meals. Full, we retired back to the Holiday Inn to get some rest before Sunday’s exertions.

We had an earlier start on Sunday, so we made our way to the club after breakfast to play our doubles against Durham and Cleveland. The boys really shone in doubles this weekend, and particularly in this tie, where they completed a 4-2 victory with a pair of comprehensive wins. Jeremy and George (2) continued their fine form, winning 4-0 4-3(6), while James and Sam (1) triumphed 4-0 4-2. With 1 win and 1 defeat, we came 2nd in our group, meaning we would match up against Cambridgeshire in the 3rd/4th place playoff.

George (4) continued a superb county cup debut with a stunning 4-0 4-1 victory in the opening singles; he played with intensity and never let his opponent into the match, a brilliant win. Natan (3) struggled against a strong Cambridgeshire 3rd seed, and was defeated. Lionel (2) suffered the same fate, showing his competitive spirit but losing out. James (1) competed well, especially in the first set, but was unable to turn it around, meaning we ended the singles 3-1 down, needing 2 doubles wins just to take it to a shootout. Jeremy and George (2) once again battled to a thrilling win, taking the match tie break 10-4. James and Sam (1) won by an almost identical scoreline, meaning we needed a shootout. Our doubles was outstanding once again in these 2 matches, and was the difference between the 2 teams, a real credit to the work the boys put in at county training and beyond.

James and George teamed up for the shootout. More spoilers, but if you’ve read the rest of this report, then you’ll know that this weekend, if George is on the court, that means the Bears win. And so it proved. They stormed through the shootout, with George appropriately hitting the winning volley.

And so, we ended the weekend in 3rd place overall, a creditable placing; it could’ve been more but for a few points here and there, but the boys represented their county brilliantly and can be genuinely proud of their results. Their coaches were chuffed with them, especially their doubles and general team comradery; they supported each other in every match, and were a fun group to be around all weekend.

All that was left was the journey home; the train helpfully terminated in Derby, where the boys passed the time by playing tennis at the station (they obviously don’t have enough tennis in their lives), and they ended up getting back around 1am. The parents didn’t mind too much, as they killed time waiting with a bank holiday drink or 2.

Massive thanks to Alison and Tom for their logistical efforts in the week leading up to this trip. Similarly, thanks to Weiyi and Emmet for their help all weekend, particularly keeping the other parents at home up to date with scores, photos and videos.