Warwickshire Men’s Over 35s Battle It Out at County Cup

Based on reports by Tom Barton

Warwickshire Men’s Over 35s battled through three competitive days of LTA County Cup action, finishing their campaign with one win and two defeats

Competing in Men’s Group 1, the Warwickshire team featured Captain Tom Barton, Will Bramley, Simon Ferguson, Stuart Maidment and James Taylor.

Day One: Derbyshire 3–2 Warwickshire

Warwickshire opened their campaign with an incredibly close encounter against Derbyshire.

James Taylor got the Bears off to the perfect start with a 6-1, 6-4 singles victory over Daniel Cottier. Derbyshire levelled the tie when Thomas Rushby defeated Simon Ferguson 7-5, 6-4.

The doubles proved equally competitive. Will Bramley and Stuart Maidment pushed Chris Archer and James Rushby to a deciding match tie-break before narrowly losing 7-5, 3-6, 10-6.

Derbyshire secured their third rubber to take the overall tie, but Warwickshire finished strongly as Tom Barton and Simon Ferguson combined for an impressive 6-4, 6-2 victory.

Despite actually winning more games across the day – 51 to Derbyshire’s 47 – Warwickshire narrowly lost the tie 3-2.

Day Two: Yorkshire 4–1 Warwickshire

A strong Yorkshire side provided another tough test on Day Two.

James Taylor took the opening set of his singles match against Joseph Gill before eventually losing 4-6, 6-0, 10-6.

Simon Ferguson then produced one of Warwickshire’s standout performances of the weekend, recording an emphatic 6-2, 6-0 victory over James Ickringill.

Warwickshire continued to battle hard throughout the doubles, with Tom Barton and Stuart Maidment taking Michael Tolman and Ben Walker to a deciding match tie-break. However, Yorkshire proved too strong overall and secured a 4-1 victory.

Day Three: Warwickshire 3–2 South Wales

Warwickshire saved their victory for the final day, overcoming South Wales 3-2 to finish the weekend on a high.

After South Wales won the opening singles rubber, Simon Ferguson produced another determined performance. After exchanging one-sided sets with Craig Evans, Ferguson held his nerve in a dramatic match tie-break to win 6-1, 0-6, 11-9.

South Wales moved back ahead in the first doubles, leaving Warwickshire needing a response.

Once again, Tom Barton and Simon Ferguson delivered, continuing their excellent partnership with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 victory over Craig Ingham and Christopher Lewis.

That levelled the tie at 2-2 before South Wales conceded the final rubber, giving Will Bramley and Stuart Maidment the deciding point and Warwickshire a 3-2 victory.

Fine Margins in Men’s Group 1

Warwickshire finished the three days with a record of one win and two defeats, but the overall results did not tell the full story of a weekend decided by some extremely fine margins.

Captain Tom Barton reflected:

“We knew Thursday evening that it was going to be a tightly fought weekend and it came down to that. A close loss on Day 1 could have easily been a Bears win to set up a totally different weekend.”

Tie-breaks proved particularly significant across the three days.

“We lost five out of six tie-breaks, which if we win two or three of them means we may well have been champions! The fact that our game percentage was better than others shows how close our matches were over the weekend.”

Despite the disappointment of the overall outcome, Barton praised the commitment shown by the Warwickshire team.

“I can’t fault the effort the lads showed over the weekend, and we await next year’s draw and team selection to get back into Division 1.”

A battling weekend from the Bears, with the victory over South Wales providing a positive finish to three days of highly competitive County Cup tennis.

To view the full results click here