Team- Dan Fella(c), Josh White, Guy Thomas, Julian Page, Will Bannister, Nick Edwards, Francis Hazelwood, Mike Cook
Hopes were high going into this year’s event as there was a good mixture of younger and older players.
Monday versus Northamptonshire 6-3 Loss
It all started well with Avon winning the first rubber through Josh White and Guy Thomas and it almost looked like we win a second rubber when Dan Fella and Will Bannister were two points from victory. However it was not to be and Avon ended up 2-1 down after the first round.
Unfortunately it was the same story in the second and third round with Dan and Will unable to close out their matches.
Tuesday versus Cumbria 6-3 Loss
Knowing Northants were the strongest in the division hopes were high against Cumbria but this soon changed once we were 2-1 down again, the only highlights for us were Josh and Guy extending their unbeaten run to six matches and Mike Cook and Fran Hazelwood almost getting the better of Cumbria’s second pair.
Wednesday versus Staffordshire 5-4 Loss
Knowing that we needed to win to stay in the promotional hunt we were propelled to a 2-1 lead through our top pair of Guy and Josh who won their first round along with Dan Fella and Nick Edwards, the only downer was Julian Page who had to serve the rest of the week under arm after an arm injury on the Monday and Will Bannister were pipped by Staffs first pair 7-5 in the third.
Unfortunately in the second round only Josh and Guy could continue their winning streak and so it was into the third round tied at 3-3.
The round definitely did not disappoint anyone except us, as our unbeaten duo suffered their first and as it turns out only defeat of the week to the also unbeaten Staffs first pair, Bannister and Page scrapped hard and came through on top, but again two points away from victory Avon lost the deciding rubber in three sets through Dan and Nick.
Thursday versus Shropshire 6-3 Win
With nothing to lose and playing opponents in a similar position Thursday was as expected an easier day, although we were made to work for the matches we won with all three pairs winning matches and although they had been beaten the day before Josh and Guy were unbeaten all day.
Friday versus South Of Scotland 9-0 Win
With Scotland only playing for pride as they sort for their second rubber of the week, we were too strong dispatching them quickly and painlessly for a comfortable win.
Although the week did not go completely to plan it was great to have one of our younger players Will Bannister with us who proved that he could play at this level.
I think it important to say well done to Julian Page who played through the week serving underarm due to injury who not only won several matches put served two underarm aces!
Special thanks to Nick Edwards for coming up last minute due to team injury his contribution was invaluable both on and off the court.
Finally congratulations to Guy Thomas and Josh White on winning 14 out of 15 rubbers which some of you may not think is that impressive in division 7. However it is important to remember that this isn’t like a football league where good players are transferred to the higher divisions, and they managed to beat some full time players, ex world ranked players and players that are playing at American Universities. They also had to play three matches a day in the blistering heat so fitness also plays a huge part.So again I would like to congratulate Guy and Josh on their fantastic achievement.
