Bucks took a strong team to the under 9 county cup on 16th July 2011: Ben Smith, Matthew Blood, Dylan Smith, Lara Hill, Darcey Roe and Hannah Krasner. The players were highly motivated to do well despite being given a tough opening tie against Herts.
The boys got off to a flying start with 3 wins, cancelling out the girls subsequent defeats, although all 6 singles rubbers were very close. The players were then to come up against a very good Essex team in the second fixture which resulted in just one victory - for Dylan.
This merely served to stir the team, who were beginning to play their best tennis of the day. Dylan was in inspired form on his county debut, winning his next match against Berkshire. With further wins here for Matthew, Lara and Hannah, Bucks were strongly placed going into their singles matches against Oxfordshire.
Ben then played his best match on the day, with a terrific straight sets win against top national player Connor Ferguson - saving 5 set points in the process. Darcey was growing in confidence and managed to win her first singles match, to go with victories for all the other Bucks players, and thus a clean sweep in the singles.
The doubles rubbers would be crucial if Bucks were to prevail in the undecided fixtures; possibly giving them a chance of overall victory. Dylan and Hannah lost a hard-fought mixed doubles against Herts that looked to prove decisive, until great play by both Lara and Darcey and Ben and Matthew stole the tie 5-4.
With the Essex tie already beyond Bucks, it was an opportunity to establish good partnerships for the remaining matches, so Ben and Matthew's win here offered signs of encouragement.
Hannah and Dylan came very close to recording their first win together, with both displaying excellent net play. However their unlucky 3 sets defeat failed to stop Bucks defeating Berkshire, as the strong serving team of Ben and Matthew proved too strong once more.
Darcey and Hannah were gradually coming into their own as a pair, after unfortunately so far being unable to produce the wins their dynamic performances meritted. However, they were finally rewarded with an emphatic win against the Oxfordshire pair to put further gloss on a near whitewash in the tie.
The win meant Bucks finished a highly creditable 2nd place, with only runaway winners Essex above them in the final standings. Great credit must go to the players, many of whom had played very little doubles before, but were able to produce performances that bode extremely well for future county events.
Tom Edis
U9 Team Manager