Boys U14 County Cup Report 2013
Buckinghamshire Boys U14 County Cup team were drawn to compete against following
Counties from the 4th -6th May.
Northamptonshire (Saturday)
Oxfordshire (Sunday)
Kent ( Monday)
The team consisting of players
Jack Molloy
Michael Shaw
Oscar Glenister
Jake Williams
Theo Kontos
The team got off to a great start our number's 3 & 4 singles player's wining respectively :
Jake Williams ( no4) beat (no4) Henry Masters 6-0 6-1. This was a true reflection of the match with Jake proving both more consistent and more experienced tactically winning comfortably.
Oscar Glenister (no 3) beat (no 3) Sam Smith 6-4 6-3. This was a hard fought match, Oscar greater patience and resilience paid dividends.
Michael Shaw (no2) beat (no2) Cameron Yuill 6-4 6-3
This was a real tussle between players who were having long rallies in windy conditions! Michael was more aggressive on the bigger points and showed great defence qualities.
Jack Molloy (no1) lost Joe Tyler 4-6 1-6
In this match Jack allowed his opponent to get the psychological edge towards the end of the 1st set where Joe thought Jack had started his service action when the wind started to gust strongly and he decided to catch the ball once again. The referee was called on to settle the dispute and they replayed the point although this enough to unsettle him and he then went to lose this game and set. In the 2nd Joe was solid throughout and Jack was forcing the issue often missing the final ball at the net on the short ball. He just needed to back himself more.
Nevertheless we comfortably won both doubles matches with Jake Williams & Oscar Glenister partnering up to beat Smith & Masters 6-4 6-2 and Jack Molloy & Michael Shaw then went to win a close and quality doubles match 7-6 (4) 6-2
A great start Bucks beats Northamptonshire by 5-1!!
We also started our 2nd match against Oxfordshire on the Saturday due to the fact we playing the event on 4 courts with 6 teams!
Once again we go off to a great start when 2nd pair Jake Williams & Oscar Glenister won comfortably against Sam Heath & Isaac Parsons 6-1 6-1.
1st pair Jack Molloy & Michael Shaw had a much tougher battle after a sluggish start and then despite having served for the 1st set at 5-4 up they went on to lose it 5-7. The 2nd set was much better with both players committing to be more aggressive and looking to take control of the net. They came through 6-0! The boys got to nervous start in the championship tiebreak going 5-1 down before storming back to take it 10-7! Their opponents were Harrison Ridge & Tobias Ryan.
Day 2 was just a question of maintaining the momentum and keeping the focus with boys playing only their respective singles matches against Oxfordshire.
County Cup debutante Theo Kontos played at no4 playing Tobias Ryan unfortunately the occasion got the better of him losing 3-6 4-6. Although Theo fought hard in both sets from being 5-1 down in each.
Oscar Glenister (no3) once again played a solid match winning easily 6-2 6-0 against Sam Heath.
Michael Shaw was next up at No2 and put a strong performance to dominate his opponent Cameron Price 6-2 6-0.
Jack Molloy (no1) finished the job with an impressive win against Harrison Ridge winning 6-1 6-1.
The conclusion after 2 days Buckinghamshire wins 2 matches 5-1 & 5-1 against Northamptonshire & Oxfordshire !
The final was the decider whether Buckinghamshire went through to the National Finals! Our opponents and nemesis Kent! At last year's event we faced the same opposition to try reach the finals and we fell at the last hurdle!
Could we do it this year?
Unfortunately no!
They proved to be too strong and older and taller than our vertically challenged team! Their lowest rated player was a 4.2 compared to our no4 equivalent at 5.2.
The results were as follows:
Jake Williams lost to Jonah Smith 2-6 2-6 ( too consistent and played more aggressively )
Oscar Glenister lost to Matthew Summers 6-7 (5) 3-6 ( Oscar excellent spirited performance against who just better on the bigger points.)
Michael Shaw lost to Nicholas Brookes 1-6 2-6 ( his opponent hit through Michael and had bigger weapons).
Jack Molloy lost to James Davies 2-6 0-6 ( again this was a fair reflection as his opponent hit through and past Jack).
In summary the boys showed great team spirit and commitment to the cause and only lost a the final stage to bigger an stronger players.
It was a pleasure to take them away.
Phil Hill - 14U Bucks Boys Captain