Cambs 18U Boys County Cup Report:
Team: Ben Clark, Dom Lea, Tom Hands, Charlie James, John Taylor, Chad Richards, CJ Kindred, Alex Loughlan
Group 2a - Cambridge!
The under 18 Cambridgeshire boys team were in for a tough weekend against the strong teams of Kent, Hertfordshire and Middlesex. After a well fought 3 days the boys just fell short and were relegated to the 3rd division. In a group of this level this was no disgrace and the boys went down fighting.
Kent - L 6-3
Day 1 saw the Cambridgeshire team play Kent. A very loud matchup, with the Kent boys very vocal in support and at times pushing the line of support respect. The day started with CJ and Chad battling hard but just coming up short, both in 3 sets. A fine performance from the youngest in the team Charlie James was not quite enough to get though at number 4 going down 7-5, 6-2. Tom Hands and Ben Clark brought 2 rubbers in close matches to Cambs, and an Injured Dom Lea didn't have enough on the day against the Kent number 2. So after the singles it was 4-2 to Kent. The doubles matches were close in 2. Tom and Chad winning in a championship tiebreak, Ben and CJ losing their Championship Tiebreak. In the final doubles John Taylor and Dom showed some good doubles skills but were not quite good enough against the more experienced Kent first pair. Final result 6-3 to Kent. Cambs had their chances and on another day with the 3 setters going the other way, it could have been a different result.
Hertfordshire - L 7-2
Day 2 was against eventual group winners Hertfordshire. A very strong team throughout their order, CJ, Chad, John and Charlie all going down in straight sets to the opposite numbers. The 2 victories of the day were won by Tom and Ben in their singles. Tom in another 3 set match, Ben with a more convincing 6-4, 6-0. Into the doubles and more close matches. John and Alex Loughlan having a close fought match just losing out 7-5, 7-6. Tom Hands and Charlie James losing 12-10 in the Championship tiebreak, and Ben and CJ losing 6-3 6-4.
Middlesex - L 6-1
Ben Clark made it 3 singles wins out of 3 with a long and tough match winning 6-7 7-6 6-4. Aside from that and a very hard battling match from CJ where he just lost 7-6 in the 3rd set, Middlesex were just to strong and at 6-1 all was decided so the last 2 doubles were not played. Over all the boys played well and tried their best, on another day they could have potentially stayed in division 2 if some of the close matches had gone the other way, but was not to be.