LtoR: Dave Rawlinson (LTA Councillor), John Hilton (Capt), Seb Jackson, Adam Jones, Dave Porter, Matt Chadwick, James Keighley, Jordan McCulloch, Jonny Kinsella.
After experiencing promotion to Group 2 in the Winter Inter County Cup event in November 2015, the team produced another set of outstanding performances in Group 3 of County Week played at Frinton LTC, Essex last week.
The squad comprised of Seb Jackson, Jonny Kinsella, Dave Porter, Matt Chadwick, Nick Eeckelaers, Jordan McCulloch, Adam Jones & James Keighley, with Adam Jones playing in his first County Week.
Most of the matches involving all the 6 teams proved to be very close, with no one team dominating, which made for a very exciting event, and concluded with promotion and relegation not being resolved until the very last round of matches on Friday afternoon!
Cheshire’s first opponents were the North of Scotland. There was nothing between the teams with many of the matches going to 3 sets, and by the end of the day the score stood at 4 - 4 with Nick Eeckelaers & Dave Porter last on court playing the deciding rubber. The first two sets score stood at 6 – 7 (5), 7 - 5 and in the final set Nick was serving 5 – 6 down and facing 2 match points. Nick & Dave somehow found a way to save them both, and they then went on to win the deciding tie break 7 – 4. This was an important moral building first day victory and it proved to be a vital win when we looked back at all the results of the week.
We played newly promoted Lincolnshire next, and Cheshire got off to a flying start winning all the first round of matches to take a 3 – 0 lead. Whilst the next two round of matches were very close, Cheshire pairs managed to win some extremely close sets and rubbers to take the win with an impressive 7 – 2 scoreline.
Day 3 against Norfolk was virtually a repeat of our first day with so many close matches. An example, was losing one match 7 – 6 in the 3rd set yet winning another 6 – 4 in the 3rd set. After two rounds the score stood at 3 – 3, and unfortunately we lost two vital tie breaks in the 3rd round which meant Norfolk came out on top, so we suffered our first loss of the week 5 – 4.
The best teams often show how good they are by putting disappointment behind them and displaying great determination and resilience. Well, this was certainly the case when we played a strong Cambridgeshire team, who were one of the favourites for promotion. Cheshire were 2 – 1 up after the first round of matches, however, the match was in the balance by the end of the second round with the overall score standing at 3 – 3. Dave Porter & Nick Eeckelaers won convincingly to make the score 4 – 3, however, Jonny Kinsella & Matt Chadwick and Jordan McCulloch & Adam Jones were both involved in long 3 set matches which could have gone either way. Jonny & Matt ultimately proved too strong for their opponents winning 3 - 6, 6 - 1, 6 - 4, and to cap a perfect afternoon, Jordan McCulloch & Adam Jones saved a match point and then won a final set tie break 8 – 6! A final score of 6 – 3 looks like a straight forward win, but it was anything but routine and we could easily have lost 5 – 4.
Throughout the final day there was quite an atmosphere with all teams having something to play for. No quarter was given and this was typified by Berkshire who desperately needed to win to avoid relegation. The Cheshire team needed a win to be promoted as champions. After 2 rounds of very competitive (and vocal) tennis the match score stood at 4 – 2 for Cheshire, however, it soon became 4 – 3, with the final two matches going to 3 sets! Matt Chadwick & Jonny Kinsella completed a great week by winning 6 - 1 in the 3rd set, and taking us into an unassailable lead. CHESHIRE WHERE CHAMPIONS!!
It is very difficult to single out individual players when the success was very much a team effort, however, special mention should be made of Matt Chadwick & Jonny Kinsella who won an outstanding 13 out of 15 matches. Adam Jones rose to the occasion and stood up to everything that was thrown at him by much more experienced opponents. Seb Jackson proved yet again that age is only a number, and special thanks to Jordan McCulloch who arrived at Frinton via Serbia (member of the Stirling Barmy Army!) and won some vital matches.
Group 2 here we come!
John Hilton
Captain