Sunday 18th September 2016
Once again the destiny of the Monkhouse Shield was decided by a tense tie-break. Last year it was in the girls final, this year it was the turn of the boys to provide the climax to a long day of tennis. Alderley Edge boys had lost narrowly to Lymm boys in the group stage with the matches between both pairs ending 5-3 in favour of Lymm. In the final it was even closer with both matches ending up 4-4. This meant that one player from each pair contested a seven point tie-break. Alderley Edge had the first championship point at 6-5 but could not convert it. Lymm then had their own championship point at 7-6 before Alderley Edge clinched it to win 9-7.
It was a fitting end to a gloriously sunny day at Congleton contested by 8 boys teams and 9 girls teams from clubs from all parts of Cheshire. The competition is played on one day with teams playing in groups in the morning to decide positions in 2 divisions in the afternoon. The matches between the teams are short and sharp; the no 1 pairs play 8 games against each other and the no 2 pairs do the same. The games are no ad scoring. We count the total number of games won by each team.
Lymm boys had beaten Heswall in the semi-final of division 1 and Alderley Edge had beaten the boys from Hoole in the other semi-final. Ellesmere Port boys won the division 2 final where they played Congleton boys. Stockton Heath beat Thorndale boys in the 3/4th place play-off in Division 2.
The girls from Widnes Tennis Academy met the girls from Birchwood in the girls division 1 final. Widnes went one better than last year to win the Monkhouse Shield in a well contested final. Neston beat Heswall in the 3/4th play off and Bramhall Lane beat Lymm in the 5/6th place play off. Ellesmere Port girls won division 2 with Hoole in second place and Thorndale 3rd.
The final results can be found here
Barbara Newnes from Cheshire County LTA thanked all the competitors for their fair play; the Congleton club for hosting the event; John Doe, Marion Doe and Anthony Wilding for organising the tournament; June Bowyer, Lindsay Newton and Emma Walton for the catering; and Monkhouse Sports for their sponsorship. The trophies were presented by Alex Burton, President of Congleton LTC.