Cumbria Men’s Over 65s team comprising three players from the South Lakes area, have just completed a highly successful campaign in the Seniors Inter - County Championships. The three players all play in the Kendal and District Tennis League – John Bell, captain (North Lonsdale), Peter Helme (Coniston), and Graham Honeybone (Heversham), with the fourth member, Roger Ridley who plays in Carlisle.
The team, which has been together for many years, finished second in the Inter – County League Division 2 and will now be promoted to Division 1 to play the top counties in the country. It is the second time in the last three years that the Cumbrian team has earned promotion to the top division
The team completed their final fixture of five on Sunday with a 3 – 2 win against Warwickshire. The match was played in the luxurious setting of the Edgbaston Priory Club in Birmingham which hosts one of the major pre-Wimbledon grass court tournaments and boasts 32 tennis courts of various surfaces – facilities that tennis players in Cumbria can only dream about.
The match with Warwickshire was a hard-fought battle throughout with Bell and Helme both winning their singles matches in straight sets to set up the victory. All three doubles matches went to deciding Champion’s tie-breaks with Ridley and Honeybone winning their crucial second doubles match to give the team a narrow victory.
In previous matches, the Cumbrian team recorded home wins over Lincolnshire 3 – 2, Somerset 4 – 1, and an away win at Leicestershire 3 – 2. The only loss was to Hertfordshire 2 – 3 who completed the campaign with five victories to Cumbria’s four. Both teams will now be promoted to Division 1.