Strong performances from Derbyshire's boys in the AEGON 12U County Cup underlined the promise of the county's up-and-coming players for sure.
Although The boys didn’t manage to qualify for the finals,they produced some superb performances to finish third in their group.
The boys competed against opponents from Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, with the girls also taking on Durham and Cleveland and the boys the Isle of Man.
Each fixture during the two-day tournament, which took place at the Graves Tennis Centre, in Sheffield, featured three singles and one doubles rubber.
The boys' team – comprising Bradley Buckland, Ellis Corbett, Harry Finney and Reuben Shahidullah – opened their accounts with a 3-0 win over Isle of Man in the round-robin section.
Buckland and Corbett did not drop a set, while Finney emerged triumphant following a match tie-break and the doubles were not required.
They followed this up with a 3-1 win over Cheshire – who also beat Isle of Man 3-0 – to top their group going into the knock-out stages.
We were 2-1 up going into the doubles match, following wins from Bradley and Reuben, and Bradley and Harry won the first set 4-0.
They then lost the second set 4-1 and found themselves down 9-3 in the match tie break but they went on to win it 11-9. It was amazing.
Derbyshire and second-placed Cheshire were joined in the knockout stages by Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The county then played Lancashire but, despite a 1-4, 4-0, 1-0(6) win by Buckland over opponent Joshua Taylor, they lost 3-1.
They followed this with another 3-1 win against Cheshire to take third.
Yorkshire and Lancashire were always going to be strong and it was then very much neck and neck between us and Cheshire.
So, to beat them twice – and, the second time, to take third place – was really good.
One of the boys, Christian Mills, was unavailable for play, which was a blow because we might have made the final with him as well.
But all four who played are among those who are coming through at the moment and will be able to play at the tournament again next year.One thing which made it difficult for all the teams was the fact the wind and rain were terrible.The boys were constantly coming on and off the courts.
Over all I’m excited about next years campaign with the same team.
Mike James, Team Captain