The Derbyshire 12&U Boy's team put in an outstanding performance to get unbelievably close to national glory in the final of the AEGON County Cup this weekend.
The team had qualified for the finals at Bolton Arena, after winning the regional qualifying round two weeks ago, and headed for the final with a full strength team and confidence high.
Saturday morning saw the group matches and in the first match Derbyshire faced strong opponents from Middlesex. Bradley Buckland gave Derbyshire a winning start with a 5-4, 4-0 victory before Harry Finney made it 2-0. Reuben Shahidullah was then defeated and the boys also lost the doubles rubber. So it went to a tie break shoot and the boys held their nerve for a 5-4 overall victory.
Hertfordshire were next up and Bradley, Harry and Reuben all won their singles matches to put Derbyshire 3-0 up and guarantee a place in the semi final. The doubles was also secured to give Derbyshire a comfortable 8-0 victory.
The final group match on Sunday morning saw the team face local rivals Warwickshire. Bradley suffered his first defeat of the weekend in a third set tie break, but Harry and Reuben won their singles and victory in the doubles secured the team an 6-2 win.
So the final. Derbyshire faced a very strong team from Kent, one of the biggest and most successful counties in British Tennis. The team got off to a great start when Bradley beat a highly rated opponent in a third set match tie break, and Harry then followed it up with a solid victory. Derbyshire were now only one victory away from being national champions! In the third rubber Reuben turned his ankle and agonisingly lost on a third set match tie break. Bradley and Harry lost a close doubles so the title went to a tie break shoot out. The Kent players held their nerve admirably and secured an extremely hard fought victory.
The Derbyshire team had come unbelievably close to securing a first national county cup title. The team, including fourth player Ellis Corbett were an absolute credit to Derbyshire and displayed fantastic team spirit throughout the event. After such a fantastic effort, the future looks bright for Derbyshire.