Eight Teams were in attendance at this 18&Under County Cup venue – South Wales, South Scotland, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Channel Islands, Northumberland and Devon.
The “pride of the Southwest” were in Group 6A with Channel Islands, Northumberland and South Scotland.
The Team: Pierce Widdecombe (Millfield School), Ben Greatrex (Torquay), Matt Rutter (Exeter Tennis Centre), Joel Greatrex (Torquay), Sam Hopper (Nuffield, Plymouth), Ryan Andrews (Tarka), Max Robinson (Torquay), Jake Upsher (Exeter Tennis Centre)
Upon arrival on Thursday it was obvious they were focused and “up for it” as they all played well during the evening practice session before returning to the hotel for dinner, distribution of the “wicked” new County Tracksuits (Thanks, Pro Direct) and an early night.
DAY 1
During breakfast on Friday morning the starting line-up was announced and the team were eager to be at the venue by 8AM ready for a 9.30AM start. Ryan Andrews and Sam Hopper were first up to face the Channel Islands who are renowned for having a strong team as the men found out this year, but, it was clear that revenge would be sweet. Both boys dispatched of their opponents comfortably as did Joel Greatrex and Matt Rutter. Ben Greatrex won his match in under 45mins and then Captain, Pierce Widdecombe stepped up to close out the singles with another victory. The doubles pairings of Matt Rutter/Jake Upsher, Max Robinson/Ben Greatrex and Pierce Widdecombe/Joel Greatrex worked well and they all won their matches. Dinner at Nando’s was followed by another early night.
9-0 what a great start!!!
DAY 2
The Team were at the centre early again ready for action. South Scotland were very vocal and “ready to rumble”. Our team quietly got on with it in a professional and efficient manner with Ryan and Sam winning comfortably. As they left the court and walked up the stairs to the viewing gallery the Referee approached Rhys and said, “I think they played the wrong opponents,” I laughed because I have never seen this happen before and thought he was joking – but unfortunately he wasn’t so it was decided they would have to play again at the end of the day against the correct opponents. Joel Greatrex and Matt Rutter were up next. Joel had a fight on his hands but Matt won 6-0 6-0 in 32 minutes. Ben and won easily and eventually Joel got the job done. Pierce dispatched of their number 1 with the loss of only 1 game. Ryan and Matt then went on again and both won their second singles of the day in straight sets. The doubles wins were a foregone conclusion. We then went to Pizza Hut for dinner, returned to the hotel for a team meeting and it was lights out by 9.30PM.
9-0 again !!!
DAY 3
Playing for promotion. As we ate breakfast there was a different “vibe” from the team it was clearly apparent that they were a bit nervous…..Rhys and I didn’t say anything, we let them all deal with it in their own way - we had said all we needed to say in the meeting the night before. On arrival at the tennis centre they seemed a bit sluggish so when Max Robinson and Joel Greatrex started playing football on the practice court we let them get on with it. Within 2 minutes the whole team had joined in and they were all laughing and starting to relax. Proceedings started, the home team Northumberland had strong support and were up for a fight. Ryan and Sam were first up again, they both showed true grit and won in 3 sets. Joel Greatrex also went to 3 sets and then Matt Rutter entered the arena to put on a brilliant performance and after being 4-0 down in the second set won 6-3,7-5. Ben then had an epic battle and won in 3 set’s and Pierce closed it out 7-5,6-2. Northumberland had a very strong, confident team but it wasn’t strong enough !!!.….at 6-0 it was agreed by both teams to call it a day and the presentation was made.
The referee said that he had never had a Team win a group without losing a single match before and all the other court officials agreed. I’ve been attending County Cup (Junior and Senior as player and coach) for about 30 years and I haven’t seen this before either – this was a great achievement from Devon.
Rhys and I would like to thank the Team for their professionalism and fighting spirit, we are very proud of them - they are warriors !!!
