For the young 12 & Under boys team of Robert Leck, Erik Wilson, Matthew Morrish and Callum Wade, qualification from the regional stage was always going to represent a big challenge. Nonetheless, the boys competed well and came extremely close to winning.
The boys’ first match was against Cornwall, on paper the weakest team at the event but the Cornish boys were highly motivated. Dan Ogden took a set off Robert Leck before Robert asserted his authority, and Finn Leverton produced one of his best ever performances to beat Matthew Morrish. Erik Wilson was untroubled by Kieron Butter, which left Devon just needing the doubles for the win. Robert and Erik then teamed up to cruise past Ogden and Leverton, and Devon's campaign was underway.
The second group match was against a strong Somerset team. At number one, Robert Leck was edged out 4-2,4-2 by the higher-rated Henry Hall in a close battle. The number two players produced the best tennis in a fluctuating battle between Erik Wilson and James Mitchell. James had five match points, which Erik showed a lot of determination to save, before Erik held two of his own in the tie-break. However, James managed to save these and edged to a narrow victory. Callum Wade showed a lot of skill to reach set point in the first set against Corey Nicolls, but could not close it out and Corey eased away in the second. With this match lost, Devon were second in their group and had to play the winners of the other group, Avon, in the semi-finals.
The semi-final began with Robert Leck against the player of the weekend, Jimmy Hardiman. Robert was untouchably good in spells, but could not sustain this level against the relentless Hardiman, and slipped to a very tight 4-2,4-2 defeat. Erik Wilson was unfortunate to meet a player right at the top of his game in Henry Mullen and could do little to stop him winning in straight sets. However Matthew Morrish stepped up to the plate against the powerful Kristian Newman and ground him down in familiar style. This set up a fascinating doubles match between Leck & Wilson and Hardiman & Mullen.
A tight first set went to the Avon boys 5-3, but the Devon players kept focused, with Robert's solid volleying complemented by Erik's determined baseline play and took the second by the same score. Robert and Erik dominated the tie-break to take the match and force the tie into a shoot-out. The shoot-out started badly for Devon, as they went 8-3 down. They showed their usual calmness and determination to pull it back to 9-8 down, but lost a tense final rally to go down 10-8. Devon were three points from beating the team who went on to win the event and reach the national final.
The Devon boys put the disappointment of the semi-final behind them in time for the third-place play-off against a strong Dorset team. Robert Leck dominated the higher-rated Piers Farhang with his trademark power-hitting to win 4-2,4-0. Erik Wilson withstood a fightback from Elliot Dawson to close out a straight sets victory. Finally, Matthew Morrish was too solid for Scott Jordan, and third place had been clinched.
Overall, the boys showed great team spirit, and everyone contributed to a strong performance. Next year they plan to show what they can do on the national stage again!