Whether you were in Bristol with the boys or Wootten Bassett with the girls, the end result was eerily similar; a loss to Avon in the regional final!
The boys team, captained by Liam Storey (pictured) and Derek Blackmore, of Jed Platts, Dan Mountford, Matt Rutter, Ben Johnson & Zac Brown knew that Avon were likely to be their strongest opponents in the regional event and so it proved. Day one started with an easy win over Cornwall 4-0 and then the boys faced Avon. Despite a great effort by the team, Ben Johnson had the only Devon win taking the match against Jay Darvay 10-7 in the championship tie-break, so a 1-3 loss.
Day 2 semi fnal against box B winner Wiltshire and all to play for! The boys put in a strong performance to win 4-0 and this brought them up against Avon once more in the final. Again Avon were just that bit too strong. Ben again took Jay Darvay to a match tie-break but this time it went Avon's way, but only just, 10-12! Avon went on to be runners up in the national finals.
Liam said, " it was a good overall team performance and great team support for each other from the players." See results
The County bids farewell to Jed Platts and his younger brother Milo who are moving away later this summer. We would like to wish them good luck for the future and thanks for supporting Devon tennis for all these years!
The girls team of Jess Hill, Issy Rutter & Grace Kellett, had been affected by injuries and were not sure how the weekend would go but the great start they had with an 4-0 win over Cornwall gave them a boost. Again Avon were the strongest team on paper and were too much for the Devon girls though Jess & Issy made them work for the doubles rubber.
On day 2 the girls had Box B winners Somerset in the semi final and played really well to win 3-1 which set them up with Avon again in the final. This was a repeat of the box match with Avon winning 4-0 and taking the regional title.
Team captain Kevin Davis and coach Natalie Hatton were pleased with the girls performance and said, "making the final was a great result for the team and an especial congratulations to Grace Kellett on her County Cup debut and winning her first Cup match".
See results