After winning their Qualifying Group on 1st/2nd June they earned their right to be in the Finals. Essex finally finished in third place after playing with great determination and a fantastic team spirit. Well done to all and a huge thank you to all the parents for their support.
Read the full report below from the Team Captain:
Essex Boys U10 County Cup 2013 National Finals
The Essex boys had a successful weekend.
There were eight counties that qualified into the National Finals, with Essex up against Hertfordshire, Avon and Warwickshire.
On Saturday morning we started practicing at 845am and continued through until 820pm - what a day!!. Essex boys(Singles- Johnny Price, Ben Rowe and Gabriel Currelli) played Warwickshire first and after the singles were 2-1 down. Johnny Price and Ben Rowe won their doubles, which meant at 2 matches a piece they had to play a shootout. Essex won 10-8!!
Saturday afternoon Essex(Singles- Johnny Price, Ben Rowe and Ben Stanford) played Avon and after the singles Essex were 2-1 up. Johnny and Ben won the first set playing some fantastic doubles but after a few tired games they found themselves losing the match in a 3rd set tiebreak. Again, Essex at 2 matches a piece had to play a shootout. As captain, I decided to rest Ben Rowe and put on a fresh pair of legs, Gabriel Curreli. After Johnny and Gabriel's nerves had calmed down they showed great courage and self belief winning the match 10-8. Thanks to the lively support Essex had a fantastic day!!
Sunday morning they woke up very tired and subsequently lost the first 2 singles to Hertfordshire. Essex boys (Singles- Johnny Price, Ben Rowe and Ben Stanford) needed Ben Stanford to win his singles match to qualify for the doubles. Ben played some great tennis but unfortunately lost in a very tight match. Hertfordshire 3 Essex 0 lead us into the 3rd/4th playoff. Our final match against Cheshire (Singles- Johnny Price, Gabriel Curreli and Ben Stanford) was a success, winning 2 out of the 3 singles. Johnny Price and Ben Rowe fort very hard to win the doubles in a 3rd set tiebreak. The players should be very proud of themselves finishing 3rd in the country. I would like to say how much I have enjoyed the weekend. The boys desire and team spirit was fantastic and the added support from parents made it a pleasure to be captain.
Tom Higgins