Essex Boys Under 18 team have retained their Division 3 status in a very strong group 3b that included Cambridgeshire, Lancashire, and West of Scotland sides.
Pictured: The Essex Boys U18 County Cup Team
The squad consisting of Rittik Anand, Will Butler, James Caddies, Alex Groves, Cameron Isbell, Edward Pudney, Tommy Smalley and Steven Zahui assembled on Thursday morning in order to make the long journey to Liverpool Tennis Centre the venue for the competition.
Our first test was against a strong Lancashire side and despite the best efforts of Will Butler we were soon 1-0 down. Tommy Smalley and Rittik Anand were both involved in long three set matches with Tommy eventually losing and Rittik pulling off a memorable win. There was some terrific performances from the young Essex team at the top of the order with both Alex Groves and Edward Pudney both winning a set against high quality older players however Essex went into the doubles 5-1 down. Despite the tie being lost there were excellent performances from Rittik and Tommy playing at three and James Caddies and Alex Groves playing at two with both pairs eventually losing in third set tie break shoot outs. With Will Butler and Edward Pudney also losing at one the final score was an 8-1 defeat although the odd point going the other way would have made the score line much closer.
Day two and the opposition was the West of Scotland who were fresh from a 9-0 demolition of Cambridgeshire the day before. Things went similarly to day one with a high quality older team exerting its authority over Essex. Our players fought hard but only Rittik was able to win with another superb effort. Alex Groves came very close losing a long three set struggle and Cameron Isbell made an impressive U18 County Cup debut narrowly losing the second string doubles with Edward Pudney 11-9 in the third set tie break against a pair that included the very strong West Of Scotland number one Aidan Mchugh.
Day three saw us playing Cambridgeshire in what was a straight relegation play off. The match was played with total commitment by both teams in a highly charged atmosphere that was sustained throughout the tie. Will Butler playing at four raised his game but was unable to see off the challenge of Joshua Wilson and went down 6-4, 6-4, to give Cambridgeshire an early lead. Things were soon looking better for Essex when the on form Rittik Anand levelled the tie with his third singles win, a remarkable performance for such a young player. Essex were soon in front when young Cameron Isbell showed true Essex grit to pull off a memorable 6-4, 7-6 win on his singles debut against the difficult John Taylor. As so often happen’s the advantage swung round again when Alex Groves playing at three and Ed Pudney playing at one both lost exciting three set matches. It was left to the experienced James Caddies to raise his game and produce his best singles performance of the event to level the tie at 3-3 after a long three set battle with Dominic Lea. Everything now depended on the doubles and Essex were given some breathing space when Tommy Smalley and Rittik Anand defeated the Cambridgeshire third pair 7-5, 6-2 with Tommy in impressive form and striking the ball beautifully and ably assisted by Rittik. Things were now down to the top two Essex pairs and these matches were played side by side to enthusiastic support. James Caddies and the young Alex Groves playing at first pair were quick out of the blocks to win the first set 6-1 and were than pegged back as the opposition took the match to a deciding third set match tie break winning the second set 6-4. The Essex boys rose to the challenge and dominated to win 10-4 and leave the team’s divisional status safe. At this point Isbell and Pudney’s opponents conceded with the Essex pair in a commanding 6-3, 5-2 lead having played almost faultlessly giving Essex a 6-3 victory overall.
This was a very young side that performed remarkably well under a great deal of pressure and it seems that the County can look forward to the future in this age group with considerable optimism.
Finally thanks to my Vice Captain Luke Spooner and to senior selector Graham Ray, who was present on both Saturday and Sunday, for your constant support.
Will Calvert – 2016 Essex Boy’s U18 Junior County Cup Captain