Team: Liam White, Maian Minnaar, Sammy Vrabtchev, Monty Graveney
The boys played the U12 County Cup event in Burnham-on-Sea. It was a very hot weekend and we knew it would be a challenge as all the other counties had strong teams. We started the county event by playing against Devon. Sammy and Maian were playing their singles first, playing at number 2 and 3 respectively. Both boys lost their matches so it was a fairly nervous start. They both lost their first sets fairly easily but after us having a chat and they changed their tactics, both of them improved in the second set. Maian took the second set 4-1 and Sammy just missed out in the tie-break. Unfortunately Maian lost in the tie-break so we went 2-0 down in the singles. We then had to reply on Liam winning for us to still be in with a chance. Liam had a very tough match against Morgan Hill, Devon’s number 1, who is a very good player. Liam played fantastically well to keep Gloucestershire in the game, and won the match 4-0, 5-3.
The boys were confident about their doubles match and they knew we had to win to keep in the game. Liam and Sammy played a brilliant doubles match and won 4-2, 4-0, against two very good players. We were now 2-2 against Devon and the boys were incredibly determined to win the tie-break shoot out. After their amazing performance, I played the same two players for the tie-break shoot out. Liam and Sammy did the team proud once again, winning 10-6. The team were really proud and were confident about the rest of the County Cup.
The boys next challenge was against Cornwall. Liam played at number 1, Maian at number 2 and Monty at number 3. All three boys won their matches convincingly, putting us 3-0 up against Cornwall. We used the doubles match as some practice, as we were already in a good position. Sammy and Monty lost their doubles match but the boys gained some good experience and spirits were still high.
One day two, after a good warm up, the boys were fired up ready to play Wiltshire. Liam played at number 1, Maian and number 2 and Monty at number 3. Unfortunately Monty lost the first set of his match and had a fantastic battle in the second set, but the Wiltshire number 3 was too solid and Monty lost the second set 4-2. Maian had a convincing 4-1, 4-2 win but Liam had a tough challenge against Wiltshire’s number 1. Unfortunately Liam didn’t play as he had done on the first day and after a long second set, he was defeated. We were now in the same situation that we were in when we played against Devon, and had to win two doubles matches in order to get through to the final.
Unfortunately Liam and Sammy were not as positive as they had been on the first day and lost the first set 4-2. Their heads went down but after having a long chat and changing their tactics, they started to find their form again, coming back to win the second set 5-3. The team were apprehensive about the tie-break shoot out. After a nervous start, we were 7-3 down but something changed and the boys gained momentum and won the next 5 points, putting them 8-7 up. I really thought we were going to do it but unfortunately the boys lost 10-8, but they did show a lot of fighting spirit. I felt proud watching this performance. After losing to Wiltshire we knew there was no chance we would get to the finals.
The boys were all feeling very deflated but we still had to play against Devon for 3rd and 4th play off. The boys found it difficult to pick themselves up and lost 4-0 to Devon. It was a great weekend and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They showed a lot of fight and determination and only found it difficult at the end after being so close to getting to the finals and losing out.
Well done to the team for working hard. I’m already looking forward to taking the team away again next time! Well done boys!