Aegon 14U Boys County Cup Report 2014
Venue: Manor Park, Malvern
Team: Steve Barnett (captain), Alex Maggs, Herbie McKenna-Morgan, Alex Pavel, Joe Wherry, Matthew Cutler and Billy Wright.
Day 1 - 3rd May
Our first fixture was against Middlesex and with the boys looking forward to a great weekend of tennis got stuck in. Despite losing 6-0 all the boys played really well against their opposing players many of who were rated and ranked considerably higher than them. Alex Maggs took on the number 3 in the country and lost 6-3, 6-3; Herbie McKenna-Morgan played a 3.2 and lost 6-3, 6-1; Joe Wherry played the 11th in the country and lost 6-4, 6-1 and Alex Pavel played a 4.1 and narrowly lost 6-4, 7-5. A good effort in the doubles was also given with Herbie and Alex P losing 6-4, 6-3 and Matthew Cutler and Joe lost 6-0, 6-0. It was great to see the support from all the boys during the matches and off court and set up for a good team atmosphere throughout the event.
Day 2 – 4th May
Day 2 we played against North Wales, which saw some difficult matches and us finishing at 8:30pm on Sunday night. First up Alex P took on Sam Morris and won 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Joe then won comfortably 6-2, 6-4 to put us 2-0 up in our second fixture. Herbie then played a great match but only just lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 which was followed by an extreme 3.5 hr match between Alex Maggs and the North Wales number 1. Alex came from 5-2 down in the first, to lose first set 7-5 then came back to win 6-4 in second set but then narrowly missed out losing 7-5 in the third set. With the score 2-2 in rubbers the boys came out and played aggressively and Alex M and Billy Wright won 6-1, 6-2 to give us the lead. Herbie and Alex P then played an extremely tough match and lost 6-4, 2-6, (10-6). It then came down to a shootout tie break to decide who would become second in the group and despite great support off court from the boys we lost 10-5.
Day 3 – 5th May
With a long frustrating day 2, the boys put in a huge effort to ensure we won on the final day against Northamptonshire. Alex Maggs started the ball rolling with a 6-2, 7-5 win, Joe then put in an impressive performance to win 6-2, 6-0 which was followed by Alex P winning 4-6, 6-4 6-0. Mathew Cutler then played a tough match losing 6-3, 6-2 against the number 4, which put us 3-1 up in rubbers. The boys then finished off their opponents with some majestic tennis with Alex M and Herbie winning 7-5, 6-2 and Joe and Billy winning 6-4, 6-4.
Overall we finished 5th but the boys effort and performance over the weekend was excellent and they were a pleasure to watch. Many thanks for the parents who came to support the boys during the event.
Non-travelling reserves: Felix Gill and Joseph Morris
Steve Barnett (captain)