The U12 Lancashire County Cup team arrived on a very dull and wet Saturday morning in anticipation of finding out the opposition for the weekends task ahead. Lancs were drawn against two good opponents, Durham and Cleveland and Cheshire with Yorkshire, Isle of Man and North Wales competing in a separate group.
The team took on Cheshire with a superb start from Jack McDermott who played at 3, winning in straight sets, followed by another straight sets win for Reuben Warwick and Tomas Alam. This then gave Raza Ghaus and Matthew Gordon a chance to compete in the remaining doubles which they won in great fashion in straight sets. The tie therefore finished Lancashire 4 - Cheshire 0.
Later on in the morning we then took on Durham and Cleveland. Yet again, Jack McDermott stepped up to pull off another straight sets win, followed again by both Reuben and Tomas winning their matches respectively to be 3-0 up in the singles and through to the semi-finals on Sunday. Tomas and Reuben then came back out to win the doubles tie in straight sets. The tie finished Lancashire 4 - Durham and Cleveland 0. A great day one, unbeaten with no sets dropped!
On Sunday, the sun was out in full beam to start the campaign against North Wales in the semi-finals. Tough decisions were made as to who will be competing in the singles with all players staking a claim on day one. Jack McDermott played at 3 and got the team off to a great start with a straight sets win. This was soon followed up by a great performance from Reuben Warwick who also won in straight sets as did Tomas Alam meaning we were then into the final against a strong Yorkshire team who had also won three ties without dropping a set. In the doubles vs North Wales, Matthew Gordon and Jack McDermott stepped up to win in straight sets. The tie therefore finished Lancashire 4, North Wales 0.
The final was therefore set to be a great showdown, again with some tough decisions to make. Tomas Alam started the team off against a very strong Lleyton Scott. Tomas won the first set 4-1 before Lleyton drew level 4-1. The third set showed some great levels of tennis which Yorkshire won 10-5. At the same time, Reuben Warwick put in an inspirational performance to beat Michael McDougall in straight sets meaning the tie was level 1-1. With some tough decisions to be made by the captain and his assistants Cerys and Joseph, it was decided Jack would be rested for this tie and therefore Raza Ghaus stepped up in his first county cup match (No pressure) to dig out a fantastic straight sets win against Alexander Tikhonov. For sure one of the many highlights from the weekend. This meant Lancashire headed into the doubles 2-1 up with one more win needed.
The two players to represent Lancs in the doubles was to be Reuben and Jack against a strong pair in Lleyton and Michael. After a 1 Hour 24-minute tie, Yorkshire won the battle in a nervy and tense straight sets win meaning the tie was level at 2-2 with a shoot-out tie break to 10 to be played.
Tomas Alam was therefore asked to get warm where he stepped in for the deciding rubber with Jack again against the same confident and buoyed pair in Lleyton and Michael.
With plenty of spectators and support from parents on the side-lines for both teams, the tie was finally won by Lancashire with a brave and courageous 10-4 win under immense tension and pressure. A fantastic weekend from all five players who represented the county with great success.
Lastly, a mention to Neil Adams the referee for the weekend and his on court supervisor who ran and maintained the event superbly to ensure the weekend ran smoothly and fairly.
The team now heads into the county cup finals held at Bolton Arena between Friday 8th July and Sunday 10th July 2016.