AEGON 14U COUNTY CUP EVENT
QUALIFYING EVENT – Saturday 29th April – Monday 1st May 2017
LANCASHIRE BOYS TEAM
Robert Cowley
Alex Moore
Raza Ghaus
Josh Banks
Harry Aston
Jack Mcdermott
Saturday 29th April 2017 – v Northamptonshire
I knew the first day was really important for the boys to stamp some authority down on our opponents and get a good result under some tough conditions with strong winds.
The team for the singles match was 1- Rob Cowley 2 – Alex Moore 3- Raza Ghaus 4 – Josh Banks, all the players competed well and played with confidence throughout the matches only dropping one rubber to go into the doubles leading 3-1.
Rob Cowley v Max Graham – 2-6 4-6
Alex Moore v Archie Reid – 6-1 6-3
Raza Ghaus v Albert Sitwell – 6-1 6-1
Josh Banks v Jovan Kangrga – 6-1 6-1
After the singles we moved onto our double matches, I changed the team bringing in Harry Aston, looking to close the match out.
I was confident that the boys would take both double rubbers, the pairs were as follows:
Rob Cowley/Alex Moore v Max Graham/Albert Sitwell – 6-4 6-0
Josh Banks/Harry Aston v Archie Reid/Sam Thomas – 6-3 6-4
Both pairs showed great team work and played some smart tennis from the first to last point bringing a Lancashire win and finishing 5-1 overall score.
Our day was not finished yet as we had to play our second opponents (Warwickshire) in the group playing the doubles rubbers. The Lancashire pairs remained the same as I felt the boys had good chemistry and wanted to continue that momentum from the matches before.
Warwickshire were going to be a tougher test for the boys and I had to make sure all the pairs were switched on and ready to compete for every ball.
Robert Cowley/Alex Moore v Luca Pow/William Smith – 6-2 6-4
Josh Banks/Harry Aston v Dhillon Virdee-Oakley/Charlie Watson – 6-2 6-2
The Lancashire boys did a great job in both rubbers taking a 2-0 lead going into our single matches on Sunday.
Sunday 30th April 2017 v Warwickshire
Our second was an early start with practice at 8.30am and matches starting at 9am all the boys were on time and raring to go looking forward to our singles.
The Lancashire singles nominations would stay the same the team was as follows:
Rob Cowley v Luca Pow – 6-3 6-3
Alex Moore v Daniel Agranovsky – 6-1 6-3
Raza Ghaus v Charlie Watson – 6-2 6-4
Josh Banks v William Smith – 6-2 6-1
All matches went to plan with all players having good performances throughout the day to give Lancashire a 6-0 win. Even though the day was over for Lancashire we knew Monday was going to be a tough day and we had to bring some big results to get victory to qualify for National Finals.
Monday 1st May 2017 v Surrey
A really important day for Lancashire, I knew Surrey as number 1 seeds in the qualifying stages were favourites on paper to win but the boys were up for the challenge. I made a tactical change in the singles to give us the best chance to hopefully get some wins under our belt.
The team were as follows :
Rob Cowley v Harry Hewing – 6-4 7-6
Alex Moore v Raffaello Papajcik – 3-6 2-6
Josh Banks v Jamie Forrest – 6-2 7-6
Harry Aston v David Middleton – 6-7 4-6
The singles were played at a high intensity and the level of commitment from both sets of players was clear to see as all knew what was on the line.
Rob Cowley had a fantastic match playing with purpose and really digging in when needed, taking a fantastic win for the team. The tie was so close to call as all matches were going to the wire and I knew keeping the nerves would be vital.
After our 1st and 2nd singles had been completed it was 1-1 and all to play for, so on came our 3rd and 4th single players and again the matches started at a great level with Lancashire looking good and both players up for it. Harry Aston was competing well and was unfortunate to lose out to his opponent. This meant that Lancashire were 2-1 down and looking for Josh to step up.
Josh went a set and 5-2 up and all looked good but as we know you can never say never in tennis and before I knew it the set was going into a tie break and Surrey had the slight momentum. Josh dug deep as always and pulled the victory out making it 2-2 going into the doubles.
After a great team talk with the boys the doubles were all ready to go and the Lancashire pairs stayed the same from the weekend as all the boys were playing well together and looking good. Both pairs started really well taking the 1st sets comfortable and momentum was on Lancashire side, Rob and Alex dominated the match against Surrey getting the victory their deserved taking us into a 3-2 lead and all to play for.
So it was down to Josh & Harry to bring home the victory, but hang on we cannot do it simply can we!!!! The boys were a set and 5-2 up and of course knowing the importance of the match both become nervous and not quite closing it out letting Surrey back in the match. Before we knew it we are 6-5 down and looking like it’s going to a 3rd set tie break, but we held our nerve and made it 6-6 winning the tie break in the 2nd set to take a fantastic victory. All the boys deserved the victory to qualify to National Finals and it shows me how much spirit we have in the team!!!
Thank you to all the parents for the support throughout the bank holiday weekend very much appreciated.
Look forward seeing you all in Nottingham in few weeks!!
Andy