Leicestershire Boys U18 County Cup Team - Group 3A
Although the boys arrived at Redbridge knowing that they would be facing some tough encounters, they were also in good spirits and ready to give their all.
First up on Friday was Buckinghamshire. Conal King and Matt Richmond playing at 5 and 6 respectively got us off to a great start by winning the 1st two singles matches. A win from Vasya Kusmartsev tied the match score after the singles at 3 all.
With the first two doubles being shared that meant the match would be won or lost on the final rubber. Christopher Egan Morriss and Ben Minski managed to win from tie point down to secure a Leicestershire victory 5 rubbers to 4.
(Vasya, who won player of the day as he was the only player to win 2 out of 2 matches was allowed 3 courses at dinner!!)
The second match vs Cambridge proved to be just as tight as the previous day.
Once again singles wins from Conal, Matt and Vasya made the match score level at 3 all.
Unfortunately we were only able to win one of the doubles matches which meant Leicestershire went down 5 rubbers to 4.
Going into the thirrd day against Northumberland was all to play for as it was possible for three teams (us, Northumberland and Cambridge) to gain promotion as well as three teams (us, Cambridge and Bucks) to be relegated.
This match proved to be one step too far for our boys as they went down 8 rubbers to 1 against the eventual winners of the group and unfortunately for us as Bucks somehow managed to beat Cambridge after Cambridge were one volley on top of the net away from winning the match sent us down.
Some great performances by our players who I know are relishing the chance to get Leicestershire promoted next year.
David Ireland
U/18 County Cup Captain (Boys Team)