Lincs' 18 & Under Boys travelled to Welwyn Garden City to contest Aegon County Cup Group 2B.
Day One:
As soon as we arrived on Friday morning it was evident that on rankings and ratings the team were going to be up against three strong counties. We played a notoriously strong Yorkshire on day one. With three courts in operation we started with seeds 6,5 and 4. Matthew Gedney at seed 6 battled hard but went down in straight sets along with seed 4, Felix Beech. This put a lot of pressure on seed 5 Marcus Witt and he dealt with it admirably gaining a vital victory in 3 tight sets. 2-1 down, Thomas Davenport, despite serving for the first set, lost in two tight sets. Our two 'star men' Henry Beesley and Sean Hodkin were going to have to carry the team from the top and started that with two comfortable successes. 3-3 going into the doubles, our third pair of Witt and 'sub' Archie Hill lost comfortably. Second pair, Beech/Beesley won from the brink of defeat with a fantastic performance, before another brilliant performance at first pair from Hodkin/Davenport gave Lincs an improbable and brilliant 5-4 win!
Day Two:
Although a victory normally guarantees survival, due to the close nature of the group we knew this year it may not be the case. A tough tie against Dorset was next. At 6, Archie Hill came in for Gedney and despite fighting hard on his singles debut, lost comfortably and again it was the same story for Beech at 4. Witt again performed brilliantly but this time couldn't quite get over the line. 3-0 down Davenport at 3 never got going losing very easily. Beesley and Hodkin once again dealt with their opponents with ease leaving us 4-2 down. The doubles always promised to be tough with losses for the pairs of Beech/Gedney at 3 and Davenport/Witt at 2. Beesley/Hodkin barely broke sweat in their doubles with the score finishing 6-3 to Dorset.
Day Three:
A win for Lincs or a loss for Yorkshire against Dorset would have meant survival. A tie against Suffolk, who had won their previous two ties looked tough! Gedney came back in at 6 and played well, unfortunately losing in two close sets. Witt at 5 once again played brilliantly and despite being 5-1 up in the second set went down in two very close sets. At 4, Beech went down easily to his impressive opponent and it was the same story for Davenport at 3. Unfortunately Beesley couldn't quite get the win at 2 against a considerably stronger opponent then the previous two days, before Hodkin’s opponent at 1 pulled out injured with Sean comfortably ahead! 5-1 down the tie was over with only Beesley/Hodkin registering a doubles win. On the other courts the tie was extremely close, it came down to two 10 point tie break final sets. We needed Dorset to win them both. Painfully Yorkshire took two wins despite being match point down in both!! Meaning relegation for Lincs!
After a glorious run over the last few years we’re now into a 'new era' for the 18 & Under Boys side. Of the seven lads who played, 4 of them were new County Team recruits and are eligible to play next year, where the competition will be even tougher!
Hopefully the experience and knowledge of the event, and what is required to do well at County Cups, will stand them in good stead going forward!
Ed Allinson, Team Captain