Men’s Winter County Cup 2015
Notts LTA County Teams are supported by Brenntag.
This year, we were in Sheffield competing in Division 4A. Looking at the teams, it was looking as though it was to be a tight weekend. We had a strong team with world ranked pair, Joshua Ward-Hibbert and Marcus Walters making their senior debuts at the top of the order.
Friday
Day one is always a big day, it sets the tone for the rest of the weekend and we were up against local rivals, Leicestershire. Our team was strong already, but for today it was even stronger with Luke Bambridge coming in to play before catching his flight to Doha on Saturday. This was kept a secret from the boys until I read the team out Friday morning, its fair to say that the guys were pretty shocked but also pumped with this and it proved to be a massive boost to us, and a bitter blow for the Leicestershire team when they arrived at the Tennis Centre!
First up were Luke Smith and Eban Straker-Meads, also on debut. Once Eban got the first set, he was able to close the match out strongly in straight sets. Luke was in a dogfight. After being behind the whole time, two match points down, he somehow managed to turn it around to give us a 2-0 lead. Abdul had a tough match against a good opponent. Marcus took complete control against their captain, which gave us a 3-1 lead. Luke and Josh looked typically strong to give us a 5-1 lead after singles. Two doubles wins give Notts a 7-2 win, excellent start to the weekend!
Saturday
Day two meant we played the losers of the first day, Oxfordshire. With Luke jetting off to Doha that meant everyone pushed up the order, with Phillip Peters coming in at number six. Phil fought hard, but ended up going down against an experienced and solid player. In a repeat of Friday, Luke Smith was looking down and out, facing three match points when he fought back to give Notts a massive win. Eban went down in a tight three setter, as did Abdul who played well but lost out 7/6 in the third. Josh and Marcus came through their matches to make it 3-3 after singles. A change to the doubles line up meant Josh and Ben Mactaggart teamed up, Marcus played with Dave Barton, with Luke and Phil at third pair. Luke and Phil played well but lost out, meaning we needed two doubles wins. Marcus and Dave had tough opponents, including the opposition number one but pulled out a huge win at second pair leaving it to Josh and Ben. With Josh serving cannons and Ben with some neat net play, the boys won 6/0 6/2 making it a 5-4 victory!
Sunday
We knew what was needed; a win and we get promoted. We were up against a tough Buckinghamshire side but a win was on the cards. A change to the singles line up meant Ben came in to replace Phil at number six. Ben struggled to find any rhythm and went down in straight sets. On court next to him, Luke was in very good form and took apart his younger opponent to make it three wins out of three for him, but more importantly, one all. Eban had a tough task on paper, taking on the Bucks captain who was strong favourite but once the match got started it was a different story. Eban never gave his opponent a chance and won 6/4 6/0 to give Notts a massive win. Abdul again fought hard but couldn’t quite get there, going down in the third set leaving it two all. Marcus was as cool as ever in his match and hardly broke sweat in beating his opponent 6/2 6/1, whilst Josh strolled to victory after getting through a tight first set. With the score 4-2 overall, one win was all that was needed to get promotion. Luke and I played at third pair but were well beaten. Marcus and Dave were struggling for the same form as the previous day, but Josh and Phil played some incredible tennis to get the win required meaning NOTTS ARE PROMOTED TO DIVISION 3!
After a few tough years with poor results and not being able to get our best players in the team, this felt that little bit sweeter! A massive thanks to the boys for playing and being part of what was a hugely enjoyable weekend representing the county!