This year we were in Graves, Sheffield in Division 3B. One of the favoured venues for County Cup, just 40 minutes down the road with the hotel next door to the club. We had quite a few debuts in our team, with Dave Woon and Cameron Yuill making their first Notts appearances and Gabriel Johnson bringing the average age down a bit!
Day 1 vs Derbyshire
A local rivalry to start the weekend! Derbyshire were strong throughout with their line up that we are accustomed to seeing and that mixed with some first match nerves meant that we were quickly 3-0 down after the first round. Pierre played a good level against Tom Rushby before being closed out 6-4 6-4, whilst Jamie went down against Brad Buckland who played some of his best tennis to get the win. After both singles and doubles, we ended up losing the day 9-0.
Day 2 vs East of Scotland
With EoS beating Middlesex on day 1, it was always going to be a tough battle. EoS had some incredibly experienced players such as Alan Macdonald and Colin Fleming in their ranks. Carl had a very long match but went down 6-3 in the third. Gabriel played against Fleming, who is a former Commonwealth Gold medal winner and Davis Cup player, so a fantastic experience for him. He was not outplayed and learnt a lot I am sure from the match despite losing. Dave and Pierre both played very good opponents and lost comfortably whilst Jamie managed to get Notts on the board with an up and down victory. EoS were always favourites in the doubles, so that meant we went down 8-1.
Day 3 vs Middlesex
We needed a win to stay up. The day started with Phil and Carl having epic matches with Carl’s lasting over 3 hours! Carl managed to edge past his opponent but Phil just lost out. Gabriel and Dave both had tough matches with Pierre and Jamie both struggling with injuries. Unfortunately we couldn’t get the win that was required, so we end up finishing bottom of the table and relegated to Division 4.
One of the tougher years for the team this year with a few players away and injury problems but no doubt next year we will be back fighting at the right end of the table!
Team – Top: Carl Saxby, Gabriel Johnson, Cameron Yuill, Phil Peters, Callum Chivers (Capt)
Bottom: Dave Woon, Pierre Luiggi, Jamie Praditgnam