Day 1
Arrived at the premier inn Carlisle in great mood and full of energy had a evening in with the boys.
Day 2
Our first match was against the Isle of Man the boys were confident of their chances and the match started off with Adam Armitage at 3 playing against Ben Bosworth Adam started well and raced off to a first set victory with a 4-1 lead and confident in the second set . Ben battled back and the wind started up which gave Adam a few problems but in the end Adam managed to get himself over the finish line with a 4-2 1st rubber for D&C . Next up was number 1 seed Joel Gibson who showed us why he is ranked 12 in U.K. He gave Jayden Isle of Man 1 seed a whole lot of problems with good accuracy and lots of pressure and won in straight sets 4-0 4-0. William Davies was last to step up as number 2 versus Samuel Harris . William struggled in the first game adjusting to the wind and the pace of the game but found his footing to win the first set 4-1 . Samuel had a reaction and started playing better in the second and and before William knew It was 3-3 in the second set when William managed to hold serve and hit some great forehand to win the match . This meant that D&C were 3-0 up in the match with only the doubles to play which after a scrappy game at the end of the day William and Adam managed to get through the tie and bring D&C a 4-0 victory.
Next up was south of Scotland who were going to offer another challenge and things didn't start well with Ewan Henderson playing Adam Armitage who hits some great shots but was still adjusting to the conditions he lost the first 1-4 . Adam regrouped and played some great tennis in the second set a highlight was a 6 shot rally finished with a solid volley at net . Unfortunately this was not enough to hold on And Adam lost the second set 2-4 . 1 rubber down Joel Gibson and William up next . Joel was in a battle at the start of his match and Gregor morris offered up some great battles and nearly broke Joel . Joel however has seen this all before and used his topspin serve at important times and showed great patience throughout this math couple with great court awareness he won in straights sets 4-0 4-0 . The match was 1-1 Wiliam Davies was hopping to build on this but unfortunately he met and an inform player in Ivan Burt smith with a good lefty serve and some solid play he took south of Scotland into the lead . 2-1 . In comes Caspar Grylls who stepped into playing doubles in the final rubber of the match and he as Joel Gibson stepped up and knew that they had to win the doubles and the shot out tiebreak to top the group . With the match poised final in the balance the partnerships showed some cracks at first abut both of them started to find there feet with the help of oncourt coach Patrick Robinson and there was even a couple of serve and volley points which was great to see. Joel and Caspar won the doubles match and then then went on to win them the shootout to top the groups . We got into the semi finals and had a dominoes pizza to celebrate .
Final day
Semi final vrs northumberland was tough for everyone involved as most of the players have played against each other and trained together so there was a change up in the team. Caspar doubles performance gave him a chance to step in at singles 3. Joel played Sam Knowles first and Adam played Paul freeman . Both matches were played in a competitive spirit and both didn't reflect the score line as there were closer than what the scores suggest . Joel came through to win and Adam fought hard but lost . Match score 1-1 Caspar played Dennis lapping in a up and down match that end 1set each into the match tiebreak . Caspar fought well but in the end a couple of points difference and the match went to Dennis . 2-1 northumberland. The doubles and it was time for Joel and Caspar to step up. They totally like a steam train and this carried on into the matctibreak which they won convincingly . D&C were into the final vrs West of Scotland.
The Final
The west of Scotland had a strong team throughout but yet again Joel Gibson got through any challenges his opposition throw at him and won in straight sets . 1-0 unfortunately the Scotland 2&3 just had to much for Adam Armitage and William Davies . Even though they had some gusty play and challenged the players at times they just couldn't keep the pressure on long enough to convert to games . The match score was 2-1 west of Scotland I knew we had been here before and had enough to win the tie but it's was weather the boys had enough in the tank to do this . Caspar and Joel started well but unfortunately could keep there great play up consistently like they had in the previous matches .Caspar made great volleys under pressure from attack from the west of Scotland but in the end the West of Scotland had to much for the Durham and Cleveland team .
A great performance overall by the team and a deserved second place .