U18 Boys County Cup

The boys set off to Cardiff Met University for three days of competition against Essex, Avon and West of Scotland. With Captain Sebastian Callcut and co-captain Matt lee.  Playing 6 singles consisting of three full tie break sets and 3 doubles which our 2 full sets and a champs tie break third set (first to 10 points).

The team was missing three key players in Hugo Dighe, Harry Cornhill and Mohan Mehta due to injury and educational commitments, meaning some younger and first time county players got the great opportunity to gain experience over the weekend. So the Bucks team was: Charlie Harvey, Ashton Taank, Nicholas Morrell, Harry Cartledge, Kyle Babbage, Oliver Westbrook, Ollie Connor and Ethan Dallas.

The first day started against a strong Essex team, some good battles with singles wins for Kyle Babbage (6-2 6-2) and Nicholas Morrell 6-2 7-6 (2). after the singles we were 4-2 down going into the doubles. Essex showed their strength and maturity with most of their players being in their last year at U18s, winning 2 of three doubles, but a good win for the pair of Charlie Harvey and Ollie Connor 7-5 3-6. So Bucks lost 3-6 on day 1.

Day 2 was another tough day against a very strong Avon team who were confident after a win against West of Scotland on their first day. Avon once again were mostly all last year of U18s and the maturity and physicality showed. The Bucks boys put in some battling performances, but the only singles win coming from Harry Cartledge, who outlasted his opponent with a display of big hitting and hard work, winning 1-6 7-6 (5) 6-0 (retired). In the doubles Avon just showed the maturity again winning all three doubles, so Bucks lost 1-8.

The final day saw a relegation decider against West of Scotland who had also lost both their matches so far. We had to get off to a great start and this came in an inspired performance by 13 year old Oliver Westbrook, playing against an 18 year old. Ollie’s performances had increased in confidence throughout the weekend and this culminated in this performance winning 6-2 6-1, a great confidence builder for future success. Our middle order struggled and before we knew it we were 4-1 down with West only needing one more win to claim victory. Charlie Harvey then stepped onto the singles court playing once again against a higher ranked and more experienced opponent. Charlie played some some real county cup tennis using the support of the team and living off adrenaline and heart to keep us in the match winning 6-4 2-6 6-1. We were alive at 4-2, meaning we had to win all three doubles to avoid relegation

Into the doubles, Seb and Matt went for a tactic of putting new pairs out there with the idea of putting a big ball striker with a skilful player. West used some trickery to put their number 1 and 4 as the second pair so stacking that match to try and get the win early.

Oliver Connor and Nicholas Morrell got us off to the best start winning 7-6 (1) 6-4, showing great use off I formation and going both back when returning not allowing their opponents to get comfortable on returns and having to work hard for every service points, the score was now 4-3.

Onto the number 2 doubles, a brand new pair of Oliver Westbrook and Harry Cartledge took to the court knowing they had to produce the performance of their lives against the best pair for the West team, and this they did. Ollie once again at only 13 didn’t look a step out of place taking on returns and moving at the net like a seasoned pro, with Harry hitting the ball the best he did all weekend, going down the line at will and his touch volleys around the net were superb, using the support of the boys to get momentum and energy at the right points in the match to take a massive win 6-3 3-6 10-6. Levelling up the match at 4-4.

It all comes down to the last match on the last day. Ashton Taank and Charlie Harvey, split the first two sets 7-5 4-6. So into a ten point match tie break to decide who gets relegated. Charlie’s massive performance in the singles was taking its toll and his leg started to cramp restricting his movement and serves, Ashton tried his best to get involved and dictate play, but just as our second pair were inspired, the West boys did a great job in stopping our momentum and they pulled out the win 10-5. Meaning Bucks boys were relegated after a mammoth effort on the final day.

Onto next year!

Seb