Lionel Cox Reports
9U Boys Report
Team:
Nicholas, Freddie, Momo and Alfie
We kicked off against a strong Suffolk side first with both our pairs losing the first set. Boys put up a great fight and started to heat up as our 2nd pair only just missed out on the 2nd set by 1 point with a sudden death decider and our number 1 pair took the Suffolk boys all the way to a close third set!!
The boys then went straight on again taking on Bedfordshire… both pairs responded brilliantly after the close first match loss by winning both matches in 2 sets!!
We then took on a very strong Berkshire and Essex (both finished 1st and 2nd in the group). The boys put up a fantastic fight pushing a lot of the sets all the way to the wire, however both counties produced some amazing tennis on big points and clinched both matches in straight sets.
After finishing 4/5 in our group we then played bucks in 7th/8th place play off… our number 1 pair played really well and took both sets 7-4, 7-3. Our 2nd pair also played extremely well, but the other pair hit the ground running winning first set 7-0, but the boys picked their heads up and fought hard for a 7-6 loss in the 2nd. With it being 1-1 on matches it came down to total points won, which meant Bucks took the win by JUST 1 POINT!!
Overall, really proud of how the lads performed, they left it all on the court and fought through every match with everything they had!! Also really impressed with how they much they’ve improved in the last 2 months since last county cup, so if they keep improving at the rate they are… we’re very excited to see them them in action again for next County Cup.
Cam Yuill
9U Girls Report
Team:
Jasmine, Kamilah, Matilda and Esme
We faced, Berkshire, Norfolk, Essex and Bedfordshire in our group stages.
First up we played Berkshire, who already had played a game before us, both pairs Jasmine & Kamilah and Esme & Matilda had nervous first set losses, but upped their energy and confidence grew in the second sets making them way more competitive.
Next up we faced Norfolk, had a mix up of the pairings with Jasmine & Matilda, and Esme & Kamilah teaming up. Both pairs executed simple and effective doubles tactics to lead to success, Kamilah & Esme winning in two sets and Jasmine & Matilda clinching the 3rd set to get us a win overall against Norfolk.
Our final two group games were against Bedfordshire & Essex, we kept the pairings the same for those matches. Against both teams I felt the matches could have gone either way with the girls playing really well, just a few mistakes on our part, saw Bedfordshire and Essex come out on top of those. Was really great to see the girls being super competitive against a bigger county like Essex who won the group.
This saw us coming 4th in the group and up against Suffolk to play for 7/8th place. Suffolk had two strong even pairs, our girls put up a good fight but they were just too strong for us on the day.
Overall, the girls came in 8th place, the doubles format was very welcomed and all players really enjoyed the format. The girls worked amazingly together, supporting each other both on and off the court doing their county proud.
Laura Mineards
10U Boys Report
Team:
Freddie, Rupert, Esa, Luca and Otto
Day 1
On day 1 of the Lionel Cox competition the boys arrived bright and breezy for an 8am practice session, the boys warmed up and got used to their surroundings and the venue ready for a 9am start.
I paired the boys up with who they were comfortable with being Rupert and Esa at No. 1 Pair, Otto and Freddie at No. 2 pair. The boys were up against 2 great teams in Bucks and Cambs and the boys gave everything on the court and we couldn't fault their effort. It's safe to say that the other teams play more doubles and are therefore more attuned to the level, both teams got beat quite heavily but left everything out on the court.
I asked the boys to play doubles in the more conventional way with 1 up and 1 back as in the long term this will develop their doubles skills and not necessarily thinking too much about the result on the day, more about how they see their doubles going. The boys gave me their feedback after each match and they were very aware of what they did well and what they can improve on which is a good sign. The boys agreed collectively that their energy levels can be increased and that they were going to have laser focus for the 2nd match.
Well done to the boys for their efforts, shame about the results but I saw all boys leave with their heads up proud of the effort they gave. Thanks to the parents for their efforts on travelling with the boys and to the other teams for putting it all out there.
Look forward to seeing their progress at the county cup later in the month.
Josh Golding
The 10U boys demonstrated their competitive spirit in singles play at the 12 Counties 6 months ago and with two players missing proved once again that they are more than ready to battle against the odds and get every last ounce out of their performances, this time in an exclusively doubles format.
The Lionel Cox Trophy event always provides the stiffest opposition on the county calendar, and day 1 saw our weakened team up against really strong teams in Bucks and Cambs who they really couldn't live with. On day two a change in pairs to freshen things up, part necessitated by Freddie heading off to play for u9's, saw Luca making his debut alongside stalwarts Rupert, Esa and Otto.
The boys like most u10's are light on doubles experience and their lack of confidence around the net saw them play predominantly both back, meaning they really had to battle off the ground for success. Rupert and Otto played first pair and took their Norfolk opponents to a tiebreak in the first set before fading. Esa and Luca got games on the board but never really looked like winning in the second rubber.
The final group match was against Oxon - (who finished second in the group in the end and had two really strong pairs). Rupert and Otto (in defeat) played, in my opinion, their best tennis of the event against a very good pair and Luca and Esa really built their team spirit and gave a real scare to the number two pair before losing the second set 4-2.
I felt going into the play-off match - despite no sets and 8 matches defeats, the boys had lost none of their belief and team spirit - they'd need all of this to get them through the play-off match against Beds. The two matches were very evenly contested. Both pairs lost the first set, but knew they weren’t out of it. They both rallied to take the second sets 4-2. Meaning two match tiebreaks were to be played. Luca and Esa were first to finish with a 10-8 success which they were over the moon with. Rupert and Otto were heartbroken after creating match point opportunities to go down 12-10.......however, the silver lining was that the extra game they had won in the preceding two sets meant that overall Northants won the match by a single game (the narrowest margin possible!!)
It was great for the boys to get 10 doubles matches over the weekend in preparation for county cup in two weeks’ time and finishing on a high will take them nicely into that event.
Justin Chacksfield
12U Boys Report
Team:
Katejan, Oscar, Elliot and Ruben
We had two matches on the first day against very strong Cambridgeshire and Essex teams. The pairings against Cambridgeshire were Katejan and Ruben at first pair and Oscar and Elliot at second pair, this was a tough baptism against a highly ranked team who had already played a match and our lack of doubles experience was evident in a 2-0 defeat. I changed the pairings against Essex to Katejan and Oscar at first pair and Elliot and Ruben at second pair and this remained our team for the rest of the competition. The reaction from the first match was very positive and they played much better against Essex, even taking one set to a tiebreak, but again losing 2-0. We had a long warm up on the second day and worked on some tactics that made us much more competitive in the three matches against Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Suffolk on the Sunday. Although losing 2-0 to a very strong Bucks team in the first match they did not get disheartened and had a terrific 2-0 win against Beds, with Katejan and Oscar winning in straight sets and Elliot and Ruben coming from a set down to win the next in a tiebreak and clinching the match 10-4 in the champions tiebreak. In the final play-off match, we played Suffolk, Katejan and Oscar coming through to win 10-3 in the Champions tiebreak after sharing the first two sets, unfortunately Elliot and Ruben lost a very close match and we ended 1-1 to finish in eighth place overall.
The boys were a pleasure to coach throughout the weekend and I feel with more opportunities to develop their doubles in County Training and County Cup in September will become a very competitive team even against the toughest opposition.
Neil Shorrock
12U Girls Report
Team:
Sophia, Mya, Esme, Lois and Tia
The end of a fantastic weekend where the U12 girls performed brilliantly.
In by far the hardest group of the two, we only narrowly missed out on 2nd place. Losing on games count back to Buckinghamshire.
The first match we played was verses Berkshire. Both pairs winning from a set down, finally finishing the matches 10-8 in the 3rd set. Many fingernails were shorter by the end! A great win against a strong county.
Match 2 was vs Buckinghamshire, Sophia and Mya played as No 1 pair and had a really solid win, comfortable and confident. Esme and Lois had a tough match against a good pair, our girls found it really hard to find a foothold in the match and while they played well at the end, the match was a bit too far gone.
Match 3 was against Hertfordshire, never an easy task! Every time I have seen a Herts team it has been exceptionally strong. So with that in mind our performance against them was quite exceptional. Both pairs losing in the 3rd set match tiebreak, both matches could have easily swung our way. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, but getting that close to Herts is a real achievement and shows our progress.
Match 4 was after a nice relaxing Sunday morning. So refreshed from the previous day we took on Suffolk. Tia came into the team and her and Lois played a really hard fought game vs a pair with very strong serves, had we faced them on the hard courts rather than the astro, I felt we would have had too much for them. Mya now paired with Esme, played their No 1 pair and made a bit of hard work of the first set, winning in a tie break, but then blew them away in the 2nd set.
That left us 3rd in the group and playing off against Oxfordshire. Tia and Lois made comfortable work of their 2nd pair, playing a much more solid and consistent style. Mya and Esme played a pair that were really tricky, one player had big powerful shots and a tough approach to the game, the other hit soft and gentle. This chalk and cheese style gave our girls a bit of a different problem to overcome. The first set reflected that, winning it in a tie break. The 2nd set was much more comfortable, having got used to the opponent.
Overall a very successful weekend, we showed our progress as a team in doubles, with many more things to work on I can see us going from strength to strength. Behaviour and attitude was good on the whole, I would hope that the girls can look back over their achievements against very good and strong counties and gain lots of confidence in themselves, I sure have.
Steve Morris
