Men's Over 35 County Cup Report

After promotion last year, the team, bolstered by newcomers Ben and Matt, were looking forward to the challenge of playing in a higher division.

Things got off to a rainy start, with the team unable to practice as planned on Thursday evening and a delayed start to the matches on Friday. We had flashbacks to last year where rain had a major impact on play throughout the weekend. The weather was kind afterwards though, with lots of sunshine throughout the rest of tournament.

The team started off with a close 2 - 3 loss against Gloucestershire in their first match on Friday. It was tricky conditions with a lot of wind and a fast four format due to a rain delayed start. Highlights included a great singles win by Ben, who completely dominated their player to win 4-0,4-0. He then partnered with Matt to stage a superb comeback in the final doubles rubber to win 2 - 4, 4 -3 (7 - 5), 10 - 5.

In the second match against Herefordshire and Worcestershire we had a tough 1 - 4 loss. This included a couple of very close matches lost in championship tie breaks. Highlighted included a great performance by Mike and Matt to win their doubles 7 - 6 (7 - 5), 3 - 6, 10 - 3.

The final match was a must win to remain in the division. We started off strong with Ben winning his singles 7 - 5, 6 - 0. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of close doubles matches including another championship tie break loss, which resulted in an overall 1 - 4 loss.

Whilst the results mean relegation to division 6, the team fought valiantly throughout with 6 of the matches being decided by championship tie breaks. If we had won one or more of the 4 championship tie breaks we lost, it could meant anything from staying in the division to being a strong contender for promotion.

We have a strong base of players and some lessons learnt to consider in building up for the future, and starting to get promoted up the divisions!

Janak Gunatilleke