Captain- Simon Ferguson
Team Players
Ferran Rdeza
Billy Moxon
Raheem Shahzada
Harry Smith
Samuel Sitch
Non-Travelling reserve:
Thomas Smith
Results-
Warwickshire vs Staffordshire- 5-1
Warwickshire vs Oxfordshire - 4-2
Warwickshire vs Buckinghamshire- 5-1
To view results in detail please visit- LTA - Tennis for Britain - LTA 14U County Cup 2021 - Boys Group H - General
Captains Report
Boys 14&u County Cup Report
In a change to the usual format which would normally consist of a Qualifying Event followed by a National Finals. This year, due to Covid-19, it was just a relief to be able to compete in any form at all!
The Warwickshire boys were drawn in a Group consisting of Staffordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire in a winner takes all event.
First up were Staffordshire, the group favourites! An injury to their no1 player though meant they were on the back foot from the off. Harry Smith and Raheem Shahzada started at no4 & no3 singles players. Raheem got us off to great start with a win, but Harry lost out in two tight tie-break sets! Billy and Ferran on next at no2 and no1 singles got the job done in style (3-1 up). Sam Sitch partnered Raheem in the 2nd doubles pair and Ferran partnered Billy at no1 doubles pair. Both teams showed great energy and skill to finish the tie off 5-1 overall.
We were then straight into the singles of the next fixture vs Oxfordshire. Sam, Harry, Billy and Ferran must have had somewhere to go as all 4 boys put in terrific performances to secure all 4 rubbers and put the tie beyond Oxfordshire before the doubles were even played. We were back the next day fresh and raring to go. The boys were playing in the car park when I arrived, so I knew they were ready! We had to complete our match with Oxfordshire and so I changed the doubles pairings around, but by mistake, entered the nomination sheet incorrectly. The boys played their doubles matches brilliantly, but due to my error (which wasn’t noticed until afterwards) the matches were awarded to Oxfordshire. Sorry boys!!
It meant that going into our last tie with Buckinghamshire we knew if we could beat them, we would be champions. Sam and Raheem were on first, Sam narrowly losing in a 3rd set tie-break, but Raheem toughing out his match against a determined opponent put the tie at 1-1. Ferran was in fine form all weekend and a class above in his singles, raced through his match to win 4-0 4-0 for the 3rd time! The biggest match of the weekend saw Billy Moxon in a really tense tactical battle against a tricky opponent. It went to a 3rd set tie-break where Billy saved a match point before clinching a huge rubber for us 13-11. 3-1 up and needing 1 of the doubles matches to guarantee the group win, the boys showed no nerves and both pairs won in style to secure victory.
A fantastic weekend all round! The boys were exemplary on and off the court. It was a pleasure to captain them!
Simon Ferguson