Junior Inter County
Derbyshire Win Northern Cup - Success For Boys Under 13 Squash Team
3rd & 4th May 2008 - Prestbury Squash Club
The 2008 Northern Cup saw 9 counties competing from all over the north of England. Day 1 consisted of 3 pools of 3 teams, each playing for positions on day 2. Winners progressing into the finals and for the 2nd & 3rd place teams, playoffs for positions 4-6 & 7-9.
Each match the best of 5 strings, each played to the best of 5 games.
Saturdays pool matches produced a resounding victory for Derbyshire. Competing against Cumbria and Leicestershire, Derbyshire dominated throughout, beating Cumbria 5-0 and Leicestershire 4-1. The victory confirming their place in Sunday's finals against Yorkshire (the favourites) & Northumbria.
Yorkshire began Sunday's finals with a comfortable 4-1 win over Northumbria to set up what was considered to be the final against Derbyshire. Could the power of Derbyshire's top 3 overcome the strength in depth of the Yorkshire team?
Despite brave performances from Alex Ross (#5) and Alex Wilson (#4) Yorkshire's strength in depth earned them a 2-0 lead after the first round of matches. Russell Clark turned the tide with a comfortable 3-0 win at string 1 to make it 2-1 and a comfortable victory looked on the cards at string 3 when James Blythe went 2-0 up, having dropped just 3 points. However he stuttered, narrowly losing the next two games 10/9, 10/9, but showed enormous courage to fight back and win the 5th game 9/6, levelling the match at 2-2. Adam Turner, playing at string 2 had the responsibility of closing out the match, something that looked a formality after he won the first game 9/2. However, just like James he faltered, losing the next two games before coming back and winning the final two games to secure a 3-2 victory for Derbyshire.
Celebrations were short as Northumbria were not to be underestimated and the team were soon focusing on one last match.
Again, Derbyshire found themselves 2-0 down after the opening 4th & 5th string matches despite gritty performances by Alex Wilson at #4 who lost 3/1 and Oliver Favell at #5 who narrowly lost 9/6 in the 5th game.
All was not lost though as the Derbyshire top 3 had looked extremely strong throughout the tournament; they just needed 3 wins from 3 matches! Russell Clark turned the tide and set the winning trend in motion, brushing aside his opponent 3-0, dropping just 3 points in the process. The emphatic win was followed by another comfortable 3-0 win for Adam Turner levelling the tie at 2-2.
Enter James Blythe to play the decider ("no pressure, it's all on you James!") and after losing the first game 9/0 James and Derbyshire looked doomed. But James came back out and produced an amazing display of character as he turned the match around, wining the next three games 9/6 9/2 9/2, winning the tie and the cup for Derbyshire.
Congratulations to all the players, they all worked hard and were great ambassadors for Derbyshire squash; I was certainly proud to be their manager for the Day! One final note, the organisers and host club made a special point during the presentations of praising the players for their immaculate behaviour throughout the tournament, again something that the players, their parents and the county can be proud of.
Well done everyone
Graham Clark
Cheshire Under 11 Inter-County Tournament April 2007
The 28th & 29th April saw 11 teams from all over the North of England converge on the Northern Club in Didsbury, Manchester for the annual Cheshire U11 squash tournament. The tournament has a long history and several of the worlds best players have competed in this event at the start of their junior careers.
Each county sent teams of four players with Saturday being played as an individual tournament and Sunday as a team tournament. For the individual tournament the players split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ events, with the number 1&2 players (Russell Clark(1), Adam Turner(2)) entering the ‘A’ event and players 3&4 (James Blythe(3), Oliver Flavell(4)) the ‘B’ event.
Derbyshire did incredibly well by winning both the individual events. Oliver Favell, representing his county for the first time came a credible 12th place in the ‘B’ event and Adam Turner, also representing his county for the first time an impressive 6th place in the ‘A’ event. Meanwhile James Blythe from Duffield won his first tournament in taking the honours in the ‘B’ event. Russell Clark from Dronfield won the event outright, confirming his position as one of the top players for his age in the country.
The team could not quite repeat Saturday’s success in the team event on Sunday, but it was a very close affair. They breezed through the preliminary rounds in the morning to earn a place in a three way final with Gloucestershire and Yorkshire, two of the strongest counties in the country. They drew 4-4 with Gloucestershire and beat Yorkshire 6-2 as did Gloucestershire, leaving Derbyshire and Gloucestershire tied for 1st place, but unfortunately Gloucestershire took the event on points difference. It was a nail biting affair right down to the wire.