Under-15 school team qualify for bye in second round!

A long journey on a freezing day to Frinton-on-Sea in Essex to face a strong team from Tendring Technology College – this was the challenge for CVC’s Under-15 squad.

All our players took a while to adjust to the Frinton courts, which produced much less bounce than the Comberton courts. In addition, our number 5, Will Collett, had to contend with an opponent whose tactics included shouting and swearing during and between rallies, time-wasting of various kinds, and feigning injury! Will showed great composure in keeping his concentration and eventually won 3-1. Meanwhile on the other court Comberton number 4, Tom Blair, was involved in a hotly-contested match which he lost 3-1, only occasionally managing to produce his best squash.

Will Harris at 3 played with great spirit, coming back from 1-0 and 2-1 down to win 3-2, while Peter Tasker went close in his match, narrowly losing the fourth game 10-9 to concede a 3-1 victory to his opponent. This left the tie perfectly poised at 2-2, so everything hung on Tom Symmons’s match. Fortunately, Tom was able to complete an impressive 3-0 win against a skilful opponent, but not before breaking a string in his racket when poised for victory on match ball! Our two reserve players, Marcus Connolly and Sam Bithell, lost their friendly matches but I’m sure gained some useful experience of competitive play.

So Comberton won the tie and go through to the next stage as group winners. We have a bye in Round One of Stage 2, so we really don’t have much idea of who we’ll be playing in the following round, but if everyone plays with the determination all our team showed against Tendring we should have little to fear.

Ray Scrivens