U19 ENGLAND SQUASH INTER-COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS – STAGE 2
hosted at Herts Country Club, Welwyn Garden City
29th January 2006

Team:
  1. Adrian Waller
  2. Neil Waller
  3. Jonathan Fuller
  4. Oliver Dixon
  5. Ben Andrews
  6. Rhys Thomas

WE DID IT – WE ARE OFF TO MANCHESTER IN MAY FOR THE

GRAND FINALS !!!!

Yes, it was a very successful day for the Herts U19 Team last Sunday as we were aware we had a very good chance of winning through with the strength of the team we were able to field and everyone was focused on our mission.  Our first match in the morning was against Oxon who put up little resistance with Jonathan being the only Herts player to drop a game whist Oli was upset at dropping a point – where does he get that ruthless streak from, Jason ?

Results:

Herts

vs

Oxon

Result

Adrian Waller

9/7 9/5 9/4

Sam Carr

3-0

Neil Waller

9/1, 9/3, 9/1

Sam Dallaway

3-0

Jonathan Fuller

6/9, 9/0, 9/1, 9/3

Josh Rose

3-1

Oliver Dixon

9/0, 9/0, 9/1

Matt Clarke

3-0

Ben Andrews

9/0, 9/7, 9/1

Ivan Yim

3-0

 

 

Herts beat Oxon             5 – 0

Essex arrived at lunchtime for their tie against Oxon with a similar degree of ease dropping just 2 games and rattling their sabres against us to challenge for the winning ticket to Manchester.  Chris Sherman was brought in for the match against us to considerably strengthen their team and, whilst there was some debate as to whether this was within the rules, it was deemed legal as Essex had listed him as their number 3 upon arrival even though he did not participate in their first match against Oxon. Jonathan looked comfortable at the start taking the first 2 games but Chris dug in and got stronger to level the match with some amazing court coverage. Now it was Jonathan’s turn to dig in and he managed to take the 5th 9/3. Adrian and Oli efficiently disposed of their opponents whilst Neil under estimated a much improved Scott Legg but after dropping the 3rd pulled himself together and played some excellent shots to seal the match in four. Ben took his time to get going and was slowly turning the match around but lost in 3. If he had just got the 3rd, who knows ………

Herts

vs

Essex

Result

Adrian Waller

9/3, 9/3, 9/2

Luke Gray

3-0

Neil Waller

9/7, 9/6, 1/9, 9/7

Scott Legg

3-1

Jonathan Fuller

9/6, 9/1, 3/9, 5/9, 9/3

Chris Sherman

3-2

Oliver Dixon

9/3, 9/2, 9/2

Elliot Selby

3-0

Ben Andrews

5/9, 6/9, 8/10

Andrew Rhodes

0-3

 

 

Herts beat Essex             4 – 1

Rhys Thomas enjoyed 2 good matches at number 6 against the Oxon coach, Mark Webster, and Michael Duke and is a solid reserve with good potential for the future at just 15.

Overall a job well done and we can now look forward to the Grand Finals in Manchester on 13-14 May 2006 where I am certain the competition will be much stiffer!!!

Final positions and points are:

1.      Hertfordshire         37

2.      Essex                     26

3.      Oxfordshire             3

[Report by: Dudley Fuller, U19 Team Manager]