This was the promotion group and I felt comfortable with us getting through. How wrong I was! The competing counties were Avon, Somerset, Berkshire and Hertfordshire. Unfortunately I pulled a muscle on Thursday night playing Tim Delderfield at Tring but was able to get Galen Le Cheminant to play at the last minute. 

The team for the first match against Avon was Chris Ryder, Galen LeCheminant, Chris Newlyn, Adam Fuller and Keith Timms. Avon contained ex junior international Chris Clare at 1 and a certain Frank Ellis at 3. Frank got off to a lightning start against our new Dad Chris Newlyn. Chris never got going and went down for the loss of 6 points. At the end of the match Chris immediately visited the toilets complaining of a sore throat and was ill. Unfortuantely he never recovered and left for home soon after. Get well soon Chris! 

On the adjoining court Adam Fuller was 2-0 down. Adam battled back superbly to take the match to a fifth but ran out of steam and lost it 9-0. Another flu victim Chris Ryder looked out of sorts against Chris Clare and lost 3-0. Eventually Herts registered a win when Keith Timms despatched his opponent for the loss of 8 points. Well done Keith. Finally Galen took to the court and treated the gallery to a wide range of his entertaining skills, however his tact wasn't enough to unsettle a determined opponent and he lost in 4 games. Avon 4 Hertfordshire 1 Somerset 4 Berkshire 1 

In the afternoon we needed to beat Somerset to stay in contention and I was forced to play for the departed Chris Newlyn. Somerset boasted Nationally ranked Joey Barrrington at number 1 and the team was managed by the great Jonah Barrington. This time it was Keith's turn to play poorly and he lost 3-1 to a man in his 40's. That's a bit unfair! Keith has performed superbly for Herts over the last 3 years whilst I have been captain and this is the first match I have seen him lose. He is an excellent team member with an exemplary attitude and is a credit to Hertfordshire. I hobbled around to win at 3 whilst Adam amazingly found some reserves of energy to beat his opponent for the loss of 10 points. Chris Ryder, who looked a shadow of his usual self had to retire through illness after the third game against Joey Barrington and Galen turned on the reserves to clinch us the match. Herts 3 Somerset 2 Avon 4 Bershire 1 

That night Chris Ryder went home through illness and Galen told me he was unavailable to play on Sunday due to a family commitment. What with Chris Newlyn going home earlier this left me with 3 players for Sundays vital match against Berkshire. On Saturday I must have made about 10 telephone calls trying to get a team. If one of those calls was to you I apologise for appearing so disorganised and desperate but I didn't foresee these problems. On Saturday I secured the services of Mark Cottingham fresh from a 2 month injury lay-off and on Sunday morning Lasantha Fernando answered my night time prayers and told me he could play. I must make special thanks to Tim Delderfield who offered to travel down and play at very short notice but by then I had a team. 

We needed to beat Berkshire and Avon to beat Somerset. After an inspiring team talk from the captain Adam Fuller got us off to a fantastic start winning for the loss of 8 points, a wonderful acheivement for Adam as he was playing at number 3 string. Mark Cottingham battled through several pain barriers to beat his opponent 3-1 and Keith returned to winning ways by beating an ex Herts player Simon Rodwell 3-0. I played at number 1 string, I won the first game 9-0 but was unable to keep the momentum going and lost the next 3. Finally Las, playing at number 2 string played fantastic clinical squash to seal a convincing victory for Herts. Herts 4 Berkshire 1 Somerset 4 Avon 1 

Unfortunately for us Somerset beat a weakened Avon side which meant that we missed promotion by 1 point. 

Somerset  43
Avon   40                      
Herts  39                    
Berkshire 15

A disappointing ending after a fantastic effort was made by The Hertfordshire team. I'm extremely proud of them all despite missing out on promotion to Division 1. We'll just have to beat them all next year!! 

Full Results. 

Herts V Avon 
1 Chris Ryder lost to Chris Clare 7-9 2-9 4-9 
2 Galen LeCheminant lost to Jonathon Gliddon 2-9 9-7 8-9 5-9 
3 Chris Newlyn lost to Frank Ellis 4-9 1-9 1-9 
4 Adam Fuller lost to Guy Tupper 7-9 6-9 9-4 9-6 0-9 
5 Keith Timms beat Dan Lawrence 9-2 9-1 9-5 

Herts V Somerset 
1 Chris Ryder lost to Joey Barrington 0-9 0-9 retired 
2 Galen LeCheminant beat Andrew Marsh 9-3 9-3 1-9 9-5 
3 Jason Foster beat Ian Thomas 6-9 9-3 9-7 9-4 
4 Adam Fuller beat Andrew Penny 9-4 9-1 9-6 
5 Keith Timms lost to Andrew Killey 10-9 7-9 1-9 7-9 

Herts V Berkshire 
1 Jason Foster lost to Paul Johnson 9-0 5-9 6-9 2-9 
2 Lasantha Fernando beat Tim Burrell 9-6 9-0 9-5 
3 Adam Fuller beat Steve Dodridge 9-1 9-2 9-5 
4 Keith Timms beat Simon Rodwell 9-3 9-7 9-4 
5 Mark Cottingham beat Adam Topham 9-4 8-10 9-3 9-3   

Jason Foster, Captain.