U15 Team Challenge Finals
Luton 16th February 2008
Devon Team Report.
Team:
Luke Bovey, Simon Brassington, George
Joannou, Patrick Slack.
Rowan Despard, Rachel Perkins, Laura
Anson, April Richards.
Team Managers:
Steve Duggan, Ray Puttick.
For our Devon U15 team, just
qualifying for the finals was a fantastic achievement. So any
success in Luton would be a bonus.
Our aim for the finals was to win just
one match, and considering we were up against the 11 best counties
in England, it would be a tough job to win one match.
Devon v Hertfordshire.
Luke & Rowan soon found out what sort
of day they were in for when they were beaten in their first mixed
game 21-6.
Rachel & Simon had a similar
experience losing 21-4.
But our third mixed pair hit back for
Devon with Patrick & April winning 21-19. So there was a glimmer of
hope for us.
Simon was next up for his singles
game. He played very well against Ryan McCarthy who is ranked 39 in
England (7th in his age group) which is 1038 places above
Simon. So Simon did very well to take 8 points off him. Simon lost
21-8.
Rowan was next in the girls singles
losing 21-11 to Emily Westwood, who is 18th in England (
1st in her age group). So a fantastic performance from
Rowan to take 11 points off the number 1 U15 girl in England.
Luke and Patrick played another good game in their
doubles only losing 21-15.
Rachel and April hit back in the girls
doubles beating Isabelle Sadler and Claire Widdicombe 21-20!
So after this first match we could see
what kind of day we were in for, but were encouraged by the fact
that already we had done better than last years Devon team in only
our first match of the day.
Result. Herts 5 – Devon 2.
Devon v Surrey
Our second match against Surrey was
another tough experience for us.
Luke and Rowan lost the first mixed
21-7.
Simon and Rachel were unlucky to lose
21-18, and the same for George and Laura who lost 21-17.
George then had to play the boys
singles against England no 16 ( no 1 in age group) Sam Dobson, and
George who is ranked 861 in England did fantastically to get 9
points. George lost 21-9.
Laura then played Emily Giles (no 34
in age group) and lost 21-5.
Luke and Simon were then unlucky to
lose their doubles 21-18, and Rowan and Rachel managed to pick up a
much needed point in the final game of the match winning 21-16.
Result. Surrey 6 – Devon 1.
Are we The Champions?
Devon v Nottinghamshire
The end result of this match does not
reflect the effort and outstanding play that our players put in.
They performed very well.
Luke and Rowan lost 21-19 which was a
great effort, Luke then had a good singles game against Ben Aldred
losing 21-12, but Luke played very well and was almost a match for
Ben. It was Bens power and reach that gave him the edge over Luke in
the end.
Rachel’s singles was equally as good,
as she played Eleanor Travers (no 8 in age group) as Rachel is 135
places below Eleanor. Rachel lost 21-10, but Eleanor had to really
fight for every rally, Rachel played her heart out and was very
pleased with her performance.
We lost the boys doubles 21-14, and
the girls doubles 21-13.
Result. Nottinghamshire 7 –
Devon 0.
No!- It Was all a Dream!!!
One Day - This Will be all Ours
Devon v Cheshire.
Another tough match for us. Luke and
Rowan lost 21-15, Rachel and Simon also lost 21-15, Patrick and
April lost 21-10. Again good performance but just didn’t quite have
the strength and consistency to turn the games round.
Simon lost his Singles 21-7 to Nathan
Walker. Rowan lost to Nicola Rowarth 21-9.
Luke and Patrick lost their doubles
21-14, Rachel and April lost 21-12.
Result. Cheshire 7 – Devon 0.
Devon v Warwickshire
The players heads were staring to drop
after this second 7-0 defeat in a row, but rallied themselves well
to face our last opponent in the group stage.
Luke and Rowan had a tough game losing
21-10. Simon and Rachel got stuck in and did well to only lose
21-15. Patrick and April came so close to causing an upset when they
lost 21-19, it could have so easily have been the other way round.
Patrick Slack then had to play Rhys
Walker (no 5 in age group) and lost 21-2. Patrick did well not to
let it effect him and came off court still smiling.
April fought bravely against Amy Dixon
(no 27 in age group) losing 21-12.
Luke and Simon had a good doubles but
lost out 21-15, and it was heart ache for Rowan and Rachel losing
out in their doubles 21-20.
Result Warwickshire 7 – Devon
0
After the group stage we would be now
playing off for 10th to 12th places.
We still desperately wanted to finish
11th, for us it would be like winning the whole thing.
The first of these matches was against
Lancashire.
Luke and Rowan lost 21-12, George and
Laura lost 21-10, Patrick and April lost 21-18.
George then had to play Tom Wolfenden
(no 23 in age group). Considering George is ranked 778 places below
Tom, George played a blinder to lose 21-15. It was a fantastic
performance from George.
April then played a nail biting game
against Amber Roberts. April finally won 21-20. what a result!
Luke and Patrick lost the doubles
21-14, and Rowan and Laura lost 21-17.
Result Lancashire 6 – Devon 1.
Now we would be playing off for the
final two places against Dorset, a county we know well. Dorset are
very strong and we knew it would be hard to beat them, but the team
dug deep and were ready to give it a shot. All out attack.
Luke and Rowan were unlucky in the
mixed losing 21-18, Simon and Rachel lost 21-11, but Patrick and
April kept us in it with a 21-20 win.
Luke then had to play Adam Dochniah
and kept up the pressure but lost 21-16 in the end.
Rachel then played Eleanor Spawton but
although Rachel again played with a huge amount of spirit she lost
out 21-14.
We knew then that we had finished 12th
out of 12 but it didn’t stop the players giving everything in the
final two games of the match.
Patrick and Simon lost 21-10 but Rowan
and April won our last game of the day 21-14.
Result Dorset 5 – Devon 2.
So although we didn’t manage to win
the one match we were aiming for, all the players really enjoyed the
experience and are already talking about qualifying again next year
for another go in the Finals. But we can still say that we are one
of the top 12 strongest counties in England in the U15 age group.
That in itself is a great achievement for us.
All day our players conducted
themselves brilliantly and have done Devon proud.
The player of the day was April
Richards. April was involved in 5 of the 6 games that we won.
We’re looking forward to next season,
we will try our best to get to the finals again next year.
Steve Duggan
Devon U15s Lead Coach.
