The Team was: Tudor Cristea, Riley Cullen, Adam Kaminski, Jacob Lee 
Non-travelling reserves: Felix Ambroze, Harry Coxon
Team Captains: Callum Li and Tom Lee
Other counties: Dorset, Surrey, Wiltshire
Day 1 – match 1 v Wiltshire
The first match of the weekend was vs Wiltshire and we got off to a great start with a convincing 5-1 win. Riley, making his county cup debut, led the team to a 3-1 lead and showed his passion and intensity throughout the whole match. The team closed out the tie with two strong doubles, Jacob and Adam showing they could be a strong pairing for the future by not dropping a game as number 1 pairing.
Day 1 – match 2 v Dorset
Next up was Dorset, which was sure to be a tough affair. Tudor and Riley lost hard fought singles, but Jacob managed to get H&IOW a rubber back with his second singles win of the day. The final singles was Adam playing at number 1 taking on one of the top 10U players in the country. Adam came out firing and playing extremely well, going a set up and keeping H&IOW’s hopes of going into the final day with two wins. However, Dorset’s number 1 player had other ideas and his level improved and went onto win a very close deciding tiebreak. This meant Dorset were 3-1 up after the singles and unfortunately H&IOW were only able to win 1 of the 2 needed doubles, ending the day with a 4-2 loss.
Day 2 v Surrey
Going into a new day and the last match was vs Surrey who had won both their matches 6-0 on day 1. The team came with a great attitude and up for a what we knew would be a tough challenge, playing a team that has a lot of depth in their squad. Although the score suggests Surrey won convincingly, in both the singles and doubles Jacob and Adam played superb tennis and lost extremely close matches versus players ranked much higher, proving that with more training, they are capable of competing at the top level in the country.
Despite having a better W/L game % than Dorset, the team just missed out on 2nd place and ended the weekend in 3rd place. Although the team did not manage to qualify for the Area Finals, this group of players are certainly a group to keep an eye on and as they continue to practice more together, have the potential to achieve a lot in their tennis journeys.
Callum Li – 10U Boys County Captain
