Hampshire & IOW men were in Group 4 of the Winter County Cup at Norwich this year.
The Team was: Arthur Attrill, Henry Bowden, Louis Bowden, George Day, Aaron Dawson, Julian Godfrey, Ryan Golesworthy, Liam Hignett, George Houghton, Paul Scullard
Once again, Group 4 was very strong with Norfolk, Devon and our old rivals Dorset. Three strong and very experienced teams.
Day 1 vs Norfolk
The team was: 1. Ryan Golesworthy, 2. Louis Bowden, 3. Liam Hignett, 4. HenryBowden, 5. Aaron Dawson, 6. Arthur Attrill
Doubles: 1. Hignett/Golesworthy, 2. Bowden/Bowden, 3. Dawson/Scullard
Huge day as Norfolk were the strongest team there. We finished singles 3/3 with great wins from Aaron, Liam and Louis and two tight losses from Henry and Ryan. We needed two doubles wins against quality county doubles teams. Having lost the thirds doubles fairlyeasily, it was up to Henry and Louis and Liam and Ryan to get us through, which they did convincingly barely losing games! We won 5/4, a great start.
Day 2 vs Dorset
The team was: 1. Louis Bowden, 2. Liam Hignett, 3. Henry Bowden, 4. Aaron Dawson, 5.George Day, 6. Arthur Attrill
Doubles: 1. Bowden/Bowden, 2. Hignett/Scullard, 3. Dawson/Day
With the loss of Ryan for the day, the team was severely weakened and now we were hoping for damage limitation against Dorset. George got us off to a great start with a brilliant win at 5, followed by Aaron in a 3 sets win at 4 then Henry followed suit with a match turning 3 sets win at 3, which left Liam and Louis to sweep up good wins to give us the match at 5/1after singles. We then won all three doubles convincingly to finish 8/1 winners v Dorset.
Day 3 vs Devon
The team was: 1. George Houghton, 2. Louis Bowden, 3. Liam Hignett, 4. HenryBowden, 5. Aaron Dawson, 6. George Day
Doubles: 1. Houghton/Hignett, 2. Bowden/Bowden, 3. Attrill/Day
We now needed a win to go up. Luckily George Houghton finished ProLeague and came to join us! We ran through Devon fairly easily with wins from George, Aaron, Liam, Louis andGeorge for a 5/1 win and promotion.
The team was unbeaten all week.
The standout win was from Louis and Henry in the 2nd doubles v Norfolk, a huge win that led to beating them. Then the team singles wins v Dorset, Aaron, George and Henry in particular.
Well done all as it truly was a team performance. And the youngest team ever for Hampshire & IOW.
Thanks for George Houghton and Ryan for putting themselves out to play and Liam and Louis for being the mainstay of the wins. Henry and Aaron for getting the vital wins. And George Day for coming in as a rookie and having a 100% record!
This was a full team performance and hopefully if we can keep everyone together, could be the start of a successful county team.
Julian Godfrey, Men’s Captain
