‘Essex U17’s fall at stage II’

After a promising start to the season winning stage I, the Under 17’s were next hosted by Sussex for stage II. A strong Essex side made easy pickings of their first opponents scoring a 4-1 win over Buck’s, however it became evident throughout the tie that some Essex players weren’t quite 100% fit and would be tested against second match opponents Sussex who also scored a comfortable win over Buck’s.

After a valiant effort from all the team notably those trying to compete with illness and injury the team went down to Sussex 1-4. “It was a good effort but very frustrating as with the boys at 100% I think we could have won today”, commented team coach Paul Allen. The team were: Niall Engerer, Ross Brown, Richie Fallows, Rhys Taylor & Jon Matthews.

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Essex U17 Boys Inter County Stage 1
Date: Sunday 25th Oct 2009
Venue: Berkhamsted (Herts)
Stage 1 report:
The Essex U17 Boys squash team did themselves proud at the weekend finishing in a very respectable second place. An almost perfect start was had in the day’s first match comfortably beating Norfolk 4 – 1, with just Ryan Brown losing out at fifth string, despite losing he took his opponent all the way to five games therefore gaining two valuable points towards the team’s total score.
The second fixture verses Hertfordshire proved to be the day’s toughest test with the host county fielding a team very strong in depth. Professional performances from England ranked players Niall Engerer and Richie Fallows gave the Essex team wins at strings one and two but it was Hertfordshire’s strength in depth that eventually gave the hosts a 3 – 2 win.
With second place still up for grabs a win was needed in the days last match verses Middlesex. A fantastic team performance against a slightly fatigued Middlesex side gave Essex a 4 – 1 win and secured second place overall. Essex’s progression through to stage two of the main draw now hangs in the balance as only the highest scoring second place team from all the southern divisions will qualify.
Team manager Paul Allen concluded, “The boys had a good day and gave it their best shot, we now just have to hope that the forty five points we scored today is enough to take us through to the next stage”.

Photograph;
Standing: Nick Thompkins, Paul Allen & Owain Taylor