The excellent facilities at Kingshill School Sports Centre were once again the venue for a Cotswold District Inter club match on Saturday. The match was played at Mini-tennis Orange level, and the four teams involved were Cirencester Bears, Cirencester Bulls, Chedworth Gladiators and Fairford/Lechlade Leopards. The organiser, Penny Allberry and the co-referee, Dudley Georgeson, got a great deal of help from parents with setting up the courts, managing the teams, umpiring, and then clearing up after an excellent morning of mini-tennis.
The Bears and the Bulls tied with two wins and one draw for each team. It was decided that the winner of the doubles match between the top pairs of these teams would decide which team became the overall winner. While the Bears team of Luke Jenkins and Jack Pears were winning this deciding match all the other players played doubles matches, so gaining valuable experience of the rules, positions and tactics of the doubles game. Prizes were presented by Penny to the Cirencester Bears Team of Luke Jenkins, who won all of his three singles, Jack Pears, Georgia Bew and Finlay McLellan, who also won all of his three matches. Runners-up medals went to the Cirencester Bulls Team of James Ascham, Floyd Magson and James Sandilands, both unbeaten in their singles, and Andrew McGrotty.
The Chedworth Gladiators and Lechlade/Fairford Leopards drew for 3rd and 4th place after close matches with the Cirencester Bears and Bulls, and a draw in the match with each other. For the Gladiators Delia Rich and Dan Bridgeman each won two matches, while Alfie Brown and Jamie Jackson won two matches for the Leopards. Alfie showed that volleying in singles can be profitable as, unusually at this age, he often approached the net, with considerable success.
The matches were played in the best possible spirit with the young players doing their best to win but, when their opponent had proved to be the better on the day, accepting their loss sportingly. There was ample evidence that the standard of play of everyone involved in this series of matches is improving and that fair and keen competition is proving to be most enjoyable.
Dudley Goergeson,
Cirencester Tennis Club
01285.653140
Highfield Cottage,
Somerford Road,
Cirencester,
GL7 ITS