The county’s Under-17 and Under-19 boys’ teams both safely navigated their way through Stage One of the Inter-Counties Championship on Sunday joining the boys’ and girls’ under-15’s in the next round. Meanwhile, our Under-13 boys await the adjudicator’s slide rule before learning whether they will also make it into Stage Two after finishing second in their group with an impressive 42 points. That could be enough to get them into the next round as best second-placed team but we await the result.
The Essex Under-17 squad who finished unbeaten at Cambridgeshire on Sunday
The Essex Under-17’s, led by coach Paul Selby, were in action at Cambridge and opened their account with a 5-0 win against the host team. Conor Adams came from two down against John Abbs to win 3-2 while Aaron Allpress, Joe Blackmur, Clayton Hunt and Ben Richardson all wrapped up 3-0 successes.
The second rubber against Suffolk was a much closer affair with Essex edging home 3-2. Conor and Aaron went down to Cameron Haddon and Angus Beecroft respectively but the tie was sealed with 3-0 victories by Joe, Ben and Kieran Collins.
The final match against Norfolk proved one-way traffic as we romped to a second 5-0 victory securing our berth in stage two.
UNDER 17 RESULTS
Cambridgeshire 0 v Essex U-17 5
1 Zach Abbs Aaron Allpress (0-3) (8-11, 8-11, 6-11)
2 Scott Drewery Joe Blackmur (0-3) (9-11, 4-11, 4-11)
3 Josh Abbs Conor Adams (2-3) (11-9, 13-11, 8-11, 7-11, 10-12)
4 Harry Hennessy Ben Richardson (0-3) (6-11, 5-11, 8-11)
5 Pater Casey Clayton Hunt (0-3) (1-11, 7-11, 5-11)
Result 2-20
Suffolk 2 v Essex U-17 3
1 Angus Beecroft Aaron Allpress (3-1) (11-3, 11-5, 9-11, 11-3)
2 George Stammers Joe Blackmur (0-3) (6-11, 12-14, 6-11)
3 Cameron Haddon Conor Adams (3-0) (11-7, 11-6, 11-8)
4 Harrison Gladding Ben Richardson (0-3) (7-11, 3-11, 5-11)
5 Liam Hicks keiran Collins (0-3) (4-11, 0-11, 0-11)
Result 6-15
Norfolk 0 v Essex U-17 5
1 Will Henden Aaron Allpress (1-3) (11-6, 7-11, 8-11, 9-11)
2 Rob Thirst Joe Blackmur (0-3) (1-11, 7-11, 4-11)
3 Ollie Gallop Conor Adams (0-3) (0-11, 3-11, 3-11,)
4 Josh Hall Ben Richardson (0-3) (3-11, 7-11, 3-11)
5 Oliver Farmer keiran Collins (0-3) (3-11, 5-11, 3-11)
Result 1-20
Final Places
1 Essex 55
2 Suffolk 41
3 Cambridgeshire 27
4 Norfolk 4
Essex’s Under-19 squad of Jags Sehmbi, Alex Shuter, Will Southworth, Guy Tallentire, Robert Pearson and Joshua Clarke were severely tested at Watford where they were drawn against home team Hertfordshire, Northampton and Leicestershire. A 3-2 win over Northampton got their account in credit and Leicester were next to fall in a 5-0 win for Essex. Even our number 6 player, George Rapley,on his first ever county call up as a reserve, won 3/0. “You you cannot ask for better than that can you?” said coach Dave Webster.
That set up an enticing final rubber against Herts where the tie was level at two games apiece before man of the tournament Alex Shuter got Essex over line with a faultless 3-0 win over George Orton, much to the delight of coach Webster who added: “Alex played extremely well all day and managed to pull oot the best match of the day when it really mattered. He ran his opponent to every corner of the court with great control of the T position. He won convincingly without making one mistake.”
Essex U-19 3 v Northamptonshire 2
1 Jagpal Sehmbi George Willis 1-3; 14/12 9/11 9/11 6/11
2 Alex Shuter Declan O’Callahan 3-0; 11/1 11/5 11/1
3 William Southworth Hayden Tetley 3-2; 8/11 11/1 7/11 13/11 11/9
4 Guy Tallentire Luc Elsby 0-3; 9/11 9/11 8/11
5 Robert Pearson Elliot Gillingwater 3-0; 12/10 11/7 11/5
Result 3-2
Essex U-19 5 v Leicestershire 0
1 Jagpal Sehmbi James Payne 3-1; 11/2 11/0 5/11 11/7
2 Alex Shuter George Orton 3-0; 12/10 11/6 11/4
3 William Southworth Ben Fenwick 3-0; 11/2 11/2 11/6
4 Guy Tallentire Adam Lord 3-1; 11/9 7/11 11/5 11/6
5 Robert Pearson Ben Clarke 3-0; 11/2 11/0 11/2
Result 5-0
Hertfordshire 2 v Essex U-19 3
1 Laurence Green Jagpal Sehmbi 3-0; 12/10 11/9 11/9
2 Alex O’Sullivan Alex Shuter 0-3; 3/11 2/11 2/11
3 Nick Rossiter William Southworth 3-0; 11/9 11/6 11/7
4 Isaac Freckleton Guy Tallentire 0-3; 9/11 9/11 7/11
5 Dan Gaskell Robert Pearson 0-3; 7/11 6/11 7/11
Result 2-3
Final Places
1 Essex 49
2 Hertfordshire 41
3 Northamptonshire 33
4 Leicestershire 11
The Essex Under-13’s (pictured left) wrapped up a narrow 3-2 victory over Surrey to get their campaign under way. Ollie Green, Joel Braddock and Harry Martin delivered the victories but the performances of defeated Mikey Tallentire and Ryan McCoy showed that Essex were up for the challenge.
That set up a second round clash with pre-tournament favourites Middlesex, and what a match it was. With the scores tied at two apiece, Joel faced Ben Harrison in the decider, a player he has yet to beat. Ben took the first, Joel roared back to go 2-1 up before Ben levelled. Despite a battling effort by Joel, the spoils went to Middlesex in the fifth giving them victory by the narrowest of margins.
Essex’s final outing was a decisive 4-1 win over Kent putting us within touching distance of the Second Stage. We’ll report that news once England Squash have done their sums.
Essex U-13 3 v Surrey 2
1 Oliver Green Monty Crawfield 3-0 11-6 11-1 11-7)
2 Joel Braddock Dan Power 3-0 11-9 11-6 11-6)
3 Harry Martin Tim Lloyd 3-0 11-6 11-8 11-7)
4 Michael Tallenire Tynor Saba 0-3 (8-11 7-11 1-11)
5 Ryan McCoy Ethan Charlton 0-3 (6-11 10-12 7-11)
Result 14-6
Essex U-13 2 v Middlesex 3
1 Oliver Green Hadi Khan 3-0 (11-7 11-4 11-8)
2 Joel Braddock Ben Harrinson 2-3 (6-11 11-7 11-6 7-11 5-11)
3 Harry Martin Eliot Heywood 1-3 (1-11 3-11 13-11 6-11)
4 Michael Tallenire Matthew Wood 2-3 (0-11 11-13 11-6 11-5 10-12)
5 Ryan McCoy Joe Sochor Grette 3-0 (11-8 11-2 11-1)
Result 11-14
Essex U-13 4 v Kent 1
1 Oliver Green Mike Mitterer 3-1 (11-5 9-11 11-2 11-9)
2 Joel Braddock Josh Cutting 3-0 (11-4 11-5 11-7)
3 Harry Martin Billy Miles 0-3 (10-11 5-11 8-11)
4 Michael Tallenire Adam Dickinson 3-0 (11-4 11-7 11-5)
5 Ryan McCoy Max Tunon 3-1 (7-11 11-7 11-9 11-7)
Result 17-5
Final Places
1 Middlesex 49
2 Essex 42
3 Surrey 26
4 Kent 16