REPORT BY DAVID HARRIS
Essex retained the Harrow Cup in dominant fashion at Ipswich Sports Club on Saturday with victories in all five age categories.
Teams from Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk were all despatched during the course of a day which provided some thrilling and entertaining squash.
In the U11’s the Essex team of Yusuf Sheikh, Josh Stephens, Edward Mason, Brooke Smith and Leah Brooke defeated teams from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and an Essex second team. None of the five players dropped a single game on their way to maximum points from their 15 matches.
Our U13 team of Joel Braddock, Harry Martin, Michael Tallentire, Hattie Callen and Hannah Morley had a similarly impressive set of results against Hertfordshire, Suffolk and Essex 2. A single defeat in the all Essex clash plus one loss against Suffolk saw the team take 13 victories from their 15 matches.
The U15 team faced opposition from Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Essex 2. A tough and quality group would see Josh Perkins, Isaac Anderson, Kian Howard and Emma Bartley from Suffolk taking on the Essex 2’s of Oliver Green, Jamie Carroll, Josh Stinson, Aliza Sheik and Poppy Smee-Hotene. In the end the Essex team of Charlie Martin, Tim Bacon, Harry Kitchens, Piper Tatum and Amy Aspinall triumphed winning 12 of their 15 fixtures. Their toughest match was the group decider against Suffolk, which the team won 3-2.In the U17’s, a similarly tough group was expected with matches against Hertfordshire, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex 2. A 3-2 win over Herts was followed by 4-1 wins over Cambs and Suffolk. The all-Essex battle featured some highly competitive squash, particularly the number 1 clash between Joe Blackmur and Haydon Smith which was won by the Haydon 2-1. This proved to be Essex 2’s only victory with Essex 1 completing a 4-1 win. In the end, Essex won 15 of 20 matches to win the group by 16 points.
The U19’s group was confined to three teams with Essex up against teams from Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. Our team of Aaron Allpress, Will Southworth and Alice Green proved totally dominate with six wins out of six and a maximum 22 points, wrapping up the group before the final match was played!
A wonderful day’s squash was had by all. A massive thank you to Emily Ison and Ipswich Sports Club for letting the Harrow Cup 2015 take over their club for the day. To the staff at Off the Wall Squash (Karen & Lauren Selby) for organising what was a highly competitive events and to Gabby and Simon from Kentbridge Sports for sponsoring the event, yet again, with Harrow.
A massive thank you too to all the Essex 1 and Essex 2 parents who brought their players to the tournament and to the Juniors who played their hearts out to ensure we came away with the prize!
