IT was celebration time for the county’s Under-15 girls team on Saturday after they booked their place in next January’s Inter-County National Finals with a blitzing display at Connaught.
The six-girl team of Elise Lazarus, Alice Green, Ellie Hewes, Eleanor White, Piper Tatum and India Webb stormed through their Stage Two showdown with Surrey, Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire dropping only one match out of 15.
“We absolutely stormed it,” Tweeted coach Lauren Selby. “Finals here we come.”
Essex stamped their authority on the event from the start securing a thumping 5-0 win over Bucks. With Lauren and joint-coach Chris Chitty guiding the girls through each game, they maintained that focus with a second resounding win over Surrey showing the sort of form that helped the team to third place in last year’s finals.
The Essex domination was completed in the final match against neighbours Herts who were dispatched 4-1. The fighting spirit of the team was epitomised by Ellie who came through a punishing match against Herts’ Sarah Schofield 11-8, 12-10, 15-13. It was a true battle with Ellie’s determination and grit winning through, with the help of a never-say-die attitude and great coaching.
Elise and Alice showed their usual class at the top of the order and that permeated down through the team with Eleanor, Piper and India bringing in vital wins showing how far they have improved over the past six months. Eleanor’s strength and power is impressive while Piper and India are adding layers to their all-round game that opponents are finding difficult to handle.
Yorkshire will be our strongest opponents in the Finals, but they will not be relishing facing an Essex team full of confidence and playing well.
The girls could be joined in the finals by the boys’ Under-15’s. They finished second in their Stage Two tie and will have to wait to see if that is good enough to get them to the finals. Similarly, the Essex Under-13 boys must wait after finishing second in their Trophy match.
The county’s U-17 and U-19 boys missed out on the Finals both finishing third in their ties.
Essex U15 Boys Stage 2 report by coach PAUL ALLEN
In the opening match at the Corals Club in Brighton, the Essex boys were faced with a repeated fixture from stage one versus local rivals Suffolk. Haydon Smith secured his first ever win over the slightly out of sorts England U15 number three Billy Beecroft as Essex went one better than last time securing a 4-1 win.
In the second match of the day Essex cruised to another 4-1 victory this time over Hertfordshire. Solid performances across the whole team with the only slip up at number 2 string where Essex Timmy Bacon lost out to England number 43 Owen Ledger.
The last match of the day was against Sussex who had also won their first two matches convincingly. Despite on paper the match appearing as though it might go to a tight 3-2 win or loss, the Essex boys found it tougher going being out-muscled by slightly older and stronger opponents 0-5. This didn’t tell the whole story with close 2-3 losses from Tom Bird at 5th string and Charlie Martin at 4th string the match could easily have swung the other way and ended up a much closer affair.
All in all a great effort from the boys including exemplary behaviour. Now it’s fingers crossed for best second place but realistically 39 point just might not quite be enough!
RESULTS:
ESSEX U-15 v SUFFOLK
1 HAYDON SMITH beat BILLY BEECROFT 3-2: 11-5 6-11 9-11 11-4 11-3
2 TIMMY BACON lost to ISSAC ANDERSON 0-3: 9-11 4-11 5-11
3 HARRY KITCHENS beat ROSS CURTIS 3-0: 11-9 11-6 11-8
4 CHARLIE MARTIN beat BEN MAY 3-0: 11-4 11-2 11-2
5 TOM BIRD beat THOMAS BEALE 3-0: 11-2 11-4 11-8
Result 4-1
ESSEX U-15 v HERTFORDSHIRE
1 HAYDON SMITH beat JAY LEDGER 3-:1 11-9 11-7 9-11 11-6
2 TIMMY BACON lost to OWEN LEDGER 0-3: 9-11 7-11 4-11
3 HARRY KITCHENS beat ADAM DEAN 3-0: 11-6 13-11 11-9
4 CHARLIE MARTIN beat LUCAS FARRIMOND 3-0: 11-3 11-7 11-1
5 TOM BIRD beat WILL DAVIS 3-0: 11-7 11-5 11-7
Result 4-1
SUSSEX v ESSEX U-15
1 JULIAN STANDISH beat HAYDON SMITH 3-1: 11-4 11-7 9-11 11-7
2 PERRY MALIK TIMMY BACON 3-1: 11-2 8-11 11-6 11-3
3 LUKE CREDLAND HARRY KITCHENS 3-0: 15-13 11-7 11-6
4 LOUIE MARTIN CHARLIE MARTIN 3-2: 9-11 11-7 9-11 13-11 11-5
5 RYAN DYKE TOM BIRD 3-1: 12-10 8-11 11-3 11-9
Result 5-0
Final Places Points
1 SUSSEX 60
2 ESSEX 39
3 HERTS 22
4 SUFFOLK 10
Essex U-15 Girls v Buckinghamshire
1 Elise Lazarus beat Sydney Wallace (3-0) (11/3 11/3 11/4)
2 Alice Green beat Cassie Green (3-0) (11/4 11/2 11/4)
3 Ellie Hewes Katie beat Shaoul (3-0) (11/7 11/6 11/2)
4 Eleanor Whitebeat Alysha Martin (3-0) (11/3 11/6 11/2)
5 Piper Tatum beat Lorna Judge (3-1) (11/9 9/11 11/3 11/4)
Result 20-1
Essex U-15 Girls v Surrey 1
1 Elise Lazarus Natalie Chak (3-0) (11/2 11/3 11/6)
2 Alice Green Brieanna Burki (3-0) (11/3 11/4 11/4)
3 Ellie Hewes Ella Frankland (3-0) (11/0 11/9 11/1)
4 Eleanor White Sarah Broadberry (3-0) (11/6 11/8 11/4)
5 India Webb Georgia MacKenzie (3-0) (11/9 11/4 11/7)
Result 20-0
Essex U-15 Girls v Hertfordshire
1 Elise Lazarus beat Amber Marshall (3-0) (11/0 11/5 11/7)
2 Alice Green beat Nyah Williams (3-1) (10/12 11/3 11/3 11/3)
3 Ellie Hewes beat Sarah Scofield (3-0) (11/8 12/10 15/13)
4 Eleanor White beat Chloe Spratt (0-3) (7/11 6/11 9/11)
5 Piper Tatum beat Holly Ashall (3-0) (11/8 11/3 11/4)
Result 17-4
Final Places
1 Essex 57
2 Hertfordshire 39
3 Surrey 21
4 Buckinghamshire 11
UNDER 17’s
Essex U-17 v Bucks
1 Aaron Allpress beat Harry Lomas 3-0: 11/4 11/5 11/0
2 Joe Blackmur beat Freddie Evans 3-1: 11/5 4/11 11/9 11/8
3 Conor Adams beat Mattie Hewlett 3-0; 11/3 11/2 11/1
4 Ben Richardson beat Oscar Glenister 3-0; 11/6 11/9 14/12
5 Clayton Hunt beat James Holland 3-0; 11/2 11/5 11/6
Essex bt Bucks 20-1
Essex U-17 v Surrey
1 Aaron Allpress lost to Jonathan Camfield 1-3: 8/11 8/11 12/10 1/11
2 Joe Blackmur bear Sam Exelby 3-2: 12/10 10/12 13/11 3/11 11/8
3 Conor Adams lost to Jordan Warne 1-3: 9/11 11/4 7/11 7/11
4 Ben Richardson lost to Paul Broadberry 1-3: 2/11 7/11 11/9 17/19
5 Kieran Collins lost to Ross Glide 0-3: 11/13 9/11 6/11
Surrey bt Essex 6-19
EssexU-17 v Sussex
1 Aaron Allpress lost to Curtis Malik 0-3: 2/11 5/11 3/11
2 Joe Blackmur lost to Tom J Walsh 0-3: 5/11 2/11 7/11
3 Conor Adams lost toJosh Attwell 0-3: 5/11 8/11 7/11
4 Ben Richardson beat William Rowe 3-1: 11/7 8/11 11/9 14/12
5 Kieran Collins lost to Lucas Hughes 2-3: 4/11 11/9 11/9 8/11 5/11
Sussex bt Essex 5-18
Final Places
1 Surrey 55
2 Sussex 46
3 Essex 31
4 Bucks 3