Aegon County Cup 2011-Eastbourne, Captains Report
In 2010 we were runners up and entered a new year with hope and expectation a plenty with what was a strong squad, even though we were a few players missing. Could this year be the year we steal back the title from Hertfordshire or would we be dicing with relegation? All was possible in the ever competitive division 1 down at Devonshire Park.
Our squad comprised of 10 players, although not all of them were available all week.
History has seen many a bitter battle between the men of Kent and Yorkshire with both sides coming out on top in different years. In 2004 Kent stole the title from Yorkshire on the last day with an incredible 7-2 victory on the final day of the event, but every match has always been a battle with fireworks on the court both with tennis and often with the verbal’s!
The Line up Kent Yorkshire1st Pair Burgoyne/Richardson Tollman/Keane2nd Pair May/Thornley Brassington/Chang3rd Pair Filmer/Drummond Banks/Torpey
Due to injury and a Futures event in Ireland we are missing Burton, Short, Cavaday and Sargeant, but never the less have a strong line-up which includes Kent new boys Drummond (previously from Nottinghamshire) and Richardson (previously from Lincs). With the weather looking less than favourable the event is moved on to Astroturf in the rain, not what we were expecting, but we were ready for battle. Round 1 did not go Kent’s way with Thornley and May going down to the Yorks 1st pair and Filmer and Drummond being out-gunned by the 3rd pair. Meanwhile Kent’s version of the twin towers avoided all that was thrown at them to take a straight sets win over the Yorks 2nd pair.
With the weather deteriorating we moved to round 2 which was to be the heart of the battle. We were on the short format of a champions tie break for a third set which would be a crucial factor in the matches. Filmer and Drummond picked up the first win of round 2, taking out the 2nd pair who were low on confidence from the morning round to draw the match level at 2 apiece. Meanwhile the twin towers were taken to a champion’s breaker where they rushed to a 5-0 lead in rain that looked like a monsoon! Rackets were slipping round in the players hands as they all looked like drowned rats under the grey skies of Eastbourne, but Richardson had more grit than an old tarmac car park and pulled the pair through to a hugely important 10-8 win to give Kent the lead for the first time in the tie. Now for the shock of the round, May and Thornley lose again in straight sets. With the weather so bad, play was abandoned for the day with the score at 3 all.
Day 2 started again on the astro, but with the sun in the sky and with the sun came alive May and Thornley who easily took the first rubber of the day to give Kent a 4-3 lead. At the same time ‘Flex’ and ‘Burgs’ made it 3 from 3 and gave Kent the overall win. Unfortunately ‘Filmstar’ and ‘Titanic’ didn’t get the win, but it was job done.KENT WIN 5-4
The Line up Kent Derby1st Pair Burgoyne/Richardson T Rushby/Simpson2nd Pair May/Thornley Pherson/Thornewell3rd Pair Filmer/Cavaday J Rushby/Archer
Round 1 was an afternoon start on the grass which saw Thornley and May looking much more comfortable than on the astro brushing aside the Derby 1st pair with ease to give Kent the lead. Sadly the twin towers took their first loss of the week 10-7 in a champion’s breaker to the Derby 2nd pair after a long battle in the sun. Filmer with new partner Cavaday had a tough start to their campaign getting outplayed by an experienced Derby 3rd pair leaving Kent 2-1 down after the first round.
This is when Andrew ‘Flex’ Richardson stepped in with his words of wisdom ‘The second round is where we shock ‘em!’. And so it was to be as Kent caught fire and took a clean sweep of round 2 with Kent’s first pair taking a straight sets win and pairs 2 and three both saving match points to win in champions breakers!
OMG, Derby were broken or as Flex put it, shocked.Round 3 involved Kent taking advantage of the flat Derby camp to win all three rubbers which included several great moments of which none were better than seeing ‘the flex shuffle’ which can only be described as a classic on court dance move from Richardson.KENT WIN 7-2
The Line up Kent N of Scotland1st Pair May/Thornley Pankhurst/Weir2nd Pair Burgoyne/Drummond McGinn/Hatchett3rd Pair Filmer/Cavaday Haden/Darlington
Starting on grass the mood was good in the Kent camp as the sun was shining and we were fresh from a good win yesterday although surely we would miss Flex who had returned home for the week after a sensational debut with veteran captain Burgs. Round 1 was tough, but first off the court was the new pair of Drummond and Burgoyne who had an up and down match against the Scots first pair which ended up in Kent’s favour. Meanwhile Cavaday and Filmer struggle through against the 3rds and give Kent a 2-0 lead. May and Thornley looked to be up against it, but with the class of the May volley and the quick reactions of a resurgent Thornley they forced a win and a 3-0 lead, Kent were looking strong.
Round 2 would take place on the Astroturf as the rain came in again. Captain Burgs caught fire with ‘Titanic’ Drummond and they destroyed the Scots 2nds in less than an hour. Not long after the rest of the Kent contingent followed suit and in a blink of an eye it was 6-0 Kent and the Scots looked dizzy!Kent’s 1st and 2nd pairs were un-stoppable in the final round with Drummond playing his best match of the week against a sore Scottish 3rd pair. Sadly Cavaday picked up a calf injury and had to retire which saved the North from a whitewash.KENT WIN 8-1
The Line up Kent Surrey1st Pair Burton/Thornley Eaton/Salisbury2nd Pair Burgoyne/May Hunter/Lloyd3rd Pair Filmer/Drummond Whiteford/Sterland-Markovic
Yet again the weather was poor and we headed up to the astro courts for our battle against local rivals Surrey. Good news and bad for Kent even before play had started, Nick Cavaday’s calf had not recovered and he would be unable to play, Captain Burg’s Back was not in good shape and he was only just able to get off the physio table to make the line up. On the good side Lewis ‘Luigi’ Burton was back from Ireland and ready to play, but Surrey were hugely strengthened by their best player Chris Eaton.
Round 1 saw the new partnership of May and Burgoyne dismantled by the Surrey 1st pair 6-2 6-2, meanwhile Luigi and Thornley did their own dismantling of the 2nd’s leaving the 3rd pair shoot out as the most important of the round and sadly it did not go our way leaving Surrey with a 2-1 lead going in to round 2.
Round 2 was a nearly must win round for Kent and it started well with May and Burgoyne taking apart the Surrrey 3rd pair quickly and quietly on the end court to draw level at 2 apiece. The Filmer and Drummond partnership battled hard, but took their second loss of the day to give Surrey the lead again. The first pair shoot out was by far the best standard match of the week so far with great tennis on both sides and as the other matches finished we picked it up with Burton and Thornley a set and a break of serve up, but at this point Eaton caught fire and before we knew it they were back on serve. With Thornley hitting contender after contender for shot of the day it looked like it would go Kent’s way, but sadly in the end they were edged out giving Surrey a 4-2 lead going in to the final round.
With Kent needing an un likely clean sweep in the final round the action began with Filmer and Drummond getting an early break of Eaton’s serve which gave us hope and in about half an hour the Kent 3rd pair were a set up as were the first pair and May and Burgoyne starting a first set tie break, could we do it?Half an hour on and FIlmer and Drummond were starting to feel the heat and were at a set all and Captain Burg’s and Jungle Jim May were a set down and starting a second set tie break. Thornley and Burton finished the job and all the attention was on the remaining matches. The battle was fierce, but Kent got no more wins and tasted defeat for the first time this year. Surrey win 6-3
The Line up Kent Surrey1st Pair Burton/Thornley Rice/Bamford2nd Pair Cavaday/May E Corrie/D Corrie3rd Pair Burgoyne/Drummond Coupland/Roskilly
On paper we could still win the title, but it would involve us winning 8-1 against the reigning champions with a less than fit squad available it looked unlikely. I’d love to be giving a story of an un-likely title win for Kent, but the day was to be a big disappointment for Kent with an injury in every partnership we weren’t even able to complete all the matches and those which we did were all won by Herts which was tough to take. We fought hard, but in the end Herts were just too strong for us on the day.
Herts win 9-0(again)!
Overall it was another great campaign, but we were short of all the players needed to take the title and although we were better than most in division 1, you can’t take the title without being at your strongest, which by Friday we were not. With Surrey doing well on the last day we ended up 3rd and remain in division 1 for next year and earn the right to play Hertfordshire on Tuesday next year.
We sorely missed Rob Searle who was arguably our best player last year, Oliver Evans who was one of the stars of our 2009 campaign, Colin Beecher, Matt Short and Francis Sargeant who was with us, but injured, not forgetting Andrew Richardson who was brilliant for the first two days but was not available for the rest of the week.
Lastly a huge thanks to all the supporters who braved the bad weather to support the team, we all really appreciate it and hope for better weather next year, 2012 the year for Kent?
Captain Andy Burgoyne
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