U19 ENGLAND SQUASH INTER-COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS – STAGE 2
at Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

31st Jan / 1st Feb 2004

Team:

  1. Adam Fuller
  2. Neil Waller
  3. Jonathan Fuller
  4. James Cussen
  5. Ben Andrews

Results:
Herts

vs

 Hants Result
Adam Fuller 9/5, 9/4, 9/4 Michael Bull

3-0
Neil Waller 9/0, 9/5, 5/9, 9/5 Chris Rand

3-1
Jonathan Fuller 6/9, 9/7, 7/9, 9/7, 9/5 Alex Phillips

3-2
James Cussen 9/6, 7/9, 1/9, 0/9 Jonathan Morbin

1-3
Ben Andrews 2/9, 0/9, 7/9 Paul Carnero

0-3
Herts beat Hants 3- 2
Herts

vs

 Surrey Result
Adam Fuller 7/9, 3/9, 2/9 Tom Richards

0-3
Neil Waller 5/9, 1/9, 2/9 Chris Hall

0-3
Jonathan Fuller 5/9, 5/9, 2/9 Neil Desai

0-3
James Cussen 3/9, 3/9, 8/10 Paul Rawden

0-3
Ben Andrews 2/9, 3/9, 2/9 Jamie Matthews

0-3
Herts lost to Surrey 0-5
Herts

vs

 Glouc. Result
Adam Fuller 4/9, 6/9, 9/6, 9/6, 9/0 Rob Wilkins

3-2
Neil Waller 9/5, 6/9, 5/9, 3/9 David Naish

1-3
Jonathan Fuller 0/9, 1/9, 1/9 Chris Tasker-Grindley

0-3
James Cussen 7/9, 1/9, 3/9 Robbie Temple

0-3
Ben Andrews 6/9, 0/9, 9/7, 0/9 Peter Ford

1-3
Herts lost to Glouc. 1-4

Our opening match against Hants produced wins at strings 1, 2 and 3 with Ben Andrews (still only 15) bravely battling against a very good number 5 and the symptoms of a heavy cold/flu.

After winning the first game and narrowly losing the second, fatigue seemed to set in with James Cussen who continued to battle on but went down 3 – 1.

Jonathan Fuller showed a lot of determination against Alex Phillips (U17 nationally ranked at No.16). After being 2 – 1 down and never having beaten Alex in any of their previous matches, Jonathan continued to work hard and eventually frustrated his opponent into losing some easy points to enable him to level the score at 2 –2 before following through and taking the final game.

With one tie under our belt we went into the afternoon session against the favourites Surrey, who had only lost one match in their morning session. Adam Fuller was hopeful of a win against Tom Richards but despite some splendid rallies and a chance to take the first, Tom was too fit took the match for Surrey 3 – 0. A very strong Surrey side proceeded to register a 5 – 0 win without even the loss of a single game.

After day1 we were joint 3rd (or equal bottom) but there was still a chance that we could finish 2nd if we beat Gloucestershire with our best chances being at strings 1, 4 and 5. Despite valiant efforts Adam was the only one to secure a victory and this was after tweeking his hamstring and going 2 – 0 down !

Neil Waller played consistently well in all three of his matches beating Hants and losing his other two matches.

Final order and points:

  1. Surrey (57)
  2. Glouc. (36)
  3. Herts (20)
  4. Hants (17)

This means that Surrey will be promoted to the Premier Division and the rest of the counties will remain in Division 1 South next season.

A most enjoyable weekend and thanks to all participants.

[Report by: Dudley Fuller, U19 Team Manager]

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