The Junior Cheshire Shield was held on Saturday 28th September at Hoylake Tennis Club, refereed by Tom Brown.
A large number of boys clubs entered, which allowed for play in 2 pools, whilst the girls also played in 2 pools but the draw wasn’t quite so big.
It was lovely to see new clubs entering the competition and special credit should go to those captains and parents who encouraged players in both the boys and girls competitions in the hope of winning the prestigious overall Cheshire Shield.
It should also be mentioned, how lovely it was to see so many of our junior county players and champions keen to represent the grass roots of tennis, namely their clubs.
After the pool matches, the first and second placed teams competed in a crossover semi final, whilst the lower placed teams played their counterparts in the opposite division for their appropriate ranking points for the mixed trophy.
The boys semi saw Lymm beat Stockton Heath and Heswall beat Hoylake
The girls saw Bramhall Lane beat Hoole and Lymm beat Heswall.
In the 3 /4 th place play offs Hoylake boys beat Stockton Heath and Heswall girls beat Hoole
The finals pitted last years mixed holders Lymm against Heswall in the boys and Lymm against Bramhall Lane in the girls...... exciting!!.....it could potentially go all the way to the same electric tiebreak mixed doubles shoot out as that which was required in 2023. Heswall beat Lymm boys to secure the maximum 10 points and with their girls on 8 points for finishing in 3rd position a tie break was looking a likely scenario. Lymm boys had achieved 9 points for coming second and if their girls also lost the final then they would also score 9 points and so both clubs would be on 18 points each..... however, Lymm girls had other plans and with the score at one set each against Bramhall Lane they really ramped up the pressure and won a convincing match tie break to give them the maximum 10 points and in the process not only claim the girls trophy but also the overall mixed trophy.
Boys Event:
Winners - Heswall LTC
Runners Up - Lymm LTC
Girls Event:Winners - Lymm LTC
Runners Up - Bramhall Lane LTC
Cheshire Shield:
Winners - Lymm LTC
Runners Up - Heswall LTC
Thank you to the hosts Hoylake, for their hospitality, catering , use of the courts and flexibility in releasing a couple of extra courts to help speed through the latter parts of the competition. Thank you to Tom Brown who is always so accommodating in allowing as many teams as possible. Thank you to the players for their good nature, team ethos and competitiveness. Finally, thankyou to the parents, who are in the background but so much appreciated at every junior tournament.
The Cheshire Shield Committee
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