Telford Park’s logo
Telford’s Report v Woodfield Grove
A chilly and overcast morning with an early 9.30am start, but a hot start to the Millennium Cup with matches that were a lot more closely contested than the scores would suggest.
Easy to say from a winning perspective, but true nonetheless, particularly on the men’s side with two strong wins for Woodfield Grove in the Men’s Singles and Boys Under 16s.
Despite some hard fought rallies and determined play, Telford prevailed with the bonus of a w/o for Girls Under 16.
It was, in fact, a fantastic start to our 2015 Millennium Cup campaign, scoring a solid first win over WGTC.
Things brightened when a last-minute walkover to Telford from WGTC’s Junior Girl putting us one rubber in front at the outset.
Tim Loughhead, Sarah Mawby and Scott Gordon were first to open the proceedings with the Men’s Singles, Ladies over 40s and Boys Under 16s respectively.
Sarah won through with a confident 6-1 6-1 [against Maggie Hodges] but Scott [against Ben Thompson] and Tim [against James Ramkoleea] were up against it from the off.
Despite a valiant battle, Scott lost his match 1-6 1-6 with the tie being much closer than the scoreline suggested.
Tim faced a tough and fast opponent, who immediately took control and blasted the first set 6-1, but he prepared to dig in and battled out the second set to take it 7-5 making it one apiece.
The third set saw a real battle taking shape with Tim just losing out in the last set 3 – 6.
11.00am and we were level at 2 – 2, with everything to play for.
Next up Keith Lavender, playing the Men’s over 45s, and Sally Binny, the Ladies Singles, and both took to the court with a mixture of confidence and trepidation, keeping match nerves well hidden.
Solid, consistent play and steady strokes gave them both early leads and 6-1 6-1 and 6-2 6-1 wins respectively, putting Telford nicely in the lead, 4-2.
By now the sun was beginning to show through and our confidence with it.
Next on were Mark Rothwell and Steve Graham for Men’s Doubles, Juliet Griffiths and Rebecca Ruff for Ladies’ Doubles and Mark Franke and Caroline de St.Quentin for Mixed Doubles.
There was some really great tennis played here with a mixture of power, finesse and sheer determination.
Telford won through decisively but the scoreline belied what were actually much closer matches than may appear.
Final scores were Men’s Doubles 6-1 6-3, Ladies’ Doubles 6-0 6-1 and Mixed Doubles 6-4 6-0, all to Telford.
Time for a celebratory drink from the bar and a welcome warming snack from the BBQ with thanks to Woodfield for hosting.
Well done to all the Telford team – great play and real match-winning attitude.
We’re going to need it in spades against our next opponents and last year’s cup winners, Wigmore. Onwards and upwards.
Steve Graham, Millennium Cup Team Captain
Results
Telford Park d Woodfield Grove 7-2
(Host WGTC’s names first)
Women’s Singles: Esme Kyle lost to Sally Binny 6-1 6-2 ; Men’s Singles: James Ramkoleea beat Tim Loughead 6-1 5-7 6-3; Women’s Over 45 Singles: Maggie Hodges lost to Sarah Mawby 6-1 6-1; Men’s Over 40 Singles: David Snook lost to Keith Lavender 6-2 6-2; Girls Under 16 Singles: Walkover to TP; Boys Under 16 Singles: Ben Thompson beat Scott Gordon 6-1 6-0; Women’s Doubles: Candice Kyle and Jo Kiernander lost to Juliet Griffiths and Rebecca Ruff 6-0 6-1; Men’s Doubles: Aiden Doyle and Joe Thompson lost to Steve Graham and Mark Rothwell 6-1 6-3; Mixed Doubles: Carole Britten and Douglas Kerr lost to Mark Franke and Caroline de Saint Quentin 6-4 6-0.