COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIPS SENIOR TEAM'S REPORTS (Autumn 2011)
A mixed start for Senior 1sts
The Royal County of Berkshire Senior Firsts started their County Championship Premier League campaign well at the weekend.
Playing the first round at nearby Cippenham, the team were without County number 1 ranked man Richard Andrews but were grateful for the services of the number 2 ranked Tom Maynard, who had briefly returned from Switzerland where he is playing in the First Division.
Liam McTiernan makes his debut in narrow defeat to Essex
The first match pitted Berkshire against Essex, themselves slightly under strength. Both teams finished mid table last season and it was no surprise that the first two sets went to a deciding game. Unfortunately Essex won them both, including a sterling 3-2 comeback win for the experienced defender Euan Liddle over 15 year old Berkshire Senior 1st team debutant Liam McTiernan, who had been two up.
Maynard quickly dispatched Essex No 2 Clive Carthy 3-0 but that was only a temporary reprieve as both young Megan Knowles and the even younger Maria Tsaptsinos suffered defeats in their matches, the latter in a 3-2 thriller against Lucy Wang.
At 4-1 down, a major fight back was needed and Captain Dave Barr and Maynard produced gritty performances in beating Liddle and the tenacious Martin Kubrt respectively. These performances were however to prove to be of no avail as the only other win was by McTiernan who rounded the match off with an excellent 3-1 win other Carthy, his first at this level and an encouraging sign for such a promising young player.
Match Result: Lost 6-4
Player of Match: Tom Maynard
Berks find form in easy win against newly promoted Cornwall
In the second match, Berkshire were up against newly promoted Cornwall. The team got off to a flyer with all three of the men – Maynard, Barr and experienced campaigner Martin Adams, winning their opening matches against Adrian Nott, Darren Reed and Matthew Trevorrow respectively.
The girls were keen to get in on the act and followed up with great 3-0 victories, Knowles over Rachel Trevorrow and Tsaptsinos against Shirley Luckhurst.
With the match as good as won, Berkshire turned the screw and ran out handsome winners against a shell shocked Cornish team, with no fewer than four out of five Berkshire players winning both their matches, including 14 year old England International Knowles, who had found her best form.
Match Result: Won 9-1
Player of Match: Megan Knowles
Derbyshire draw is just rewards for gritty display
The third and last match of the round was a tussle against the well fancied Derbyshire side, who had already beaten both Nottinghamshire and Essex.
Derbyshire got off to a great start, going 3-0 up, including a first defeat for Maynard against Derbyshire Number 2 Sam Perry.
This called for another fight back and lead by the Captain, the team rallied with excellent wins for Barr over Derbyshire Number 1 Shaun Marples (3-1) and for Knowles over the higher ranked Junior Abbie Milwain (3-2). Adams then caused another upset by beating Perry 3-0 to square the match at 3-3.
When Maynard came back from 2-1 down to beat Marples, it left Barr with the opportunity of grabbing an unlikely draw with victory. The former England Senior International used all his vast experience in beating David Arrowsmith 3-0.
This hard earned draw may well prove vital for the plucky Berkshire team, who currently lie in a mid table position.
Match Result: Drew 5-5
Player of Match: David Barr
Player Averages (after Round 1):
Tom Maynard 83%
David Barr 83%
Martin Adams 75%
Liam McTiernan 50%
Megan Knowles 50%
Maria Tsaptsinos 17%
Berkshire Seconds remain undefeated
The Berkshire Senior second team remain undefeated at the half way mark of their County Championship campaign. Playing in Division 2D, Berkshire played the opening fixtures with a very young team, which included four players still under the age of eighteen. Indeed the youngest player, Daniel McTiernan, was making his debut at just twelve years old.
All three matches against Surry 2, Sussex 2 and Kent 2 ended up as 5-5 draws. The pattern was similar each time in that Liam McTiernan and Daniel Moses would win both of their games and one of the other three players would win one. Against Surry it was Bijun Tang, who beat Maria Taylor-Woodward 3-1; against Sussex it was Wendy Porter's turn, beating Lisa Stansden 3-0; and against Kent it fell to young Daniel McTiernan, who beat Simon Forosi 3-0 to record his first every victory at senior county level.
At the end of a hard days play, the dynamic young team, ably lead by the experienced Wendy Porter, could reflect on a decent performance in which they took a point from every match and sit comfortably in the top half of the table with the remaining three matches to come.