A week after the excellent start in this competition, the reliable Gloucestershire team of Marcus Holba, Benjamin Greve, Tom Powlesland, Anna- Maria Besarabova and Charlotte Sparrow turned up in Slough, Berkshire, to continue in the County Cadet Championships.
For Gloucestershire, third in the table and two points behind Glamorgan and Hertfordshire, it meant it was going to be hard work and very exciting in the scheduled matches for the day.
Glamorgan and Hertfordshire also had to meet each other in schedule of play, so the Championship was still wide open for any of these three teams to win, with the top two being promoted to Division One.
Gloucestershire started the day in fine form against Bedfordshire 2, who arrived with a player short, giving Gloucestershire a 2-0 head start. Despite this Marcus, Benjamin, Tom, Anna- Maria and Charlotte all contributed to an easy 9 – 1 win and 2 points.
Match two was away to Glamorgan and Gloucestershire were off to a flyer. Marcus Holba and Tom Powlesland both won to give them a 2-0 head start, however by Set 8 the teams were poised at 4-4 with two to play. Glamorgan then went ahead 5- 4. The last set saw Gloucestershire’s Benjamin Greve play Glamorgan’s Oscar Marriott. What a match! Benjamin Greve played exceptionally well and came through to win in three games 13,3,11 earning Gloucestershire a point to keep us in contention of winning and promotion.
Onto the last match of the day against Hertfordshire and a promotion place was in Gloucestershire’s hands. A quick rally from the team coach Nick Davidson, reminded the players that having fun and enjoying the sport was just as good as winning. The team had come a long way in such a short space of time, and if they did not win, the team could still hold its head very high. He was very proud of the team and they had all contributed.
The final match started and it was still going to be very close. The whole team pulled together and the support for the players from the rest of the team, parents, and coaches was fantastic, and was nothing short of what they deserved. Gloucestershire were victorious winning 6 – 4 and gained another two valuable points. This resulted in a runners up position in the league behind Glamorgan but never the less, they had achieved promotion to division 1 at their first attempt.
A great Christmas present for the whole team and County. Very well done.
County Cadets Division 2A | |||||
| P | W | D | L | Pts |
Glamorgan | 7 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 13 |
Gloucestershire | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
Bedfordshire 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
Hertfordshire | 7 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
Sussex 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
Worcestershire | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
Bedfordshire 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
Wiltshire | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
