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Norfolk junior squash teams find going tough in inter-counties

Norfolk's Under-15 and Under-19 boys' teams came up against the highest quality of opposition in their first round Inter-Counties Championship matches last weekend (Sunday October 11).

The Under-19 boys, playing against Essex, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire in Peterborough, were faced with nine opponents with England top-50 rankings.

For a young Norfolk squad that included Harry Taylor, Jack Bell, Tom Morris, Alex Williams and Connor Doy it was a tough competition with two still only 15 years old.

Despite stiff opposition from Essex, and then Cambridgeshire, the Norfolk boys battled their way through and got on the scoreboard in every game they played, but nevertheless lost the ties 20-1 and 20-3. Notable matches for Norfolk included a spirited performance by Jack Bell against Niall Engerer of Essex which he lost 3-1, and a close run for Connor Doy, against David MacDonald of Cambridgeshire, who eventually lost 3-2.

Norfolk's best overall performance was against Lincolnshire and although they lost 17-5 it was clearly the most competitive of their matches for all players. Connor, inspired by his earlier close run, won his match 3-0, while Alex Williams, making his Norfolk debut, took a 2-0 lead but despite reaching 11-all in the fourth game could not convert this into a win and eventually lost 3-2. Essex were convincing winners overall with 58 points, Cambridgeshire 39, Lincolnshire 25, Norfolk 9.

For the Under-15s, four of the six were making their county debuts in the ties against Essex, Hertfordshire and Suffolk and comprised Alex Coburn, Giles Evans, Tom Snowling, Izaak Butler, Drew Butchart and Liam Mooney

The Norfolk players all went down 3-0 against Hertfordshire and also against Essex who boasted the England No 1 and Welsh Number 2 in their side.

The final match was against Suffolk and, despite some close games, all players lost 3-0.

Under-15 team manager, Steve Mooney, said: “All six boys played really well throughout and kept fighting right to the end. I think they all raised their game due to playing such good opposition. This was a good learning experience for the boys and they showed plenty of potential for the future.”

Pictured are both Under 19 and Under 15 teams.