National Fathers & Sons at LTCC
Jan 07, 2022 - Jan 09, 2022 Leamington B Taylor-Matthews
LTCC played host to the National Fathers & Sons over the weekend, with both the level and handicap editions both at full capacity.
In the level championship. the results followed seeding with the Henmans (Radley) meeting the Moores (MCC) in the final. Both pairs have supported the tournament in previous years, with Mike & Henry Henman already having their names on the trophy once before.
A great display of tennis was played out by both pairs, with some good restes taking place. Unfortunately for the Moores, they couldn't penetrate the reliability of Mike & Henry, who were able to dominate the service end for long periods of the match. In a good battle, the Henmans were just too good and ran out 8-1 winners.
The handicap competition saw 3 full Leamington pairings, with another 3 represented with family members from a different home club. We arrived at the Semi Final stage with Ben Andrews the sole remaining Leamington player, partnered by his Father Stuart. Each pair in the semi final played at different courts, giving a good spread of clubs in the hunt for the trophy.
The Boughtons (Oratory) opened up a 3-0 lead against the Harlands (Bristol) and looked to be in control of a tight match, with the scoreboard ticking over in their favour. However, the Harlands dug in very well and got themselves back into the match. From 3-3, it was game for game all the way through to the inevitable 5-5 game where the Harlands were able to close out the match 6-5.
The second semi final saw the Andrews against the Mansons (Oxford/Radley). The son, Louis Manson had barely missed a forehand volley for the whole weekend and is undoubtedly going to improve vastly in a short space of time if he continues the way he is going. Try as they might, Stuart & Ben couldn't get through the defence of both Mansons volleying, and succumbed to a 6-2 defeat unfortunately.
The final saw much of the same, with the Mansons being so reliable in the air. Chris and Rhys Harland were having to play aggressively, and made more mistakes than they had done previously, and that was purely down to the pressure being applied by Chris & Louis Manson. A very entertaining match saw the Mansons run out 6-3 winners.
