Cardiff City TTC II & III continued their endeavours in British league this past weekend. CCTTC II once again travelled to Wellingborough for Division 2 Midlands whilst CCTTC III journeyed to Derby to continue their campaign in Division 5. Both teams’ line ups were slightly altered from the last weekend of play with Lloyd Gregory & Marc Castro stepping in for Nathan Thomas & Cade Short in division 2 and father and son duo Chris & Louis Price replacing Danielle De Jong & Pouyan Javanmard in the division 5 team.
Division 2 Midlands
CCTTC II occupied the 4th place in their league table before the weekend’s matches having gained 2 wins, 1 draw & 1 loss during the first weekends play. The league table was a close affair however with all three teams above Cardiff only being 1 point in front of them.
First up was Batts III who were down in 8th place in the league. The match got off to a slow start with Patrick losing out to Dye 3-0 but then wins for Dan vs Patel (3-0), Marc vs Jones (3-2) and Lloyd vs Jarvis (3-0) gave Cardiff a 3-1 overall lead heading into the doubles. The doubles matches were to be evenly split with Dan & Patrick losing to Dye & Walsh 3-1 but Lloyd and Marc gaining the victory against Jones & Patel 3-0. The overall score sat at 4-2 in favour of Cardiff after the doubles and the remaining four singles all went Cardiff’s way to secure a strong 8-2 win. Dan defeated Dye 3-1, Patrick beat Jones also 3-1, Lloyd won against Patel 3-0 and Marc beat Jarvis 3-0 to finish proceedings.
The Saturday afternoon match for Cardiff was against 3rd placed Archway Peterborough. With Cardiff 1 point behind Archway in the league table it looked as if it may be an important match in determining the final positions of the teams at the end of the season.
Dan was up first and beat Cherry 3-2 to give Cardiff an early lead. Archways number 1 Adam Jepson was in good form however as Patrick lost out in the second match 3-2. Lloyd then regained the lead for Cardiff by beating Facey 3-0 but Archway once again struck back as Gray defeated Marc 3-0 in the last singles before the doubles. The doubles didn’t go well for Cardiff as they lost both matches 3-0, Dan & Patrick against Jepson & Gray and Lloyd & Marc against Cherry & Facey to give Archway a 4-2 lead heading into the second round of singles matches.
Archway extended their lead even further as Dan lost to Jepson 3-2; meaning Cardiff now required all 3 of the remaining singles matches to salvage a draw. Lloyd did his bit, defeating Cherry 3-0, which was followed up by Patrick beating Gray 3-2. This brought the match score to 5-4 to Archway with Marc to play in the final singles match needing to win. Marc did exactly that, beating Facey 3-1 under pressure to gain a draw and a point for Cardiff.
Sunday morning saw another team in the hunt for the top spots facing off against Cardiff. This time it was Woodfield who were level on points going into the match.
It was Woodfield who gained the early advantage with Horton defeating Patrick 3-0. This advantage was short lived however as Dan defeated Glynn 3-0, Castro beat Frain 3-2 and Lloyd won against Thompson 3-2 to give Cardiff a 3-1 lead going into the doubles. Cardiff were determined not to suffer another 2 doubles loses like in the match against Archway the day before and made sure they didn’t when Dan & Patrick beat Horton & Thompson 3-1, followed up by Lloyd & Marc beating Glynn & Frain 3-2. In the second round of singles matches Dan beat Horton 3-1, before Patrick beat Frain 3-2 & Marc beat Thompson 3-1. The only hiccup was Lloyd losing out to Glynn 3-1 but Cardiff still recorded a convincing 8-2 overall victory.
The last Match of the weekend was against Westfield. The first round of singles proved even, finishing at 2-2 overall, as Dan & Lloyd won against Przybysz & Alsop both 3-0 but Patrick & Marc lost out to Fuller & Stefanov 3-0. These 2 singles victories for Westfield proved to be their only victories however as Dan & Patrick won their doubles 3-1 and Lloyd & Marc won theirs 3-0. The second round of singles also all went the way of Cardiff as Dan beat Fuller 3-2, Patrick beat Stefanov 3-2, Lloyd beat Przybysz 3-0 and Marc finished the weekend off with a 3-1 win against Alsop.
Cardiff are currently 2nd in the table, one point behind York Gardens.
Division 5
CCTTC III travelled to once again compete in the deceptively strong division 5.
Cardiff’s first match was against Archway Peterborough III and it was to be a winning start to the weekend for the team. Benedict squeezed past Freeland 3-2, before Chris beat Kostadinov 3-1 to double Cardiff’s lead. Archway managed to pull one back when Hart won against Guillermo 3-0 but Louis was dominant in defeating Steele 3-0 to give Cardiff a 3-1 lead before the doubles. The doubles matches only strengthened Cardiff’s position as Chris & Louis won 3-0 followed by Benedict & Guillermo winning 3-1. This gave Cardiff a 5-1 lead prior to the second round of singles which proved to be tough for Cardiff. Chris was victorious against Freeland 3-0 but that was the last individual victory as Benedict lost out to Hart 3-0, Louis was beaten by Kostadinov 3-1 and Guillermo lost to Steele 3-1. Cardiff however had already secured the overall team victory 6-4.
Next match of the day for Cardiff was top of the table Wensum TTC. In what was always going to be a tough encounter Cardiff gave their all and managed to pick up 2 victories but unfortunately fell to an 8-2 defeat. Louis defeated Goss 3-0 and Benedict & Guillermo beat Goss & Goss 3-0 but these were to be the only wins for Cardiff as Benedict lost out to Molloy and Goss 3-0, Chris lost to Cockburn and Molloy 3-1 & 3-0, Louis lost to Cockburn 3-2 and Guillermo lost out to Goss and Goss 3-0.
Sunday morning meant a match against Hillingdon TTC for Cardiff. Hillingdon were second in the league table so once again Cardiff faced a tough encounter. Things got off to a good start for Cardiff as Chris comfortably beat Hagger 3-0. The next three singles matches were all close affairs but unfortunately went the way of Hillingdon. Benedict lost out to Boehme 3-1, Louis came close to victory but fell to Cheuklim Li 3-2 and Guillermo lost his match to Reed 3-1. Cardiff needed to gain something from the doubles matches to get the match back on track but again it was a case of just missing out in close matches. Chris & Louis lost to Boehme & Hagger 3-1 despite the score in all the sets being within a few points. This was followed by Benedict & Guillermo losing out to Reed & Cheuklim Li 3-0 to give Hillingdon a healthy lead heading into the second round of singles matches.
Chris lost to Boehme 3-0 although two of the sets finished 13-11 showing what a close match it was. Louis also then had a close contest with Hagger with two sets in this match being settled in deuce, but eventually lost 3-1. Reed then won for Hillingdon against Benedict 3-0 before Guillermo managed to end the overall team match with a consolation victory for Cardiff by defeating Cheukim Li in a match that went the distance 3-2.
The final match of the weekend for CCTTC III was against Colebridge TTC. Colebridge were 3rd in the league table meaning Cardiff had played the top 3 teams in the division in a row.
The momentum of the match during the first round of singles swayed back and fore as Colebridge won the first match with Conteh beating Benedict 3-1 with all the sets being within two points of each other. Chris then levelled the match as he comfortably defeated Hewitt 3-0. Colebridge then once again gained the advantage as Guillermo lost out to Rai 3-0, but Louis followed his father by levelling the match at 2-2 by beating Fellows 3-0. With nothing to separate the teams after the singles it was time for the doubles matches which were now going to prove important in the overall outcome of the match. Unfortunately both doubles matches went the way of Colebridge as Chris & Louis lost out 3-1 to Conteh & Rai. This was followed by Fellows & Hewitt defeating Benedict & Guillermo 3-0 to give Colebridge a 4-2 advantage.
The second round of singles matches proved to be as even as the first round with both teams picking up 2 victories each. Conteh beat Chris 3-0 and Rai beat Benedict by the narrowest of margins in a fantastic match that was eventually settled 11-9 in the fifth set. This was Colebridges sixth win in the match and secured the victory overall but Cardiff continued to fight as Louis beat Hewitt 3-1 and Guillermo defeated Fellows 3-1 to end the match as a close 6-4 loss.
CCTTC III now sit in 5th position in the league table.