The Oxford Cadets turned out in force at Leamington for the final round of Heart of England Cadet League matches, organised by Brian Aston and played on 12th March. Pictured on the grass slope outside the arena are Chloe Yau, James Rowan, Niall Harris, Lewis Sumner, Simon Price and Jonah Stott (Captain), a splendid group of young people, of whom the Oxford League, and in particular head coach Karl Bushell, can be proud. Lewis, James and Chloe, making her debut, played the singles in the last league match against Leamington B and claimed a 6-4 victory, aided and abetted by Jonah and Niall in the doubles and by Simon as chief umpire and cheerleader. The two points gained pushed us up to 3rd place in the final league table, behind Rugby A and Rugby B, but ahead of both Leamington sides, both Evesham sides, Birmingham, Coventry and Sutton Coldfield. In the singles tournament which followed, Chloe and James went out in the 2nd round, as did Lewis, who was beaten 3-1 by Niall. Three players reached the last eight, Jonah losing 1-3 to Liam Victoros (Rugby A) and Simon demolished 3-1 by Niall, our star of the show. Niall then played a superb semi-final to beat Paul Lilley (Rugby A) 3-2, but was beaten 3-0 in the Final by Liam, a very worthy winner. Many of our players have enjoyed successes recently, in the Southern Region Championships, in the National Junior League (South) and in the ODTTA Divisionals, while Niall, our youngest representative at 12 years of age, has apparently been marking time, but here he was back on song, showing plenty of composure at the key moments and making the most of his undoubted talent.

By John Birkin