ESSEX'S young squash players have delivered magnificent displays in the Inter-County Cup with all four teams booking their places in the second round.
The event, designed for emerging players who have yet to represent their county, gave a snapshot of the strength in depth of Essex squash as three teams emerged as outright winners, while the U17s still qualified for round two, finishing second in their group.
Essex even fielded two teams at U13 level, with both squads dominating the opposition.
The U13 A squad hosted Kent and Suffolk at Lexden and were in impressive form. The squad of Hattie Callen, Ruby Mae Hudson and Calum Ewens and Brandon Higgins-Pearce first overcame Kent 3-1 and went one better against Suffolk, recording a 4-0 victory.
The Essex U15s, made up of Charlie Bacon and Alex Walton, together with Amy Aspinall and Elli Barrott and the Essex U13 B team of Aiden Cahill, Max Chilver, Poppy Smee-Hotene and Libby Connor, travelled to Biggin Hill to play Kent and Middlesex.
The U13 B team beat Middlesex, dropping only two games to win 12-2. Libby won her first match in a tournament and Poppy, Aiden and Max also secured convincing wins.
In the Kent game, the No 1 girl felt ill and had to withdraw, which meant Libby got a crucial walkover, winning 3-0.
Although Max and Aiden lost their matches, most of their games were really close. With Poppy winning her match 3-1, it meant that the fixture was tied at 7-7 in games.
Essex came out victorious at 130 points to 105 points.
For the U15s against Middlesex, both Amy and Alex went down 3-1, but there were only a few points difference in every game. Charlie won 3-0, with two of the games being straightforward wins, as did Elli, who dropped only two points in her 3-0 victory. Essex won 8-6.
The match against Kent was nerve-racking and went down to the wire with Amy and Elli producing the victory. Charlie and Alex both narrowly lost their matches 3-2, but they both had some very close games.
Elli came from 2-1 down to beat her opponent 3-2 and Amy, by winning 3-1, made the difference between the teams as Essex came out victorious 10-9.
The U17 team of Will Salmons, Laura Burr, Paige McCoy from Chelmsford and George Rapley, were involved in an incredibly competitive clash against Middlesex and Kent with all three teams finishing with a win apiece.
Essex were second overall after beating Middlesex 3-1 and losing to Kent by the same score.
