We travelled to Aberdeen on the Thursday with all team members gathering at the venue from 10.30am right up to gone 10pm; but all arrived safely. 8.45am Friday morning we had a breakfast followed by a team meeting to introduce myself to those who didnt know I had taken over as manager and also to pick a B Team Captain which was made easy as Jake Pass was the first player at the meeting! First match England A v England B; the B Team looked very nervous but soon got over their nerves and gained first blood beating the A Team with first frame going to Enrici beating A Team Captain Ben Welfare who failed on a attempted break and dish. The A Team are notoriously slow starters but need to get their confidence back in their next match against Scotland B with a great response winning 9-0 and the B Team helping out their England team mates by beating a strong Ireland team 5-4. From then on it was plain sailing with neither team losing until they met each other in the final which was a credit to all the players with the experience of the A Team pulling them through to win the tournament. The Singles KO competition was also dominated by the English lads with three out of four semi finalists being from the English Teams and two of them being from the B Team and being drawn against each other, meaning that Enrico or Cameron Easton would be a finalist. Kieran Phillips had drawn a strong Adam Mahar from Ireland. The final pairing was 14 year old Enrico Forgione v Kieran Phillips playing his last match as a junior, Enrico bossed the final and ended up gaining a lot of new admirers, myself included, by winning the match. Great news for the future. A very succesfull weekend both on the tables and a pleasure to be in the company of the players. No problems other than A Team Captain, Ben Welfare, coming down with tonsillitis on the Sunday. Sean Lennon England Junior Team Manager
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