Chronicle-1978

was quite inexplicably omitted from the side. However, we fielded 4 Appletiser sides in this age division and came through with some very gratifying results. For the first time ever the Kearsney'A'side was linked with Kloof and Pinetown, while our 'B','C and 'D'joined in the fray with Maritzburg schools. J. Baker and A. Hudson had no difficulty in winning every match they played in the 'A' section while J-C. Koenig and B. Devereux lost only the deciding match in the'B'section when they played Maritzburg College. M. Duncan-Brown and R. Pooley lost only one match in the'C section going down to Maritzburg College while M.Mostert and G.Green had to play other schools thirds as well as their fourths and so lost more than they won. However,it was very good experience all round. Our victory in the 'A' section meant that we had to play against the Maritzburg and Northern Districts winners. In the play-off we drew a bye in the first round when Maritzburg College went down to Vryheid High School. When we played Vryheid, Baker and Hudson won the doubles in two straight sets, Hudson won his singles dropping the second set, and J. Baker lost the first, won the second and then had his opponent retire with cramp in the final. However the win was decisive enough for Kearsney to go through to Stellenbosch in December where the twelve top Under 15 teams from the Republic and Rhodesia will do battle for the Appletiser Cup and Bowl. The Baker family went overseas for the month of December so B. Devereux came in to partner A. Hudson. The Juniors continued to play exciting tennis and in the Under 14 Bonnefin Trophy played during the third and fourth quarters they won by 1 point from Maritzburg College. As Maritzburg College had played all their strong opponents by the time the final came, we knew their score on the day of the finals. We had to play Highbury on the final day and needed a good win to take the cup. A good win meant dropping not more than 1 set in the six matches. J. Baker and A. Hudson had no difficulty in taking their singles and doubles but Duncan-Brown lost the first set. That was it; if he lost another then we would share with Maritzburg College. However, he won the second set although he lost the match 2 sets to 1. By taking that set he paved a point for us and with R. Pooley taking his singles fairly easily it all hung on the doubles. To our great delight, DuncanBrown and Pooley took that in straight sets, so we won with a point to spare. After all this, the school Championships were almost an anti-climax. The Senior Trophy was won by N. Engelbrecht who beat K.de Villiers in two straight sets and the Junior cup was won by J. Baker who beat A. Hudson in two. The doubles trophy went to K. de Villiers and I. Oehley who beat C. Livingstone and L. Oosthuizen. I think I have made my point, our Juniors carry us shoulder high and are very seldom beaten. What happens after the age of 15? Our opponents, most of them day schools, have their boys playing week-end tennis against adult sides and many of them play for their clubs. The coaching of ability squads also improves their boys in the bigger centres. As all senior hockey matches are played on Wednesday — our senior Tennis day — our best players are often lost to us. Squash can be played in any kind of weather and at night whereas ours is a fairweather sport. However, there must be an answer somewhere and already plans are being laid to ride the tide of ourjunior success. K.G. FISH 61

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