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13th June 2011

With Sutton currently 3rd in the group and Bromley sitting in 4th place, the defending National Champions knew that this was a “must win” match for both sides. Only the top three teams in the group can progress through to the next stage of the competition, and whichever team lost on Sunday would be out.

With the rain at the weekend and Sutton having no indoor courts at their venue, the match had to be played down the road at David Lloyd Raynes Park. This didn’t bode well as it was on these super fast indoor carpet courts three weeks earlier that Bromley lost 6-0 to the host venue.

Playing at number one this week was Kent’s No.1 and GB No.17, Sean Thornley. He was up against a formidable opponent in Josh Goodall, ranked seven places higher than Thornley in the country at No.10.

Carrying a niggling injury, at 2-2 in the first set Thornley couldn’t continue comfortably and decided to sacrifice his singles rubber and save himself for his doubles match. Bromley were 1-0 down already……….

Bromley’s number two was Jean-Rene Lisnard, the current French No. 21 who still plays on the international stage and achieved a career high ATP Ranking of 84, reaching the third round of the Australian Open in 2005. Competing against Sutton’s Nick Lester, “JR”, as he is known on the tour, was taken to a tie break in the first set but came through to win 7-6, 6-2.

Andrew Richardson, Bromley’s Head Coach and Britain’s former No.3 was up against Andrew Bettles. The first set went to a tie break which Richardson lost. Drawing on his wealth of experience, Richardson re-grouped and overwhelmed his younger opponent in the next two sets to win 6-7, 6-2, 6-4.

Completing the line-up against Sutton’s Oliver Hudson was Britain’s former number 8 and Bromley’s Team Manager, Oliver Freelove. Again the match didn’t go to plan with the first set being decided on a tie break which went in favour of the Sutton player. This was a crucial match in the tie and nerves were being shown by spectators from both sides as the second set also went to a tie-breaker, which Freelove won to level the match at one set all. The third set was incredibly close with just one break of serve, but Freelove closed out the match 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 to take Bromley into a 3-1 lead going into the doubles.

Thornley and Lisnard paired up for Bromley to take on Lester and Bettles. Losing the first set again on a tie-break, the Bromley pair levelled the match by winning the second set 6-3. It couldn’t have been closer going in to a Champions Tie Break to decide the match, but the Bromley paired pulled through to win 6-7, 6-3, (10-7).

Contesting Bromley’s other doubles rubber were Freelove and Richardson against Sutton’s Josh Goodall and John Richards. After losing the first set the Bromley pair dug deep to secure the second set and, after winning the Champions Tie-break, emerged victorious 4-6, 6-4 (10-8).

Bromley win overall 5-1.

Freelove was thrilled after the match. “This was such an important tie for both teams. With so many tie-breaks and first set losses the final score of 5-1 doesn’t truly reflect just how close a call it was for Bromley today. Sutton has been one of our biggest rivals for a number of seasons and, whilst we realise that we have put them out of the competition for this year, we are absolutely delighted to have qualified for the play-offs on July 2nd and then hopefully on to the National Finals in Bournemouth”.

With Bromley, Raynes Park and Ipswich all on the same number of points in their group, Bromley will have to wait until Sunday when Ipswich contest their last match of the season to discover if the play-off will be a home or away fixture. They could have to travel to compete against one of the teams from the North, the Midlands or the South West of the country.

Back to News | Bromley LTC Title Defence Still Alive | Handicap Finals Day & Open Day Sunday 19th June