Branch Updates

The OR Society is home to several Branches, Clubs and Societies. Please do get in touch with the OR Society if you would like to find out more about what is involved or to be put in touch with the relevant Branch, Club or Society Lead.

It has been great this summer to see the grass tournaments back in full swing and with full audiences in attendance once again, and I hope you’ve all been able to get out and enjoy some tennis, be it playing or spectating.

The year’s summer tennis season kicked off as usual with a wellattended and well-fought OR vs current Repton team evening on Tuesday 24th May. The School team were brilliant hosts as always and worthy opponents. The evening included singles, doubles and mixed doubles, with an opportunity for all levels and ages of ORs to get on court and get involved. It was great to see a record OR attendance at the fixture. The weather was obliging, and the School put on an excellent spread of food for the hungry players. After a number of close-fought matches the Old Reptonians’ experience finally showed with a finishing rubber score of 17-12. The evening ended with a trip to the pub for the ORs – it’s like we’ve never been away! Massive thanks to James Rushby, Director of Tennis, for organising the event, and to Phil Brindley (N’02) for captaining the OR team.

The 2022 D’Abernon Cup competition kicked off on 19th June, as we looked to retain our title from 2019, after the competition was postponed in 2020 and 2021. Our first-round tie promised to be a challenging encounter away at Sherborne (Dorset). With a depleted team due to a number of injuries and a Covid case, our campaign seemed at risk of ending before it had begun. The ideal time, then, for D’Abernon Cup debutant Benson Greatrex (O’65) to step up to the plate and demonstrate a volley masterclass and take two wins out of two (outwitting much younger opponents!), to lead the team to a 3-1 win. Thanks also to Dom Lea (S’11), and Dan Cottier (L’99) for making the journey down to Devon to get us off to a winning start.

The Semi-Final was due to be held at Repton on 7th August against Wellington, in a re-match of the 2018 quarter finals. Unfortunately, Wellington had a lastminute drop out so couldn’t field a full team and had to forfeit the match, handing us a place in our 7th final in the last 7 competitions - a record we are rightly proud of.

The final took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet club on Sunday 4thSeptember on the hallowed turf at Aorangi Park, as we took on new opposition in Bromsgrove Old Boys. The Old Reptonians team of Paddy Foley (N’11), Alex Grocott (S’10), Dan Cottier (L’99), Rich Harrison (H’92), Jamie Muirhead (C’09) and Dom Lea (S’11) battled hard to open up a strong 2-1 lead after the first round of doubles. Cottier and Harrison continued to make smooth progress, to put the score at 3-1 to Repton, but the match still appeared very much in the balance as both remaining matches in the round went into important tie-breaks. A couple of strong returns at the right moment from Muirhead and Lea made it 4-1, while Foley and Grocott found an impressive extra gear in their deciding set to put the match beyond doubt, playing some of their best tennis under pressure at the most important moments. A clean sweep in the last round made the overall score 8-1 and sealed an excellent defence of the D’Abernon Cup title for us. Our 5th title in the last seven competitions!

Thanks to everyone who has represented and supported the team this year. It’s a real pleasure to organise, with such fantastic group of people engaged and involved. Thanks also to Wimbledon for hosting the D’Abernon Cup final once again and making it such an occasion.

If you would like to get more involved in the D’Abernon Cup team, please let me know you’re interested in throwing your hat in the ring and give me an indication of your playing level.

Jamie Muirhead (C’09)