The Isle of Man joined 43 other teams from across the UK at the recent Lawn Tennis Association Men’s Over-35 County Cup. Devonshire Park in Eastbourne once again hosted the event, with the island team competing in group 6a.  

After major disruption to the tournament because of weather in 2023, the Manx were hoping for a much smoother run this time around.  

The Isle of Man team of four - captain Neil Ronan, Rob Comber, Neri Gricevicius and Jos Woolford - were in for a really tough weekend with the standard very high right through all groups.  

Unfortunately, because of heavy rain overnight, day one saw sets reduced in length to fast four. The conditions were not great, with very strong winds, but the sun was shining.  

This match was to be the toughest of the weekend, with opponents Northamptonshire looking likely to be the winners of the group.  

Gricevicius was on court first taking on Andy Pallister. After a slow start Gricevicius settled, losing the first set 0-4. He then took the second to a tie break but lost out 1-7.  

Comber started similarly but again settled against Dean Gayton, this time losing 4-7 in the second set tie break.  

Ronan and Woolford eventually got on court about 5pm for the first of their two doubles, but came up against a very determined Christian Rostlund and Barry Wilson, losing 0-4, 0-4.  

Straight back on court things improved but were not enough against Simon Gallo and Andy Palliser, losing out 2-4, 2-4. Comber and Gricevicius faired no better in the final doubles of the day, losing out 1-4, 1-4 against Rostlund and Wilson. Result - Northamptonshire 5, Isle of Man 0.  

Day two saw much improved conditions, but still fairly windy. The team took to court in the same order as day one, this time against Northumberland. Gricevicius first up at second singles played well against Roman Stepano, but eventually losing out 3-6, 2-6. Comber was next on court against a very useful player in Adam Boba, Comber finding the going tough and losing 0-6, 3-6.  

Ronan and Woolford again played back-to-back doubles but struggled against their younger opposition, losing their first against Steve Milne and Chris Sharp 0-6, 2-6 and then their second against Boba and Phil Givens 1-6, 2-6.  

Comber and Gricevicius played the last rubber against Milne and Sharp but fared no better, losing 6-0, 6-1. Result - Northumberland 5, Isle of Man 0.  

The final day’s play saw the Isle of Man team take on Cumbria, which historically has been a very close match.  

This year saw the Cumbria team gain two new players in brothers Scott and Chris Whittle which strengthened their team considerably.  

Gricevicius gave a good account of himself, pushing Lee Burrell hard but coming out with a 4-6, 2-6 loss. Comber then played the highly-ranked Chris Whittle but the going was really tough and he lost out 0-6, 1-6.  

In the first of the doubles Ronan and Woolford struggled to get into it and lost out 2-5, 2-6 to Scott Whittle and Andrew Tweedie.  

Gricevicius and Comber then had a titanic battle against Whittle and Tweedie, in the end taking the rubber 7-6, 3-6, 10-4. Ronan and Woolford finished off against the faultless pairing of Burrell and Whittle with a 0-6, 0-6 loss. Result - Cumbria 4, Isle of Man 1,  

The team would like to thank the Isle of Man Lawn Tennis Association for its valuable support. The team would also like to thank the team’s sponsor Sean Oates of ICR Retail Systems for his valuable support for the 10th year in succession. 

NEIL RONAN