The Ladies’ team were competing in Group 1 again this year at Eastbourne. 
The team was: Esther Adeshina, Hannah Smith, Freya Davies, Harriet Jones, Taro Keens, Lisa Hanley, Debbie Hale, Charlotte Howard
Captain: Sue Espley
Day 1 vs Nottinghamshire
The team was: Freya and Hannah Esther and Taz Lisa and Harriet
Rainy weather meant that our matches were delayed, and due to that the scoring system became fast 4. Lisa and Harriet didn’t manage to win their first match, but we managed to win all the others to the end of the second round when rain stopped play which ended on Hampshire & IOW being 5-1 up.
Day 2 vs Leicestershire and Hertfordshire
Day 2 meant we firstly had to complete yesterday’s match. Debbie and Charlotte replaced Lisa and Harriet as the 3rd pair. The team managed wins across the board, so the final result against Nottinghamshire was 8-1.
At 3:45 we finally started our second match against Hertfordshire. We had to go offsite to Meads Tennis Club, still using Fast4 scoring.
Our team was: Freya and Hannah Esther and Taz Debbie and Harriet
They are the strongest team and they played very solid doubles. We only managed to win 2 matches with some excellent play by Taz and Esther. Sadly we lost 3 matches in the third set tiebreak. Charlotte replaced Harriet in the 3rd round playing with Debbie. End of day result 7-2 to Hertfordshire.
Day 3 vs Leicestershire and Northumberland
The forecast for Wednesday was the best of the week, so the decision was made to continue to play Fast4 scoring and try and play Wednesdays and Thursdays matches as far as possible as the forecast was very bad for Thursday.
The team against Leicestershire was: Freya and Hannah Esther and Taz Lisa and Harry.
Lisa and Harry managed to win against the 2nd pair whilst the other pairs managed to win all their matches. Debbie came in for Freya in the 3rd round to play with Hannah. Match result was 7-2 to Hampshire.
2nd match vs Northumberland
The team for this match was back to: Freya and Hannah Esther and Taz Lisa and Harry.
We only managed to play 2 rounds before the rain came in but we were 4-2 up by the end of play. Harriet and Lisa and Freya and Hannah lost their matches in the second round.
Day 4 vs Northumberland
We had to finish the Northumberland match but the forecast for the day was terrible. No play was possible.
Day 5 vs Northumberland and Surrey
We had to finish our match against Northumberland indoors at a David Lloyd centre as the grass was still unplayable. The pairs remained the same.
Freya and Hannah won their match which meant we had a 5-4 victory against Northumberland.
2nd match vs Surrey
This match was to decide who came 2nd in the Group.
The team was: Freya and Hannah Esther and Taz Harriet and Lisa
After the first round we were 2-1 up with wins from Lisa and Harriet and Freya and Hannah.
Debbie and Charlotte replaced Lisa and Harriet in the second round. They won along with Taz and Esther taking us to 4-2 for the deciding round. Both Hannah and Freya and Taz and Esther won their matches giving us a final result of 6-3 to Hampshire & IOW.
What a week it had been, we’ve never had weather like it or used the Fast4 scoring system, which is brutal in this situation. The team was amazingly adaptable and are so proud to have come second in Group 1 again.
Esther and Taz were our top pair winning 12/15 matches playing some excellent doubles. There was only one pair who won more matches in the week. This is an amazing achievement in Group 1.
The final results for the group were:
- Hertfordshire
- Hampshire and IOW
- Surrey
- Northumberland
- Leicestershire
- Nottinghamshire
I’d like a special mention to Sue and John Keywood from Milford on Sea who came and supported us all week in the terrible weather. Thank you!
The team are looking forward to having another attempt at trying to beat Hertfordshire next year!!
Sue Espley – Ladies’ Captain
