Bucks were the host county this year and so the tie was played at Bucks Indoor Centre, High Wycombe.
We played Middlesex in the 1st round and lost 4-0 to a very strong team. All our players – Lauren Kingsparke, Sophie Russell and Imogen Scarles – performed well but Middlesex were very powerful. Also Lauren and Imogen are still under 11 players so played opposition 18 months older than them.
We then played Oxfordshire and started with an outstanding 4-0 4-1 win for Imogen. Sophie then lost a tough match, but Lauren won in 3 sets against their no.1 player – a great effort. We needed the doubles to confirm victory but lost it on a match tiebreak. This meant the same pairs played another match tiebreak to decide the match. Imogen and Lauren came through 10-3, a great win!
On Sunday our 3rd match was against Gloucestershire. Again Imogen proved too strong for her opponent and won in straight sets. Then came the match of the tie with Sophie Russell winning 10-8 in the match tiebreak. Lauren then lost to their no.1 player, but the level of her play was tremendous. As against Oxfordshire we lost the doubles on a match tiebreak but won the tiebreak shootout. So another good win.
Our last match was against Hertfordshire, another very strong team. We lost 4-0 but competed well in every match. Lauren McKinlay stood in for Sophie in this round and although a little nervous as this was her county cup debut she played with real style and commitment.
Middlesex won overall, with Hertfordshire as runners-up. Their match was closely fought with Middlesex winning on the doubles.
Paul Davey