Graves, Sheffield 30th June - 1st July 2012
Team:
Hannah Davey
Millie Devey-Smith
Victoria Allen
Kelsey Hodgson
Following two excellent practices, the selected team met for a final hit before the tournament began on the brand new outside courts at Graves.
The weather hampered the whole weekend, although mid summer, it was cold, sometimes wet and always windy throughout the weekend.All credit to the girls who were undeterred by the elements and battled through regardless.
The competition took the format of a ‘round robin’ with five counties competing. 3 singles were played followed by 1 doubles. Each match was worth 2 points. Where there was a draw, a 10 point tie break decided the result.
Durham & Cleveland Score 8-0 Derbyshire won
The singles played by Hannah, Millie & Victoria were 3 victories for Derbyshire with sound performances by all the girls followed by an equally impressive result for Kelsey & Victoria who clinched the doubles. It was however, obvious that D & C were the weakest county.
Yorkshire Score 4-4 Derbyshire won (in the match tie break shoot out)
Our match against Yorkshire looked an uphill battle against higher rated players. Although Hannah & Millie lost their singles in close matches, Vic kept the contest alive in a spirited performance against Rebecca Hill. Following a hailstorm, Hannah & Millie played indoors in an almost faultless doubles to secure a victory for the team in a match tie break after initially winning their doubles.
Excitement mounted as this was the first time Derbyshire girls had beaten Yorkshire for many years. Day 2 began with us playing Cheshire, then Lancashire. All the singles were finished before the start of the doubles, which meant until the very last half an hour Derbyshire could finish 1st – 4th position.
Cheshire Score 4-4 Derbyshire lost (unfortunately in the tie break shoot out)
Two feisty wins by Millie & Vic gave us a 2-1 lead going into the doubles. Unfortunately, after a really close doubles, Vic & Kelsey lost. The result tied the match at 2-2. Hannah replaced a nervous Kelsey to partner Vic in an attempt to pull back the match tie break shoot out. Sadly, it was not to be.
Lancashire Score 4-4 Derbyshire lost (again in the tie break shoot out)
Hannah put in a very spirited performance against a much higher rated, Olivia Peet. Although she lost, Hannah took her to 3 sets. Millie lost, but once again, a fine performance by Vic to defeat Holly Clarke (a girl she had never beaten before) kept the match very much alive. Hannah & Millie then went on to win the doubles against the girls our players had lost to in the singles. It was, therefore, bitterly disappointing to lose again the tie break shoot out.
It is a pity that the whole of the County match is not played to its conclusion before the next one is started. In the space of 20 minutes the last 2 deciding tie break doubles were played almost simultaneously which dashed our hopes of winning the group. Our final position was 3rd having beaten the Winning County, Yorkshire.
My thanks to Diane, who assisted, but especially the girls, who were a credit to Derbyshire throughout the weekend. This bodes well for next years Under 14s team.
There was also an excellent team spirit especially with our boys’ team playing at the same venue.
Jane Rushby, Girls Captain