The Durham & Cleveland Girls 14&U County Cup team travelled to Sheffield to play this year's County Cup fixtures.
Captain Alan Smith wrote the following report about the weekend:
Day 1
Good morning tennis fans! Day 1 of Durham and Cleveland 14&Under girls County Cup at Sheffield Graves Tennis club starts with an early team breakfast. The team for Friday's first match against Yorkshire County was:
1. Lois Page 2. Rebeca Richardson 3. Chante Malo 4. Samantha Cornelius.
Today saw a very strong Yorkshire side dominate all the singles rubbers in windy conditions, although there were some valiant efforts from Samantha and Lois. In the end however Durham and Cleveland just could not get going.
In the doubles rounds the team seemed to rally and nearly produced an upset with Rebeca and Lois coming close in the second set, but they just couldn't seem to break through Yorkshire defences.
After a full day of tennis it was off to cheer up spirits by taking in a milkshake at Meadowhall with a Nandos to follow - very nice!
Day 2
With a nice start time of 12.30pm we had a good rest and it was down to the courts to practice on areas of improvement before taking on South of Scotland. There seemed to be an air of confidence around the girls today; a fresh start and a purpose.
This was highlighted by Rebecca and Chante both racing off to a 1 set lead and then closing the second set out.
The next round of matches saw Donia and Lois do a professional job dispatching their opponents in straight sets. Lois with her flowing service action was acing with ease. Donia showing what a matchplayer she is after flying in from Turkey the day before and still playing with a good head on her shoulders. This meant we were in a great position at 4-0 with the doubles to play.
The doubles carried on the winning streak with Rebecca and Donia re-igniting their partnership from last year.
Lois and Samantha were both the come-back kids, down in both sets but always never out of it and in the end winning 7-5 7-6 (5). A great belief to win was shown by all. After tennis it was off to Pizza Hut to celebrate a good win. Thank you to Chante for a brilliant restaurant choice.
Day 3
The sun was shining for the last day of play and we were in a battle for 3rd place versus our local rivals Northumberland County. All of the girls knew each other and trained together so we knew it was going to be a tight fixture. The start didn't go according to plan with Chante playing against Long Ching. Chante appeared a little frustrated with how she was playing in the first; however she was able to leave the court having lost but happy with her performance in the second set.
Next up was Lois versus Claudette and this was match that had flashes of brilliance for Lois. At time Claudette's consistency and defensive game really paid off and Lois just couldn't get through her defences.
At 2-0 down, it was time Rebecca Richardson to step up and she did just that, keeping her cool and focus under a bizarre situation. I must applaud Francesca Booth for being a team player and playing on with a back injury. She ended losing her singles 6-2 6-0 with some great underarm serves.
At 2-1 the D&C come back was now on and Donia beat Steph Booth to equal the match. She did so with style and being very tennis smart. Steph had big forehands and backhands and lots of chances to finish Donia at the net but Donia had her counter punching head on with some great variety to see it out 6-4 6-2 . The fixture was now level at 2-2 and so we turned to the doubles. Lois and Chante just lost to Claudette and Long Ching with a solid performance from Northumberland who didn’t miss much from the back and closed out the win 6-1 6-2 . Donia and Rebecca won against Steph and Fran, who was still carrying her injury. The match was levelled to 3-3 and went to the lottery match tie break to 10 points to decide the fixture.
Rebecca & Donia went on against Claudette and Steph; the tie break was full of ups and downs, chance to take and chances given away. In the end everyone played well but Northumberland got the win 13-11 and took third position - well played girls.
There was just one twist left after being the last people on the courts to leave in gorgeous sunshine, a slight bump involving the mini bus and the gate at Graves Tennis Centre meant that the D&C team not only lost but had to travel home with their victors alongside them. I just would to finish on saying thank you to Sarah Gregg for taking the girls home! Thanks to my team for playing really well and lastly to my wife for being the female chaperone for the first time. We’re already looking forward to next year!
Players:
Donia Abdel-Aziz, Rebecca Richardson, Lois Page, Chante Malo and Samantha Cornelius