Durham & Cleveland Ladies gain promotion at Aegon County Cup, July 20-24th 2015.
9 players from across the county travelled down to Cheltenham for the annual Aegon Summer County Cup with a quiet confidence but excited enthusiasm following last years near miss and the last 12 months of continued hard work.
Day 1 saw the team compete against Gloucestershire and with understandable nerves the 3 pairs took to the courts with the aim of getting a strong start on the grass at the East Glos Club. The courts were recently flattened to improve their playability and it didn’t take long for the Durham & Cleveland (D&C) players to settle in and find their range of serves, volleys and groundstrokes. 3-0 up after round 1 put the nerves to rest, which then saw the team take the overall fixture 7-2. The evening was followed by 00wowcher (aka Iona Amos who delivers on meal voucher codes!) finding us an Italian in Cheltenham and an early night knowing that this was only the first day, with 4 ahead that would see a further 36 matches take place for the team!
We knew the next day was going to be one of the toughest of the week. This was because the team were facing Somerset who had been one of their opponents at Barnstaple in the Aegon Winter County Cup last November.
Close could not have described the first 3 matches, which saw Somerset change all of their pairings from the previous day. All 3 matches went to 3 sets and with chances from both sides it was a nail biting couple of hours to see who would come out the better side. Due to D&C’s unrelenting determination, all 3 matches were taken by the ladies. D&C’s number 2 and 3 pairings, Caitlin Hindmarsh and Charlotte Derbyshire along with Nicola Tweedy and captain Libby Fletcher, respectively deserved real credit for their comebacks. Both pairings lost their first sets 1-6 and battled back to take their 2nd and 3rd sets. This definitely swung the momentum to the North East players and round 2 got underway with a hint of relief but confidence growing. Unfortunately there was a bit of drama when Jo Cunliffe from D&C’s number one pair felt unwell and proceeded to leave the court after 1 game to be sick! After a short delay and understanding from Somerset the match continued. To continue the randomness of the day, there was a swirling wind that would have challenged even SW19 players. Hitting as much spin as a washing machine down one end compared to swinging at the ball like a New York Yankee at the other, saw some weird and whacky play but thankfully 2 out of the D&C pairs came through winners, which meant the tie had been won before the 3rd round would be played. With a uncatchable 5-2 lead D&C finished off the tie with a further 2 wins, which saw the same score line as the previous day.
Another tough day followed with further sickness in the team; this time from Jo’s partner Lydia Perkins accompanied by rain and Cambridge had strengthened their team with a world ranked player, Lisa Whybourn who has been as high as 250 (2013). This was going to prove substantial due to them already having a strong team on the first 2 days. D&C committed to the task ahead and gave everything but ultimately the opposition were simply too strong and they lost the tie 2-7. This certainly didn’t reflect how close the matches had been with 2 of their losses going to 3 sets and although the result hadn’t gone the teams way, on reflection the D&C Ladies had done everything they could and the feeling was positive going into the last 2 days.
Cornwall were the opposition on Thursday, and although they had lost all their previous fixtures over the first 3 days, D&C couldn’t take anything for granted. This is particularly important because by day 4 and after 9 gruelling matches already played by each pair, bodies are starting to ache, injuries and tiredness start creeping in! However there was a feeling that this was D&C’s year and although the previous days loss had been tough, the team still believed in their promotion aspiration! With the score 2-1 after round 1, Captain Libby Fletcher took a difficult decision to play through injury in the quest to spin her and Yasmin Tanfield’s way to victory. They whizzed through the first set with confidence but unfortunately their opponents weren’t going to give in and they just edged the 2nd set 7-6, which took it into a 3rd. With momentum swinging their way the Cornwall pair continued their relentless play and proved too strong for the D&C thirds, which saw them take the 3rd set 6-1. On the adjacent courts the D&C number 1 and 2 pairings came through to take their respective matches and with this a 4-2 lead took the team into the final round of matches. The final round saw Lois Page compete in her first ever Ladies County Cup match and although tough due to her and Yasmin taking on Cornwall’s number 1 pairing, it was a great experience for her and she still ended the match with a smile on her face. With a few tired shots the number 1 and 2 pair from D&C took their matches meaning a 6-3 victory and 1 more day to go!
The weather forecast for Friday had been terrible all week and we were hoping it wouldn’t come true. Unfortunately on the morning all the team woke up to rain crashing against the windows and the thought of long delays at the forefront of everyone’s mind. The suggestion that if the courts were unplayable brought many a debate discussing what would happen. It was concluded that if no play took place then D&C and Cambridge would gain promotion because they would take the results from the previous 4 days. In a way the team were thinking this could be a lucky end to the week, but at the same time agreeing that the competition was meant to be played across the 5 days to decide the final results. However this debate was taken from the teams by the grounds man who declared the courts unplayable. With this the referee made the announcement that the results would be taken from the 4 days. This meant D&C Ladies finished 2nd and would gain promotion to group 4 with Cambridge.
Although not the way Aegon Summer County Cup should have ended, a bit of luck was on the ladies side and Captain Libby Fletcher was delighted with the overall week,
“We have been working hard to strengthen the team over recent years and build the team spirit and it was great to welcome new players not only to our team practices but also to the week away. What struck me was the true grit and determination from all the team to dig deep and keep fighting in all the matches. We have narrowly missed out at the last 2 Aegon County Cups but it was our time this Summer and it’s exciting to go back to group 4.”
Aegon County Cup Events give players the opportunity of representing their counties in a competitive team environment and the age group categories range from 9U through to 35 & Over!
The Aegon Summer County Cup Event is possibly the oldest tennis event on the domestic calendar with Gloucestershire men being the winners back in 1895 and Surrey winning the first ladies event in 1899. The forty-four competing counties are organised in six groups of six counties per group and two groups of eight counties on a league basis.
For further information please visit http://www.lta.org.uk/competitions/team-competition/aegon-county-cup/