Durham & Cleveland (D&C) Ladies Team retain place in National Group 4 at Aegon County Cup.
Following a hard fought promotion from group 5 last year, the team were determined to retain their position in group 4 a year later. Following a fun but gruelling 5 days of competing at West Worthing Tennis Club, Sussex between Monday 18 July and Friday 22 July - their mission was accomplished.
Team practices beforehand saw the highest number of players from across the county attend. The players came from clubs from every corner of the county including Middlesbrough, Sunderland, County Durham, Stockton, along with Redcar and Cleveland. The incredible commitment, dedication and hard work from all the players and their coaches made the final selection a tough decision for captain, Libby Fletcher, which is a great position to be in. Nine players were ultimately chosen to represent Durham & Cleveland for this year’s event with two girls making their debut.
Day 1 saw the team competing against Avon. The establish pair of ‘oldies’ Jo Cunliffe and Lydia Perkins were split and new pairings established with Caitlin Hindmarsh and Jo Cunliffe selected as the number 1 pair, Lydia Perkins and Lois Page at 2 and Yasmin Tanfield and Nicola Tweedy at 3. After a close first set and being 3-5 down in the tiebreak Hindmarsh and Cunliffe battled back and won their match showing the determination and spirit that stuck with the team for the rest of the week! Perkins and Page, who were playing for the first time together also got off to a great start with a win. Playing Avon’s first pair Tanfield and Tweedy went out the blocks like a flash and won the first set however, their opponents found their range, which meant a close battle was played out on the beautiful grass courts right in front of the main clubhouse. The second set went to a tiebreak and the Avon pair played solid tennis and only dropped a point, which took the match to a third. The third set followed the theme of end to end tennis keeping it close the whole way through and a third set tiebreak was inevitable. At 6-6 all was to play for but again Avon stepped up and took the tiebreak and the match but the girls spirit and fight right to the end was inspiring. This meant that D&C were 2-1 up with a further 6 rubbers to be played out. The belief and confidence within the North East based team was starting to see positive net play, which is vital on a grass court, and confidence. This saw 4 out of the next 6 matches won by the team and a first day victory of 6-3.
Day 2 was a tie against 1 of the 2 Welsh teams competing throughout the week. North Wales were D&C’s opponents and the team knew the players strengths after competing against them in Barnstaple 2 years ago in the Aegon Winter County Cup. Following a couple of quick matches which went D&C’s way, Lydia and Lois played against North Wales number 1 pair, a tough pair with one being a tricky left handed player. In the searing heat, the D&C girls lost the first set but showed the determination and true fight of Northerners in the second set The character shown was incredible, particularly when Perkins and Page had their chances earlier in that set to take it, but it ended up going to a tiebreak where spectators were treated to a great contest with the D&C players sneaking the tiebreak 9-7! The momentum was with D&C however after a closely fought third set the North Wales players took it 6-4. This meant the score again was 2-1 to D&C after round 1 - although by this time it was already well after lunch! Round 2 saw Team D&C win another 2 matches, which meant the team needed 1 more match to take the tie. At this point Captain decided it was time to give the senior team player a rest so a debut appearance was on the cards with Niamh Packer taking to the court with Lois for the last round. Unfortunately both our no 2&3 pairings lost however the strength of Hindmarsh and Cunliffe against North Wales number 3’s was too powerful, which meant a final score of 5-4, and another win for D&C.
So 2 out of 2 match wins for D&C over the first couple of days. However Day 3 saw Sussex as the teams opponents on the Wednesday who we knew would be strong. A difficult but smart decision was made by Captain Fletcher, which meant resting Lydia (who was playing through an injury) to ensure we had a full strength team for day 4 against South Wales a match we knew we could win and would keep up safely in group 4. So the match against Sussex saw probably one of our youngest teams for a while out on the courts and the girls did amazingly well considering Sussex were very strong. Hindmarsh and Page who were paired together for the day, took a set in their first match against a player who travels to Iowa, America next month on a University Tennis Scholarship and her doubles partner. The other matches all finished with Sussex taking all sets but were well fought out. Beth Laybourne made her debut for the D&C Ladies Team and had a great first match with Caitlin against their number 3 pair. Beth was fearless, showcasing solid volleys and brave shots and you could tell she thrived in the occasion! The match was lost 9-0 but once again the spirit and fight in the team was second to none and showed great signs for the future.
Day 4 was the key day. A win would guarantee the team to stay in group 4, so focus and discipline was needed. South Wales had drafted in 2 very experienced players, who took over the teams number 1 spot. Lydia and Lois were drawn against them first, and although they had their chances the Welsh pair took the key moments to beat the D&C players 6-3, 6-2. Yasmin and Nicola had started brightly and taken the first set against the number 2’s. End to end tennis between the 4 players saw a second set tiebreak decide the match would go to a third. It was nail biting to watch, with the momentum swinging from the Welsh to the D&C players and back again until a crunch game mid-way through the set that Yas and Nicola took.
After over 2.5 hours of gruelling tennis it was the North East based pair who won the 3rd set tiebreak and match through sheer determination and the effect of this win could not be underestimated. The difference between 2-1 down with two players feeling shattered and gutted compared to 2-1 up with two players, still feeling shattered, but elated with a win and the whole team spirit lifted was huge. In the second round Caitlin and Jo were on fire and possibly played their best match of the week at the crucial time. Absolutely focused from start to finish, with solid serving and volleys the girls took the match in convincing style against South Wales No.1s. This was backed up by victories from Lydia and Lois, which meant we were 4-2 up going into the last round. The final round saw another two wins and the match taken by Team D&C 6-3. The feeling felt by the team was unreal, the hard work had paid off and a trip to the Mexican restaurant followed!
The final day had arrived and similar to the Wednesday, the team knew Cambridge would be tough opponents. Again a decision by the Captain saw the opportunity for Beth and Niamh to gain more experience playing for the ladies team and both were put in from the start. The team had given their all across the week, and continued against Cambridge who had also been promoted last year with D&C. However, they were simply too strong and although Caitlin and Jo had two, three set matches the tie concluded at 6-0. As teams had long drives home and all matches at our venue had a result we didn’t play the last round and team D&C were able to set off on their long journey home earlier - tired from a tough week but happy to achieve their goal.
So the future is definitely bright for Team D&C Ladies and as Libby (Captain) highlighted,
“What an achievement! This was from everyone’s hard work and commitment, along with the positive environment the team has created. It’s been a fun week for everyone and I am so incredibly proud of the team. We are really looking forward to Aegon Winter County Cup, which is taking place at the end of November this year.”
Team Players Included:
- Jo Cunliffe (Vice Captain)
- Libby Fletcher (Captain)
- Caitlin Hindmarsh
- Beth Laybourne
- Niamh Packer
- Lois Page
- Lydia Perkins (Vice Captain)
- Yasmin Tanfield
- Nicola Tweedy