Captain Martin Hodgkinson
Ass Captain Jennifer Barron
Team players Grace Hildreth, Grace McCardle, Vineetha Kandikonda, Isabella Paluzzi
We were drawn in a group with Isle of Man and South of Scotland, who were the seeded team in our group. The top two teams in each group go forward to the semi finals on the Sunday.
Sat 1st July Morning match versus Isle of Man Vineetha and Grace McCardle were the first matches on, both girls played a calm match and won convincingly to get the team of to great start. Grace Hildreth then came on as our number 1 and playing a girl that is a year older, played some fabulous tennis won and only dropped 2 games. Grace H and Isabella played doubles then won the final match of the morning match.
Durham and Cleveland 4 Isle of Man 0
Match 1 Grace H v Charlotte Clarke 4-0 4-2 Match 2 Grace M v Ailish Kelly 4-2 4-0 Match 3 Vineetha v Caitlin Henery 4-0 5-3 Doubles C. Henery & S. Long 4-0 4-1
Sat 1st July afternoon match v South of Scotland We played the same team on the afternoon match, so Vineetha was up first and although it was very tight and good match Vineetha came through with the loss of just 2 games. Grace M then started against a well known good player, this was one of the matches of the weekend which could have gone either but Grace pulled out the right shot at the right time to pull out a crucial win. Grace H came on as our number 1 and again, well all weekend was playing against girls a year older than her. Grace played a fantastic match and won the vital 3 point for the team. We conceded the doubles as the girls were tired and cold at that point.
Durham and Cleveland 3 South of Scotland 0 Grace H v Felicity Walls 4-2 4-1 Grace M v Annique Varty 3-5 5-4 1-0 Vineetha v Ailsa Clark 4-0 4-2
Sunday 2nd July morning match semi final v Cumbria After winning our group on Saturday we had Cumbria for a place in he final, Grace M was first on in the morning and again was involved in one of the matches of the weekend. The first 2 sets were split on tiebreaks and Grace lost out in a very tight 3rd set championship breaker. Isabella came on next and under pressure being 1-0 down, but shook of the pressure of the situation and played a great match losing just 1 game.
Grace H then came on to play the number 1 singles and played an unbelievable match and didn't drop a game on her way to put the team 2-1 up. Grace H and Isabella played the final match the doubles to decide the tie, a very close match with all the girls playing great doubles which we won on 3rd set championship breaker.
Durham and Cleveland 3 Cumbria 1
Grace H v Katherine Lee Lukas 4-0 4-0
Grace M v Romily Murray 5-4 4-5 0-1
Isabella v Zoe Davton 4-1 4-0
Grace H & Isabella v Murray & Lee Lukas 5-4 2-4 1-0
Sunday 2nd July Final v North of Scotland This very young group of talented and very hard working girls were looking a little tired after lunch. Vineetha and Grace M were playing first, Vineetha lost a tight first set and after the first set Vineetha's opponent confidence grew and played great 2nd set. Grace played a very smart match and never allowed her opponent to get into the match, and levelled the match at 1-1. Grace H was up next and playing a very tall, talented girl who was top 25 in the country, Grace fought so hard but her older opponent just had a little too much power on the day. Grace H and Isabella played some great doubles over the weekend but didn't quite have the power to win their final match.
Durham and Cleveland 1 North of Scotland 3 Grace H v Heather Barlow 3-5 1-4 Grace M v Annie MacIntosh 4-1 4-2 Vineetha v Jenna Conroy 4-5 2-4 Grace H & Isabella v Barlow & Conroy 2-4 0-4
The team played fantastic over the weekend and the girls had a great ream spirit, with the support of lovely families. Let's hope this time next year we can win the final and move on to the national final.