The Essex ladies team was in Wrexham for this year’s winter county cup in group 3b.
The team started very strong on day 1 against Northumberland, picking up wins in singles positions 6 (Erica Izatt), 5 (Worthy Goldman), 4 (Olivia Sofroniou) and 1 (Aimee Gibson) and continued with the same conviction in the doubles picking up wins in all 3 doubles matches. (Aimee and Alex Jones at 1, Olivia and Sian Green and 2 and Carys Gilbert and Erica at 3.)
Cheshire beat Hampshire and Isla of White by the same score line of 7-2 on day 1, so day 2 saw us play Hampshire and Isle of White.
Essex didn’t start well going down in the number 6 and 5 singles, but picked up convincing wins in singles 1-4. Doubles was disappointing losing in both 2 and 3 positions but the 1s stayed strong and we won the match 5-4.
Meanwhile, Northumberland brought in a new player in the number 1 position since playing Essex on the Friday. Northumberland beat Cheshire 6-3.
Day 3 and everything was to play for. If Essex won, they would finish the group in first position. If we lost 5-4, we could finish in second place, but a 6-3 loss would see us finish in 3rd place.
As it was, it all came down to our very last doubles match. What a heart breaker. We lost in the third set tie breaker, meaning Northumberland finished 1st, Cheshire 2nd and Essex in 3rd place.
As always, we had a fantastic team, with great fight, grit and heart. I must mention Aimee Gibson’s outstanding performance all weekend going undefeated in the number 1 position in both singles and doubles. A class act to be “looked up to.”
Mel Holmes/Ladies Captain