Team:
Esther Walls (Captain)
Eleanor Vicary
Sophie Brazell
Lily Owen
Jenny Eales
Georgina Barnes
Eleanor Findlay
Day 1 v Hereford & Worcester
There were some hard fought matches played on the first day of the event, with myself playing at No.1 narrowly missing out on a win after a long 3 set match, and Georgie Barnes battling well but finally defeated in 2 very close sets. Ellie Vicary and Jenny Eales both achieved very good wins, and we finished the singles round 4-2 down in matches needing to win all 3 doubles to avoid overall defeat. Unfortunately, H&W proved strong in the doubles matches and we were unable to pull off the needed wins. Final result: H&W won 7-2.
Day 2 v Wiltshire
Knowing that Wiltshire had defeated Isle of Man 9-0 on the first day, we knew that it was going to be a tough day. We were overpowered on the whole in the singles matches, apart from a fantastic performance from Sophie Brazell which put us on the score board for the day. Unfortunately, we were 5-1 down after the singles matches, therefore, we could not win overall. However, we wanted to win as many rubbers as possible, and were close to winning 2 of the 3 doubles matches. Myself and Sophie lost out in a 3rd set Championship tiebreak, 10-8, but Ellie and Jenny fought really hard to win their doubles to get another win on the board. Final result: Wiltshire won 7-2
Day 3: v Isle of Man
The final day was a straight out relegation battle against the Isle of Man, as we had both lost the previous 2 days. We went into the day feeling confident. Georgie played very well to get our first win of the day, and Eleanor Findlay had a long, tight 3 setter in which she battled very well, sadly the Isle of Man No.6 also battled hard, and Eleanor couldn’t quite clinch it. Jenny stormed to another win, Lily battled through to win a close 3 setter, and Sophie cruised to victory to set us up with a 4-2 lead after the singles rounds. This meant that we only needed to win 1 of the 3 doubles to achieve an overall win. Lily and Georgie, and Ellie and Jenny went on court and both pairs sailed through to win to ensure that Glos Ladies stayed in Group 5 for next year. Final result: Glos won 6-2
Overall it was a good weekend with some great tennis to watch. Everyone worked hard, enjoyed themselves and we can be proud that we managed to avoid relegation.