Ladies’ Report from Sue Espley, Ladies’ Captain:
The team was:Esther Adeshina, Freya Davies, Debbie Hale, Lisa Hanley, Charlotte Howard, Harriet Jones, Taro Keens, Aisling Mcgrane, Hannah Smith. Reserve: Michelle Dutton
Team Captain: Sue Espley
.jpg "Ladies Hampshire & Isle of Wight County Summer County Week Team 2022")
The other counties in the division were: Hertfordshire, Kent, Northumberland, Surrey, Yorkshire
Day 1 vs Northumberland
The team was: Hannah and Freya, Harry and Taz, Esther and Lottie
The Northumberland team had three strong pairs. Our team were struggling with several injuries, which weakened our competitive edge. However, Hannah and Freya managed two wins and a tie break 3rd set against their first pair. Harry and Taz sadly lost a close third set tie break against their 3rd pair in the second round. Aisling came in for Esther in the 2/3 rounds, but sadly our third pair also didn’t manage to win any rubbers, although they had a good battle against the Northumberland 1st pair in the last round. End of day result 7-2 to Northumberland.
Day 2 vs Kent
The team was: Freya and Hannah, Harry and Taz, Esther and Debbie
Freya and Hannah had a great day winning all three matches. Esther and Debbie played 2 rounds and also won both matches. Harry and Taz had a 3rd set tie break in their first round but sadly was not able to convert to the win. For round 3 we changed the 2nd pair to Taz and Lottie who had a great win in 3rd set tie break. Aisling came in with Debbie for the 3rd round. A good day winning 6-3.
Day 3 vs Yorkshire
The team was: Hannah and Freya, Lisa and Harry, Taz and Lottie
Hannah and Freya and Lisa and Harry had a great day winning all three rounds. Taz and Lottie had a very close first round match losing in the tie break third set. Debbie and Esther came on as the 3rd pair for the final round and also managed to win. Final day result 7-2 to Hampshire & IOW.
Day 4 vs Surrey
The team was: Freya and Hannah, Lisa and Harry, Esther and Debbie
Freya and Hannah fought very hard to win all three matches. Lisa and Harry managed a win in the first round. Esther and Debbie lost a very close third set tie break in their second match.
Taz came in and played with Esther in the third round and won. End of day result was a 5-4 win.
Day 5 vs Hertfordshire
The team was: Hannah and Freya, Lisa and Harry, Lottie and Aisling
Hannah and Freya had an epic first round match losing the 3rd set tie break 15-13 to the Herts 1st pair who were on 12 out of 12 matches at the beginning of the day. Debbie then came in to replace Freya with Hannah and were winning when the rain came. Herts conceded this match.
Harry and Lisa also lost in the tie break third set in their first match. Due to the rain, the Herts team conceded two matches in the final round as they had already won the division. However, Harry and Lisa played the last round against the Herts 1st pair who wanted to try and get 15 out of 15, which they did. End of day result 6-3 to Hertfordshire.
The overall result of the division was: 1st Hertfordshire, 2nd Northumberland, 3rd Hampshire and IOW, 4th Surrey, 5th Yorkshire, 6th Kent.
I was so proud of the team’s performance during the week. We had to manage injuries and unavailability of three of our top players, along with searing temperatures, and we still managed 3rd place, which was incredible.
We have such a great team spirit and can’t wait to have another go next year.
Mens Report from Julian Godfrey, Mens Captain:
The Team was: Henry Bowden, Louis Bowden, James Chaudry, Dean Cooper Kirby, Ryan Golesworthy, Josh Goodall, Liam Hignett, George Houghton, George Russell
.jpg "Men's Hampshire & Isle of Wight County Summer County Week Team 2022")
Day 1 vs Cumbria
The team was: 1 - Goodall + L Bowden, 2 - Hignett + Golesworthy, 3 - Chaudry + Russell
Subs - H Bowden + Cooper Kirby
We won 7/2, the first time for a few years! Great to see Louis step up to that level with ease, and George Russell to win two in his first match along with Henry winning one.
Day 2 vs Devon
The team was: 1 - Hignett + Golesworthy, 2 - Goodall + L Bowden, 3 - Chaudry + Russell
Subs - H Bowden + Cooper Kirby
This was a huge day, with the win yesterday this would set us up to possibly go up as Devon were a strong side. We went 2 - 1 down where our 3rds lost to their thirds but remarkably Chaudry and Russell beat their 2nds which meant we squeaked a 5/4 win.
Day 3 vs Lancashire
This was the big match as both of us were now favourites to go up.
The team was: 1 - Hignett + Golesworthy, 2 - Goodall + L Bowden, 3 - Chaudry + Russell
Subs - H Bowden + Cooper Kirby
Lancs came out like a train, bullying us from the start, and we weren’t ready for it. We slowly got better and finished nearly turning it around. We ended up losing 5/4 nearly sneaking it at the end.
This now meant we needed to win the next 2 matches with a good rubber count to go up.
Day 4 vs Avon
The team was: 1 - Hignett + Golesworthy, 2 - Bowden + Bowden, 3 - Russell + Cooper Kirby
Subs - Goodall + Houghton
We won 7/2, good work from all, especially Henry and Louis winning two rubbers.
Day 5 vs North Wales
We need to win 6/3 or more to go up.
The team was: 1 - Goodall + Houghton, 2 - Hignett + Golesworthy, 3 - Chaudhry + L Bowden
Subs - H Bowden + Russell
We saved the best for the last day. Within 3 hours we were 5/1 up and had gone up due to the other teams rubber count. Great job!
This was a strong Group 5 and we got through it. We have the makings of a very good county side while Josh is fit and healthy. We have George, Liam, Ryan and James still competing and the younger ones making headway in the adult game. If we can keep them together, we have a chance of getting up the groups.
It was a great week all round. Everyone took responsibility for their role in the team. Ryan and Liam are now our number one pair, Josh and George (being injured!) had to survive the 15 matches and special praise to Louis who at 17 walked into playing that level with determined ease. It was also great to see George, Henry and Dean step up to the County Week-level so quickly.