Day 1 – 1st match v Kent
On a beautiful, sunny, windless day, the team was first facing a strong Kent team. The Sherbourne venue provided great viewing and a good atmosphere, but sadly Kent were too strong for Mia and Emily. All matches were over an hour, with a match tie-break for Evie and Anna. Anna managed a great win to keep us within a chance for the doubles but they were again too strong for our Evie/Mia and Anna/Emily. A good start to the weekend. The final result: H&IOW v Kent 1-5 (3-11 sets, 20-44 games).
2nd match v Sussex
A difficult team to play again, but there were some good performances from our girls. Sussex were too tough for Evie, Emma and Gosia but Mia took a great win at no.1 with a stunning match tie-break to again give us a chance in the doubles. With Mia then out nursing a sore wrist, Emily and Anna played together at no.1, and Evie/Gosai partnered to take an emphatic win at no 2. The final result: H&IOW v Sussex 2-4 (5-9 sets, 25-39 games).
Day 2 – 1st match v Dorset
Completely different weather conditions from day 1 with it being cold and wet, our local derby was played in good spirits as half our H&IOW team train in Dorset with their girls. However, Dorset were the dark horse of the competition winning all their matches. Mia, Evie, Anna and Gosia played our singles, with the nearest we could get was Gosia getting to a tie-break in her 2nd set. The Evie/Mia and Anna/Emma combinations pushed as hard as possible, but we took a hard loss 0-6. (Dorset did end the weekend winning the group). The final result: H&IOW v Dorset 0-6 (0-12 sets, 10-48 games)
2nd match v Gloucestershire
This was an enjoyable and much closer match. Evie played at no.1 and won a great positive match tie-break. Anna, Emma and Gosia all had close matches too with another good win for Anna, and Gosia also won a fantastic match tie-beak. It was great to go into the doubles 3-1 up. Gosia and Evie managed the win with Emma and Evie just losing out in their match tie-break. A great end to a fun weekend, with it being hard fought till the end! The final result: H&IOW v Gloucestershire 4-2 (9-7 sets, 37-34 games).
This year’s team were a young team, with the top 5 all eligible for next year. This was a great experience for the girls to compete away in a team environment, especially after the restrictions of the recent pandemic.
Fiona Nicholson
14U Girls County Captain