Aegon 10 Under Girls County Cup
Venue - Wrexham
Team - Stephanie Combe, Latesha Grant, Adele Cornelius, Madeline Rollit
Captain - Luke Pettit
We started our weekend against Staffordshire, who were on paper the strongest team in the event, and so it proved. All the H&W girls put up a great fight in all matches, but the power and control from Staffordshire was too hot to handle for us and every other team in the event. We went down 4-0.
Our second match of the day came against South Wales. Stephanie Combe fought hard playing at no 1, but lost 4-1 4-0. Latesha Grant, at two, managed to get into a match tie-break, she fought hard but went down 10-7. Madeline Rollit came close in her singles and again a match tie-break loss for Adele Cornelius and Stephanie in the doubles meant we fell 4-0, a score which was not reflective of the girls' performance.
We came out firing on the second day. Stephanie getting a 4-0 4-0 win against the North Wales number 1. Adele and Mad came close in both their matches but we went into the doubles 2-1 down. Stephanie and Latesha fought hard. 5-0 in first set tie-break wasn't going to stop them and they recovered the first set. They lost the second set so it went into a match tie-break and after holding match points, which they were unable to convert, they lost 12-10, but it was a great effort from the two of them.
Our final match was against Shropshire, who again like Staffordshire were just too strong for our girls, going down 4-0.
Although we came away with few wins, the team effort and spirit was great. Not once did the girls give up, they kept battling and smiling and were a credit to themselves and the county throughout the two days. If not for the sudden death deuces the girls would have come away with some creditable wins. The experience was tough, but I'm sure it will push them to improving to new heights and levels in the future.
Many thanks to the parents who travelled up and stayed throughout the weekend.