The Ladies Over 35's team recently completed in the County Cup at Eastbourne.
Read the report from team captain Liz Bamber.
"Friday morning dawned and unfortunately all we could hear was the sound of pouring rain which muffled even the sound of the ever present seagulls! The first information given at the captain's meeting was that 9 cms of rain had fallen in the night, and even if the rain stopped (which it didn't until 3) the courts would not be fit to play on. What a disappointment, and the team filled out their day in different ways before meeting for supper. We had been supposed to play Shropshire - on paper they looked the weaker side but at the end of the day they actually won the group!
Sunshine and cheers were the order of the day on Saturday, and play got underway by 11a.m. North Wales were our opposition and they had a very lopsided team, 2 very strong and 2 very weak players. In fact their number 2 singles player was better than their number 1, as was the case the next day - such is the peculiarity of the ratings system. We were soon 2-0 after the singles but there was hope as our doubles pair of Jo Love (new into the age group) and Esther Symmonds made short work of their match, as did Clare Abbott and Mandy Claridge against the same pair, both only losing 2 games. Sadly their singles players played the final rubber and came off victorious and the match score was 3-2.
On Sunday the weather again was bright and we looked forward to a full day's play against Nottinghamshire who had lost 2-3 to Shropshire the previous day. Basically we had to win to stay up, otherwise group 6 beckoned. We fought hard and Liz playing at number 1 pushed their singles player to two tough sets, but again we were 2-0 down after the singles. Sadly we lost the first doubles and therefore the match but we nearly won the next doubles only losing 8-10 in the match tie-break, and Jo Love and Mandy Claridge picked up the last doubles rubber.
The team certainly play their hearts out and make every effort and we can only do the best that we can. It would be great if we could attract some of our "superstar" ladies who are now in the age group to help this team to victory. Better luck next year! Many thanks as always to the OLTA for their support and financial assistance."
Team: Clare Abbott, Liz Bamber (captain), Mandy Claridge, Evelyn Hargraves, Jo Love and Esther Symmonds.