Suffolk Ladies put up a brave effort in an attempt to earn promotion from Group 6B at Redbridge in the Aegon Winter County Cup. A narrow 5-4 victory over the Channel Islands on the opening day gave great encouragement, 12 year-old Harriet Petley making a winning debut, with a 6-7 6-0 6-1 singles victory over her 25 year-old opponent, then teaming up with Janie Taylor to win a crucial doubles, along with Katie Tassell + Louise Rogers.
However, the team found Northants too strong, Suffolk going down 3-6, despite two notable singles victories for Kari Sherington + Ella Monsey, who also teamed up to win their doubles against a talented pair. A sweeping 6-0 win over the South of Scotland saw Suffolk finish 2nd, just missing out on promotion, but a philosophical captain Katie Tassell said, “ Although missing out on promotion, it was a great performance for a county team which up until 5 days before didn’t have a full team, + once there had a side riddled with injury, illness + age !”
Suffolk Men had an equally tough time in Division 3 at Southampton, and again, with Matt Hough + Myles Orton missing, they knew they would have to find something special to avoid relegation. It’s a long time since Suffolk Men have lost 3 consecutive matches, but battle hard as they did, they went down to Cheshire 2-7, Dorset 4-5 and Hants 1-5. Skipper Jeremy Cowley vows that they will be fighting hard next year to go straight back up !
Debutant Bernard Torregiani made a winning debut v Cheshire, with Ryan Lambert + Paul Midgley putting up a fantastic effort before losing their doubles against Dorset. The youngsters showed great heart, with James Ling the only singles winner against Hampshire, and despite being unable to avoid relegation on this rare occasion, there remains great optimism for the future.