Triumph for U18 Boys: A Cliffhanging Disappointment for Girls

In the recent U18 County Cup the boys gained promotion to Group 3 with three emphatic victories over Derbyshire (6-3), Leicestershire (6-3) and Durham and Cleveland (8-1).  Playing at Bolton under the captaincy of Mark Hilton the team proved too strong in depth for their opponents.  Team spirit was high and there were some notable performances particularly from David Porter at number 4 who won all his singles matches, but every member contributed to an impressive series of wins.  Congratulations to all the team: Jordon Young, Stephen Crawshaw, Jonathan Bradley, David Porter, Chris Philpott, Jacob Whalley, Tom Schmider and Alex King.

The girls, however, were cruelly denied a similar triumph when they missed out on promotion in the final minutes of the event losing a deciding tie-break against Lancashire, 10-8.  Captained by Steve Lee the girls were playing at Norwich and had to endure a very long journey in the snow before even setting foot on court.  They beat Hertfordshire (5-4) and Norfolk (8-1) which left a promotion show-down with Lancashire on the final day which ended in bitter disappointment for the Cheshire girls.  Amanda Murray deserves a special mention for winning 4 out of 6 of her matches, losing both times 10-8 in a 3rd set tie-break. The doubles play was also a strength of the team with 7 out of 9 wins.
Congratulations on a gallant effort from the whole team: Amanda Murray, Sharni Socker-Jones, Danni Webster, Kim Schmider, Pippa Carr, Corrina Bebington and Camilla Churchill- Davies.