Winter County Cup Report 2022
Ladies Group 2B – Bromley Tennis Centre
Team: Jemima King (C)(Halton), Lereesa Easterbrook (Halton), Izzy Marshall (Halton), Aneka Patel (Gerrards Cross, Bull Lane/Living Tennis), Anna Micu (Living Tennis), Scarlett Perkins (Living Tennis), Laura Deigman (Roehampton), Lauren Armstrong (Halton), Georgie Sanders (Halton)
Friday 25th November
Buckinghamshire lost to Cheshire 7-2
The team was ready was for the challenge of an extremely strong group 2, first up Cheshire. Scarlett and Anna were competing in their first winter county cup and started the matches off for Bucks. Good battles from both with Scarlett losing in a tight 3 setter but unfortunately Cheshire got the better of us. Next up Aneka and Lereesa. Lereesa put in a storming performance to take the win and Aneka couldn’t quite break down her opponent. That left Jemima and Laura left to play, Jemima came across an on-form opponent and Laura didn’t take long to bring the victory home for Bucks. 2-4 with doubles left to play. Bucks went in confident. Unfortunately, due to the centre taking back the courts for coaching at 4pm we were only able to complete one doubles. The 3rd pair doubles team of Lereesa and Scarlett were nip and tuck with their opponents and it literally could have gone either way. Sadly for the Swans, it went in favour of Cheshire 7-5 6-4. The remaining two doubles were played on Saturday morning. Aneka and Georgie lost a tightly contested doubles 7-5 7-5 and Jemima and Anna (Anna stepped in for Laura) lost in 3 sets. A frustrating day as we knew our team would be stronger over the next two days with two experienced players coming in: Izzy Marshall and Lauren Armstrong.
Saturday 26th November
Buckinghamshire lost to Northumberland 8-1
A tough day at the office for the Bucks Swans, despite Izzy Marshall coming in at 1 singles to replace Laura who was nursing an injury. The team gave their all in the singles, but Northumberland proved too strong for us. The Swans never give up and we were determined to pull back some rubbers in the doubles. A new pairing of Aneka and Scarlett as 3rd pair played an entertaining match and narrowly lost the 2nd set in a tie break. Izzy and Laura didn’t take long to dominate their doubles and clinch a rubber for Bucks. It was great to see Lauren Armstrong joining the team playing with Lereesa at 2nd pair doubles.
Sunday 27th November
Buckinghamshire lost to Hertfordshire 5-1
We knew we had to win 9-0 to stay up, a tough ask but even tougher against a strong Herts team who lost 5-4 to Northumberland. A new singles line up for the team, which we were hoping would match up well vs Herts. Aneka and Lauren took to the court first and came across two on form Herts juniors who proved too consistent for the Swans. Next up Georgie and Lereesa. Sadly, a similar story despite some valiant come backs in both sets. 0-4 down we were hoping for Laura and Izzy to keep the match alive. Laura’s opponent sprinted out of the blocks racing to a 1 set lead. Laura managed to add pressure in the 2nd set but Herts were too solid in big points. Izzy’s quote ‘no-one beats Bucks 9-0’ was correct as she beat the Herts number 1. Due to the match being decided no doubles was played.
After being promoted last year, Bucks ladies knew it was going to be tough ask to stay in Group 2. The Swans are ready to bounce back next year in Group 3 and are already planning practice matches against the Oxford blues. A fun weekend, everyone gave their all on the court, tried to manage injuries and gave brilliant support to each other. It was great to see the younger players coming through and representing the county and everyone being proud to be a Bucks Swan.
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