The Wiltshire Ladies O35’s team of Helen Benton, Sarah Hosking, Alexandra Melhuish, Emma Morrell and Karina Weedon gathered at Devonshire park on Friday evening for welcome drinks before the competition started the following day, the weather forecast was looking good!
Day 1 famous last words, we awoke to strong winds and sea mist. Wilts v Derbyshire, Alex was the first to play, with soft grass courts conditions were challenging to say the least. Alex was up to the task and came off the court victorious in 3 sets, 4-6, 6-1, 10-8. Emma had a rain interrupted match with 3 breaks of play and at 5.30pm play was suspended.
Day 2 brought sunshine and a gentle breeze perfect conditions to play on these beautiful courts. Emma competed hard with her big serve and forehand but unfortunately left the court as a learner 1-6, 1-6. So all to play for in the doubles, as this would be the final rubber. Karina and Sarah fought hard with one service game lasting 20 minutes but to no avail losing 6-2, 6-3.
Wiltshire now changed venue’s to Moria House School where the grounds people from Devonshire Park also keep the courts in fantastic condition. Our next match was against East of Scotland with the the second round being Fast 4. Alex leading the charge with another closely contested match which she won 6-4, 7-6 (8). Emma had another tough match against a well seasoned county player coming off second best 3-6, 2-6. Karina and Helen paired up to get the second win of the day 6-1,6-1. The 2nd round Sarah and Emma had a convincing win against E of S 4-1, 4-0, where as Karina and Helen lost a closely fought contest 4-1, 3-4(3) 9-11. Wilts ended the day with a 3-2 win.
Day 3 another gorgeous day, Wilts needed to win 5-0 against Staffordshire with E of S beating Derbyshire to gain promotion. Alex had another tie-break and came off court with a win 7-6(8) 6-1, Emma also delivered with a 6-3, 6-3 win and with Karina and Sarah winning 6-3, 6-3 we were on track. At this point we found out Derbyshire were leading E of S, so Helen and Emma continued the quest, competing well but missing out 6-7(2) 3-6. This result left Wiltshire as 2nd in the group, a good result in such a competitive tournament.
Karina Weedon (Ladies 35 Captain)