Cup performances show promise

The girls team which featured Willa Bowett, Lily Evans and Gwendolyn Klu travelled to Stourbridge to take their place in a group which also included North Wales and Warwickshire.

Having opened with defeat in a closely-fought match against Warwickshire, they responded impressively to enjoy a fantastic victory over North Wales.

That meant they qualified for the semi-finals the following day, an excellent achievement.

Sunday saw defeats in difficult matches against Derbyshire and Hereford & Worcester, but the girls competed well throughout and were a credit to the county.

Captain Nikki Hoy said: “I couldn’t have asked any more from the girls. Everything we spoke about they tried their best to implement.

“It was fantastic to have a team of girls who were able to be competitive for the whole weekend.”

The boys, meanwhile, also performed well in their Under-10 County Cup group at Wrexham. The Shropshire side, which featured Jonathan Read, Matei Balasa and Jake Tretton, had a tough first day as they were beaten by North Wales and Warwickshire, two very strong counties.

Despite the results, there were a number of close matches.

Shropshire faced Staffordshire the next day in a play-off for fifth position. They battled well and opened up a 3-0 lead after Matei and Jonathan claimed straight sets victories. Jake then impressively came from a set down to win his match in a third set tie-break.

To round the day off in style, Matei and Jonathan also recovered from a set down to win their doubles match in a third set tie-break to seal an overall 4-0 win.

Captain Matt Lee said: “Our boys battled really well and showed great team spirit and determination after an extremely tough first day.”