by Karen Adams (Captain)
Dorset Ladies competed in Group 5 of the Ladies Summer County Cup in Oxford 18th-22nd July. This year the team was very young with the exception of two stalwarts and consisted of
Anna White (stalwart), Jane Bingham (stalwart), Lauren Hill, Marsha Hobbs, Erin Richardson, Danielle Sebata, Millie Smythe, Natalie Carter and Elle Baker.
Dorset got off to a good start winning 5-4 on the first day against North of Scotland. Tuesday was 32 degrees and really tough playing conditions. We didn’t finish playing until 7 pm following some very long tough matches and unfortunately the score didn’t reflect the game and we lost 8-1 to Somerset. West of Scotland were our opponents on Wednesday and we battled well but lost two close matches and went down 6-3. We played Devon on Thursday and needed to win to stay up. The team performed well and we were really unlucky to lose 2 very close matches, losing 6-3. On Friday we played unbeaten Derbyshire who we needed to beat 6-3 to stay up. The team fought hard and ended up losing 6-3 and were relegated.
The team were disappointed to be relegated but the team spirit was high and our young team gained some really valuable experience playing doubles at a high standard. This will hold Dorset in good stead for next year where I am confident they will be promoted back to division 5.
