U12 Girls County Cup Finals

Our 12U Girls team travelled to Nottingham for the County Cup National Finals after an excellent qualifying performance in Boston a couple of weeks earlier, where the girls won their group to secure their place at the finals.

Captains: Alex Day and Jordan Young Players: Maisie Greenall, Antonella Netri, Eleanor Charters, Poppy Mucha, Isla Mayers and Rose Mattingly

Isla Mayers was added to the team for the national finals, giving captains Alex and Jordan greater flexibility with the team selection across the weekend.

The national finals consisted of two groups of four teams, with each team playing the others in their group. The group winners would then meet in the final to decide the national champions.

Match 1 – Cheshire v Surrey

The girls' first match was against a strong Surrey side, and they were really looking forward to the challenge.

Poppy played at number four and narrowly lost her match in a deciding match tiebreak, while Eleanor produced an excellent performance at number three to win her match in straight sets. Unfortunately, Cheshire lost the number one and two singles, leaving Surrey 3–1 ahead going into the doubles.

Surrey then won both doubles matches, giving them a 5–1 victory.

Match 2 – Cheshire v Suffolk

There was very little time to dwell on the morning's result as the team quickly moved on to their second group match against Suffolk.

The girls responded brilliantly, going 3–1 up after the singles and putting themselves in a strong position. The doubles were played the following day, with Suffolk able to strengthen their team.

Suffolk won both doubles, taking the tie to a deciding shootout. Unfortunately, Suffolk came through the tiebreak to take the match.

Despite the disappointment, the girls showed great resilience and continued to give everything throughout the tie.

Match 3 – Cheshire v Kent

The final group match was against another strong Kent team.

Eleanor continued her excellent weekend with another singles victory at number three, winning her match to give Cheshire a point. Kent won the other three singles, leaving Cheshire 1–3 down heading into the doubles.

Isla and Antonella battled hard at number one, while Poppy and Rose competed at number two, but Kent took both doubles matches to secure a 5–1 victory.

Cheshire v Durham & Cleveland

On Sunday, Cheshire faced the fourth-placed team from the other group, Durham and Cleveland.

With difficult weather conditions and no indoor courts available as a backup, there was always a possibility that the match would not be completed.

Poppy played her number four singles match but unfortunately lost in straight sets. The remaining matches were unable to be completed as the weather intervened, bringing the weekend to an early close.

A fantastic achievement!

Although the results did not go the way the girls had hoped, reaching the 12U County Cup National Finals was a fantastic achievement in itself. The team competed against some of the strongest county teams in the country and showed great determination, resilience and team spirit throughout the weekend.

A huge well done to Alex, Jordan, Maisie, Antonella, Eleanor, Poppy, Isla and Rose for representing Cheshire with pride and for making it all the way to the national finals.

Well done, girls!