In March, the counties of Suffolk, Cumbria and North Hants descended on the village of Duffield to do battle for the under-13 girls inter-county trophy. Cumbria and Suffolk were considered the hot favourites for the title having topped their groups in the previous round of matches, Derbyshire and North Hants being the respective runners-up.
It was a fabulous day of squash! It was what team squash is all about, an electric, competitive atmosphere with super team-spirit being exhibited by all the players.
Cumbria got off to a flying start defeating our girls 3 matches to luv, but our girls really made them fight for their victory. We have met Cumbria three times this season and they have beaten us every time, but, there is definitely hope for the future, we all know we aren’t too far off them. Cumbria then maintained that high level of performance throughout the day to defeat Suffolk and North Hants and emerge as champions.But, our Derbyshire girls didn’t let that first tie defeat get them down, on the contrary, they showed great strength of character, re-focussed and came out even more determined for the second and third ties.
Molly, at number one, had some real battles on her hands, but she showed great spirit, led by example, and made her opponents fight for every point.
Francesca really came out fired-up for her next matches having lost to the Cumbrian – Katie Twentyman, a player she’d beaten in their last encounter. She won her next matches against Suffolk and North Hants without dropping a single game!
Gabrielle played some lovely squash to beat her opponents. Of particular note was her encounter with the Suffolk player – Hannah Moussa. Gabrielle narrowly lost the first game, but then came back on court to win the next three matches most convincingly: 11/3, 11/6, 11/2.
As the ties were played out in the afternoon, it became a very tight competition between Derbyshire and a strong Suffolk side, fielding the number three in the country, as to which team would claim the runners-up position. In the end our Derbyshire girls triumphed, claiming the runners-up trophy in only their first season as a team!