The young Warwickshire women’s tennis side kept their hopes of avoiding relegation alive with their first win of County Week, Group 3 in Raynes Park, with a fighting 7-2 victory over fellow-stragglers Norfolk. The Midlanders who had lost to the strong Buckinghamshire and Lancashire sides on the opening two days came out all guns blazing, their top pair Holly Reid from Edgbaston Archery and Giorgie Jones from Sutton Coldfield winning all three of their rubbers in straight sets, dropping just 5 games all day. Mary Hoggard from Edgbaston Priory Club also won three out of three, partnering Elizabeth Massie from Rugby in the first two rubbers then teaming up with rising star Isabella Taylor, 17, another Edgbaston Priory player, to defeat the Norfolk thirds in forthright style. The talented 14-year-old T’Nae Diamond Paisley from Birmingham, the youngest player in Group 3, looked a fine prospect and despite her inexperience at this level, combined well with Lois Porter from Balsall Common to defeat the Norfolk Thirds for the loss of just 3 games, having been frustratingly edged out by the top two pairs, each time on a sudden death Championship tiebreak.

“I’m thrilled with how well the girls played today” said the Bears’ new captain, former junior international Lianne Candappa. “This is a really tough group and we’ve got a very young and relatively inexperienced side but they’ve never stopped fighting for every point. Our youngsters are learning so much from every match and our experienced campaigners are showing them how important it is to stay focussed and positive as every single rubber could be vital. We now need to beat Gloucestershire to be in with a chance of staying up but winning by such a wide margin has really boosted our rubbers tally, so there’s still all to play for.”

Warwickshire Men were locked in a string of marathon battles with the powerful Yorkshire side and after starting the week with two wins, were up against it and 2-4  down after the second round of matches. Once again the second pair, former national junior champion Luca Pow and Warwick Boat Club coach Cameron Malik from Stratford proved the pick of the bunch, winning both their rubbers in straight sets but frustratingly the other four encounters went to Championship tiebreaks, all of which Yorkshire won by the tightest of margins.

County Week Results:

Raynes Park, London, Women’s Group 3

Warwickshire beat Norfolk 7-2

Roehampton, Men’s Group 2

Warwickshire trail Yorkshire 2-4 after two rounds.