Girls u19 Inter-County Championships – Stage 2

The Essex Girls under 19 team had to play against Kent and South East Wales.

The girls first match was against Kent who they had played in stage 1. Despite putting up a very good fight Essex could not match the strength in depth of Kent who took the match 4-1. The winning tie for Essex came from the in form Sophie Lemom (England number 10 u19) who had a closed battle with Annabelle Collins-Ballards (England number 12 u19). Although the rallies were long and tight Sophie stayed in control of the T and took the first two games 11/7. Annabelle dug in and really wanted the third game but to no availe as Sophie remained confident snatching the third game and the match 13/11. Hannah Jones and Francesca Humfreys both put in excellent performances against Elizabeth Ashworth and Rebcca Sofianos of  Kent. Hannah took two games to tie break narrowly winning the second game 12/10 and just losing out in the third 13/11 to Elizabeth Ashworth who went on to win another close match 3-1. Francesca was involved in the closest tie of the match in a 3-2 battle again narrowly losing the fifth game.

The second match against South East Wales saw Sophie once again in dominating form beating Abby Hicks of S E W 3-0 to get the team of to a good start. This was followed by Hannah Payne and Francesca Humfreys strong performances at 2 and 4 in the team. Hannah Payne fought hard and took 2 games to tie break against Olivia Griffiths but despite taking the first and third games to 10-12 was unable to convert the important rallies, with Olivia going on to win 3-0. Francesca started well to take the first game from Sioned Scott, Sioned then fought back to take the second with some excellent shot play. The third game was the longest out of all the matches going to 14-12. Both girls really wanted this game to put them in control of the match, this bought the best out of both players raising the standard of squash to some the best seen on the day. Sioned forced a couple of errors from her opponent to snatch the game 14-12 which gave her the psychological advantage to go an and win the forth 11/8.

Martin Watts team manager said “ I was very pleased with the way the girls performed”. “ It was a great experience for the team, all are eligible for next years event should they be selected”.