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 Senior
Inter County Finals 2011
30 April – 1st May, Nottingham |
Alison Henley reports
The Inter County road show rolled into Nottingham for the
long Bank Holiday weekend for the Senior Finals. The top
eight men’s and women’s county teams were all involved and
played out for final positions. By the end of Sunday
afternoon we had found our champions but also who was
relegated
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Women's Semis
4th: Northumbria
3rd: Cheshire
2nd: Yorkshire
Final
Men's Semis
4th: Essex
3rd: Sussex
2nd: Herts
Final |
DAY ONE
ROUND ONE (Saturday am) -
Men
In round one Essex, led
by Lee Drew and Neil Hitchens came through 3-2 in a tough
match against ‘home’ side Nottinghamshire led by Eddie
Charlton and Mark Fuller, despite being 2-0 down through
wins by the experienced Matt Oxley and youngster Declan
James..
 Hot
favourites Surrey led by Tom Richards saw off Lancashire
5-0. Another tight match between newly promoted Oxfordshire
and Hertfordshire went to the wire. All square after the
first 2 games, but Herts came through strongly at the top of
the order with wins for Chris Ryder and Adrian Waller.
Sussex easily beat the other newly promoted side Merseyside
5-0
ROUND ONE (Saturday am) - Women
 The
Women’s first round progressed with little incident, A 5-0
win for Warwickshire led by Sarah Jane Perry in the absence
of Emma Beddoes – away at the European Team Championships
over Lancashire - and a delighted newly promoted Northumbria
4-1 over a young Kent team.
Yorkshire headed by Carrie Ramsey beat another young side
Surrey 4-1, and Cheshire led by Rachel Chadwick beat the
other newly promoted side Essex by the same margin.
ROUND TWO (Saturday pm)
This round would decide who would progress to the final, who
would stay up and who would be relegated – so the pressure
was on.
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Men
 Semi
A: Essex v Surrey
It was 1-1 after the first 2 rubbers, Phil Nightingale 3-1
for Surrey at 5th string and Ben Coleman 3-2 for Essex at
3rd string v Neil Frankland. Rory Pennell put Essex 2-1 up,
beating Alex Ingham 3-0. So holders Surrey needed to win at
1st and 2nd string to reach the final, and they duly did
with comfortable wins for Tom Richards and Charles Sharpes
over Lee Drew and Neil Hitchens.
Semi B: Hertfordshire v Sussex
 The
2nd Semi between Hertfordshire and Sussex was equally tight.
Again 1-1 with Nick Mulvey beating Dave Mann for Herts and
Brandon Handley beating Keith Timms for Sussex. Herts then
turned the screw with wins for Chris Ryder and Mark Woolhead,
so 3-1 up and through to the final. The match was completed
with Tim Vail beating Adrian Waller for Sussex in the dead
rubber 2nd string match.
Relegation Play Offs
Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Lancashire and Merseyside all
needed to win to stay up next season. Nottinghamshire
comfortably beat Lancashire 4-1 to send the northerners
down, with Nigel Willis the only Lancashire winner at 5th
string. The same scoreline saw new boys Merseyside relegated
as well with just Steve Siveter at 1st string winning
against fellow newbies Oxfordshire, who were delighted to
cement their place in the Premier Division.
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Women
Semi A: Warwickshire v Cheshire
Warwickshire, keen to reach the final again, played really
well against Cheshire, racing to a 2-0 lead and winning 4-1
with wins for Sarah Jane Perry, Leonie Holt, Vicky Hynes,
and Chloe Pearson. Hannah Williams was the only winner for
Cheshire.
Semi B: Northumbria v Yorkshire
This was a much
tighter semi, and arguably the match of the weekend. Newly
promoted Northumbria would show their strength in depth as
they pushed the slightly depleted holders Yorkshire all the
way.
Catherine Bowles gave Northumbria the perfect start as she
beat Libby Beecroft 3-0 at 5th string. Sarah Oswald then
beat Zoe Rickaby 3-2 at 3rd string and an upset was on the
cards. Karen Heron was unlucky to lose 3-2 to Andrea Santa
Maria 11/7 in the 5th at 4th string. Then no 1 string Carrie
Ramsey levelled the tie with a 3-1 victory over Jane Allman.
Everything then rested on the 2nd string match between Sam
Ward (Num) and Katie Smith (Yorks). Ward went 2-1 up and had
chances to take the 4th game and secure a spot in the final,
but Smith won it 14/12 to take the rubber into a 5th and
deciding game. It could not have been tighter, nip and tuck
all the way, but Smith held her nerve and eventually
clinched it 12/10 to take Yorkshire through to another final
Relegation Play Offs
Surrey’s young side showed plenty of promise for the future
and were delighted to beat Kent 3-2 to remain in the Premier
division. Essex found the experience of Lancashire too much
and were relegated following a 4-1 defeat.
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DAY 2 – Sunday
Men’s Play Offs
7/8 Lancashire beat Merseyside 4-1
5/6 Nottinghamshire beat Oxfordshire 3-2
3 /4 Sussex beat Essex 3-2
Women’s Play Offs
7/8 Essex beat Kent 5-0
5/6 Surrey beat Lancashire 3-2
3/4 Cheshire beat Northumbria 4-1
FINALS
Warwickshire took the women’s crown for the first time in 31
years, while Surrey retained the men’s title, making it 8
wins in 10 finals, and their 2nd in a row on day two of the
Senior Inter County Finals.
Women’s Final
Warwickshire beat Yorkshire 5-0
 Warwickshire
proved too strong for Yorkshire. Unusually the no 1 strings
Sarah Jane Perry and Carrie Ramsey went on first as Carrie
wanted to get away to attend a christening. It was a tight
rubber, but Perry set the tone of the match for Warwickshire
with a 3-1 victory. Young Chloe Pearson edged Warwickshire
closer to the title with a good 3-1 win over the experienced
Andrea Santa Maria.
The potentially deciding 4th string match was understandably
tight and it looked as if Yorkshire might establish a
foothold in the final as Zoe Rickaby clawed her way back
from 2-0 down against Jemma Holt. However the effort was too
much and Holt won in the 5th to give Warwickshire the title.
Vicky Hynes and Leonie Holt wrapped things for a 5-0
victory.
Men’s Final
Surrey beat Hertfordshire 4-1
  Surrey
captain Neil Frankland gave the holders the perfect start as
he beat Keith Timms 3-0 in just 20 minutes. A tight rubber
between 5th strings Phil Nightingale and Eamonn Price could
have gone either way, but Nightingale won it 3-1 to put the
title in reach for Surrey. Alex Ingham clinched it for
Surrey with a 3-1 victory over Marc Woolhead.
Tom Richards beat Chris Ryder 3-1 at first string for Surrey
to make it 4-0. Adrian Waller was the only Hertfordshire
winner as he beat Charles Sharpes 3-1 at 2nd string.
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