1st Team finish 3rd in Div 1

The county first team brought their season to a close with a 9-6 home victory over Oxfordshire, leaving them in a comfortable mid-table position in Division 1 of the Inter County Championships. Ian Murphy, Eric Plane and Katherine Cooper all won their singles games in two straight sets and this was followed by two level doubles victories for Murphy and Alex Wyett and one apiece for Plane and Tim Hudson-Church and Cooper and Ann Jenkins. Amber Lillingstone and Rachel Howes played well, but without success. Murphy and Cooper and Wyett and Lillingstone then sealed victory for the home side in a match which was somewhat over-shadowed by the end of an era for those two Norfolk stalwarts, Eric Plane and Tim Hudson-Church, who have now retired from senior county play to concentrate on their highly successful veterans careers.

The second team were left feeling a little frustrated by their 8-7 defeat at the hands of Shropshire, being the second successive match they have lost by such a slender margin. With the exception of Jonathan Cooper, who maintained his current good form with a comfortable straight sets victory, the men found the going tough losing all four of their level doubles. But these defeats were partly offset by good singles victories for Michelle Lewin and Tanya Harrison, followed by one level doubles win each for Harrison and Linda Sawyer and Lewin and Norma Bowen. So, with the score standing at 5-7, things were looking grim for the home side, but Norfolk clawed themselves back into the match with mixed doubles wins for Justin Gerrard and Sawyer and Cooper and Bowen, only for the visitors to claim the final game and the match. Shropshire are now just one point behind Norfolk with the return away match taking place next Sunday.