Isobel Ashley helped lead Derbyshire to the top spot

The final weekend of County Championship’s Junior Division 2A held at Halton TTC saw Derbyshire maintain their 100% unbeaten record to finish in pole position at the expense of the runners-up Yorkshire 2nd team. The Derbyshire girls, consisting of England No. 7 Isobel Ashley and Latvian born Diana Rusinova, who plays in their National squad, were the backbone of the team with an unblemished 100% record, only conceding two games over both weekends. The Derbyshire boys, consisting of Tim Denby, Alex Tilley and Mark Firth supported well with No. 3 Firth winning nine out of his ten singles only losing to Lincolnshire’s James Keast.

The challenge for second, third and fourth places was keenly contested with Yorkshire, Lancashire and Lincolnshire all finishing on four wins and two losses. However, Yorkshire’s stronger sets record pushed them into second place. Shropshire, although finishing sixth out of seven teams, had two draws and two 4-6 losses but suffered from a lack of strength in their girls and, in fact, fielded no girls on the second weekend.

Juniors Div 2a
County P W D L F A GF GA PTS
Derbyshire 6 6 0 0 49 11 156 55 12
Yorkshire 2 6 4 0 2 40 20 140 87 8
Lancashire 2 6 4 0 2 36 24 128 94 8
Lincolnshire 2 6 4 0 2 36 24 126 101 8
Cheshire 2 6 1 1 4 17 43 78 151 3
Shropshire 6 0 2 4 22 38 85 134 2
Staffordshire 2 6 0 1 5 10 50 69 160 1

John Alsop
County Championships Committee (February 20, 2014)