The Inter County under 17 Stage 1 was hosted by Windscale Squash Club, with 3 of our junior girls playing at home. Jessica Winder, Luisa Mc Gregor and Megan Singleton were representing Cumbria alongside Victoria Watson and Holly Lyons (both Carlisle) against Northumbria and Yorkshire, Lancashire withdrew.

Cumbria's first game was against a strong Northumbria team, and a 4-1 loss was the result with only Megan Singleton from Windscale managing a win.

Playing at number 4  she was up against the tricky left hander Emma Hayley and opened her account with a comfortable 11/5 first game. The second saw Emma play a little better but Meg was still too strong and with a run of mid game points pulled away to take the game 11/7. The third game went to a tie breaker as Emma dug in, and with Meg under pressure late in the game it was a game to the Northumbria player. Meg wasn't to be denied though, and although the 4^th was also close Meg was always in front on the score-card and won the game and tie 11/9, and 3-1.

Jessica played at number 1, and never proverbially 'got out of bed'. The first game went to her opponent Lucy Beecroft who reeled off 8 straight winners after Jess's opening point, and apart from a couple of more points the first game was Northumbria's 11/3. Jessica came to a little more in the second and at 3 points all was right in it, but the next 6 points were Lucy's and before long Cumbria were 2 down, 7/11. Coach Linda had a few words, and Jessica applied herself more actively and a much tighter third game ensued, but as before at around 3 all Jessica  went AWOL for three points giving her opponent a handy lead. Points were swapped for a couple of minutes, but the gap wasn't closing and Lucy won the third also 11/6 for a 3-0 win.

Luisa Mc Gregor played at string 2 against Maria Bainbridge and edged the first 8 points with her opponent, but then conceded the next eight in a row to lose track and the opener 4/11. The second saw a massive improvement in Luisa's attention and application and a very tight game followed, sure enough it went to a tie breaker, Luisa had 1 game ball but couldn't take it,  Maria had 2 game balls and couldn't take them either, but did succeed at the third attempt winning 15/13. Luisa was crestfallen in the third having given everything in the second and Northumbria triumphed in the third as Maria looked sharper taking it and the match 11/6, for a 3-0 win.

Cumbria's second match of the day was against Yorkshire, and with the same team playing we were expecting a better performance. Jessica and Victoria both triumphed in the afternoon alongside Luisa, who crucially won the match for Cumbria after the ties were level at 2 all.

Jessica opened her match against Jess Watson with a comfortable 11/5 first game, doing the major damage with a burst of 6points and 4 points in the middle and end of the game. The second saw the Yorkshire girl more clued in, and after getting herself in front at 8/7 she had hopes of levelling the tie, but Jessica dug deeper and took the next three points to take the second game as well 11/8. Jessica soon found herself 2/4 down in the third, and then reeled off 6 points in a row to prove she could do it when required, but it was her opponent who again got in front at 10/9 game ball, with a string of her own winning points, but Jessica levelled the game. The Yorkshire player was soon off court as she took the required 2 points clear to get the game 14/12, to give Jessica a wake-up call. Jessica scored again in bursts in the fourth game, 4 points to start with, and then a couple here and there which kept her clear, to win the game 11/7 and the tie 3-1.

Luisa playing last, as the number 2's do, needed to win with the match standing level at 2 games all, and she produced her best performance when it was needed with a good 3-1 win. Against Ella Grayson she took the first game 11/8, although the first 15 points indicated that there was nothing between the abilities of both players, it was Luisa's desire and doggedness that saw her squeeze ahead from 7/8 down with the final 4 points. With nothing between them the second game was even closer with Ella just shading it 11/9 to level the tie. Luisa got a great run of points going early on in the third which kept her clear of Ella, and it was Cumbria's game 11/6, to lead again. Yorkshire grit and determination summed up Ella's approach to the fourth as she tried to level the tie but Luisa wasn't about to roll-over. Neither player could eke out more than a 1 point lead until at 6 all Luisa sneaked a crucial lead of 2 points, Ella swapped points from there to the final point but Luisa held her nerve when it was needed for possibly one of her better County Squash wins, when the pressure was on.

Megan (for the purposes of this report called Meg) after her earlier success was beaten in four games by Megan Kaye, with the first game a curious scoring affair. Yorkshire Megan scored the first of her runs of points to lead 4/1, followed by her next run of points to lead 8/2, and it was only at this point that Meg started playing. Reeling off the next 8 points she had game ball and the Yorkshire girl was wondering what had happened, but she dug in and stopped Meg's scoring run, and then managed to score another 4 points to win the tie break 12/10, so Meg was a game down. The second went in Meg's favour as she started well, and was never behind taking the second 11/6, but the third and fourth were both taken by Megan 11/4 and 11/6 as Meg appeared to tire as the game wore on. Yorkshire winning the tie 3-1.