Congratulations to all our Tennis teams who have been playing in the Ulster Schools’ Tennis Cup competitions since Easter. We entered 6 teams and 4 out of the 6 came through their section as winners and so entered the knock –out stage of their respective competitions.
The Intermediate ‘A’ team of Jane Hunter, Meabh Lowry, Arianna Kennedy and Sarah Osbourne have made it right through to the final, beating Belfast High School and Glenlola on the way. They played Methodist College on Monday 23rd June in the Ulster final but unfortunately were beaten by a very strong Methody team.
The Junior ‘A’ team of Jessica Leeman, Megan Chambers, Jessica Moore and Victoria Hamilton cruised through to the semi-finals where Claire Whiteside had to step up from the ‘B’ team to replace the absent Jessica Moore. They beat Methody 5 - 1 to secure their place in the final.
Meanwhile on the other side of the draw our Junior ‘B’ team had made their way to the semi-final where they faced Sullivan. The ‘A’ team would play the winners and so the big question was…..”Could it be an all Strathearn final?” The answer was “Yes it could!” The ‘B’ team of Claire Whiteside, Claire Hunter, Katie Caldwell and Ellen Gilpin battled hard against Sullivan in the stifling heat and it was an extremely tight match finishing level at 3 matches all, but we won on games 42 – 40 and so were through to the final against our ‘A’ team.
The final was played on Thursday 19th June but the ‘A’ team were 2 players down with Jessica Moore still absent and Jessica Leeman out of action due to an injury the night before so Claire Whiteside and Claire Hunter had to step up to the ‘A’ team and Maya Savage – Newell and Saskia McMinn joined the ‘B’ team. The ‘A’s did win and take the Ulster Junior title but the B’s played hard and didn’t go down without a fight taking home the Ulster Junior Runners up plaques.
The Minor team of Emma McGugan, Erin Stewart, Murphy Miller and Grace Hutchison also proved too strong for any challengers and made their way to the final easily, beating Ballymena Academy 6 - 0 in the semi-final. In the final they again came up against our biggest tennis rivals Methody. However the girls played superbly well and won 5 -1 and they too were crowned Ulster Champions.
What a brilliant season girls………..WELL DONE!!!!
