BOTH Suffolk Girls' and Boys' teams found the opposition tough in the recent nationwide Inter-County Cup competitions.The girls managed to stay in Group 6B by virtue of one victory but the boys were relegated from Group 3 after losing all their three matches.

BOTH Suffolk Girls' and Boys' teams found the opposition tough in the recent nationwide Inter-County Cup competitions.

The girls managed to stay in Group 6B by virtue of one victory but the boys were relegated from Group 3 after losing all their three matches.

Suffolk's players gave their all against mainly superior opposition, Felixstowe's Stephanie Lockett and the Sports Club's Ashley Watling both enjoying very impressive weekends and playing extremely well to win all their matches. It was a memorable county debut for Stephanie.

The girls lost 6-3 to Berkshire and 5-4 to Cumbria but retained their status with a vital 8-1 win over the Isle of Man.

The boys' three defeats were against Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (7-2), Warwickshire (8-1) and Staffordshire (8-1).

Ashley's unbeaten weekend included outstanding victories over the highly-ranked Warwickshire No. 1 Fitzpatrick and the Staffordshire No. 1 Darcey Crawford.

Ashley was clearly the player of the competition, but special commendations go to Josh Bolt, Dominic Hemy and Matthew Hough, who were all making their farewells from junior competition, Matthew Hough having represented the county for a remarkable ten years.