CORNWALL Under-11 travelled to Torquay on March 22 to play their last matches in the South West League against Avon and Gloucestershire.

The first match against Avon started well with Emily Fanson (Bude) no 5 playing good length serves and running for everything and a well-deserved win 11/6, 11/8, 11/9.

Danny Evans (Bude) no 6 played good pace serves and drives to the back and also won comfortably 11/3, 11/9, 11/2.

Zefron Counter (Truro) at 4, started well with some good length shots and accurate drop shots, but his opponent gradually started to get everything back to put Zefron under pressure. He did win the third game, but eventually lost 10/12, 9/11, 11/3, 5/11.

Avon's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd strings were extremely strong and experienced young players. Their strokework and tactical play were superior .

The Cornwall players, Jago Saxton (Bude) no 1, Tremaine Fry (Bude) no 2 and Oscar Lloyd-Llaney (Falmouth) no 3, worked hard often forcing long rallies, but frequently lacked the winning shot. Jago lost 4/11, 1/11, 3/11; Tremaine lost 6/11, 2/11, 0/11; Oscar lost 4/11, 7/11, 11/13. Cornwall lost the match 13-18.

The match against Gloucestershire was equally difficult. The Gloucester boys ran for everything and just kept going whilst the Cornwall players ran themselves into the

ground to win few points. Even a slight change of order did not make any difference.

Jago Saxton (1) lost 4/11, 1/11, 5/11; Tremaine Fry (2) lost 2/11, 0/11, 7/11; Danny Evans (3) lost 3/11, 3/11, 2/11; Zefron Counter (4) lost 5/11, 5/11, 10/12; Emily Fanson (5) lost 11/9, 6/11, 6/11, 5/11; Oscar Lloyd-Llaney (6) put up a good fight, but lost 14/12, 8/11, 10/11, 5/11.

Cornwall lost 8-24. These were hard lessons for the Cornwall team, but this sort of experience shows them what young people of their age can achieve with hard work and practice. Hopefully Cornwall will be able to build on these first efforts and achieve better results next season.