For the first time in more than a decade, the Isle of Man sent a women’s team to the Lawn Tennis Association Over-35s County Cup recently.

The annual event is held at the Devonshire Park grass courts in Eastbourne and consists of three days of singles and doubles competition.

The Isle of Man team included Karen Faragher, captain Lucy Kerr, Alison Parker and Kirree Ronan who were given a warm welcome by the organisers and fellow players after a long absence from the event.

The first day saw some close matches against the Suffolk team and, despite a lack of grass court practice in the island, the Manx women managed some great wins.

At number one singles, Faragher recorded a 6-4 3-6 10-5 victory while number two seed Kerr narrowly missed out with a 5-7 4-6 defeat. Parker and Ronan led the way in the doubles, winning their first match 6-3 6-3 before going down 2-6 1-6 in their second.

The deciding match of the day saw Faragher and Kerr pairing up to win their doubles match 7-5 6-2, securing a 3-2 victory over Suffolk.

On the second day the Isle of Man took on the West of Scotland and the winning streak continued, with convincing victories for Faragher (6-0 6-1) and Kerr (6-1 6-3) in the singles.

The singles matches were followed by the first doubles match for Parker and Ronan which they lost 2-6 1-6.

But in their next match against the Scottish second pair, their determination and great play paid off and they won in a championship tie-break 6-4 2-6 10-8.

Faragher and Kerr had to wait until the end of the day to play their doubles match which turned into a long and exciting one, finishing just before 9pm. They clinched that match with a 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 win, rounding off the day with a 4-1 victory over their Scotland counterparts.

The final day was tough against a strong team from Cornwall. Both singles matches went the way of the Cornish women, with 3-6 3-6 and 1-6 3-6 defeats for Faragher and Kerr respectively.

Parker and Ronan put up a strong fight in their first doubles match but narrowly missed out in a championship tie-break 3-6 7-5 5-10. This gave Cornwall an insurmountable 3-0 lead so the final two matches were not played.

The Isle of Man team finished second in their group and are looking forward to returning next year, hopefully to build on their success.

The team is looking for a sponsor for next year (and subsequent years) - if any local companies would be interested in supporting the team, please contact Lucy Kerr on [email protected]