England’s girls continued their winning ways at the Girls Home Internationals after claiming the title for the eighth year in a row at Lanark in Scotland on Sunday.
“It’s brilliant,” said team captain Chris Pascall, as her players celebrated a 7-2 win over Ireland in the final match – and continued possession of the Stroyan Cup. “The girls have done very well this week, it’s been a good team effort with great team spirit.”
The final win result gave them a clean sweep in the series, with three wins from three matches, having previously beaten Scotland 5½-3½ and Wales 8-1. England have now won 13 of the 15 Home Internationals.
In the final match, England got ahead early by winning the foursomes 2-1, thanks to the pairings of Emma Allen and Lizzie Prior and of Hollie Muse and Sammy Fuller. But in the singles, the Irish took the early advantage.
“At one point it didn’t look very hopeful and we were up in only one match,” said Pascall. “But the girls turned it round and it was a good all-round result.” In the end England won five of the six singles, conceding just one point to the Irish star Olivia Mehaffey.
During the series, Muse and Allen won all six of their games while Prior and Fuller won five out of five.
The team comprised Emma Allen (Meon Valley), Annabel Bailey (Kirby Muxloe), Samantha Fuller (Roehampton), Eloise Healey (West Lancashire), Alice Hewson (Berkhamsted), Hollie Muse (West Lancashire) and Lizzie Prior (Burhill), Emily Toy (Carlyon Bay).
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