Proud captain Alex Parry saluted the efforts of Shropshire's men's tennis team after sealing promotion in the Aegon Winter County Cup – while the Shropshire ladies side delivered a battling display to preserve their place in division five.
Parry was delighted with Shropshire's efforts as they excelled in South Wales to pull off three convincing wins at Newport to secure promotion from division six in style.
"It was an amazing weekend for Shropshire and the first time we have gained promotion in the Winter Cup for many years," said Parry. "To do it for the loss of only three matches out of 27 made it even more special.
"It was an excellent overall team effort and performance. The whole team came together to push each other and it can only bode well for the future if this group of players can stay together. I'm a very proud captain."
The opening day saw Shropshire hand out a 9-0 beating to a depleted Northumberland side, with comfortable singles victories for Parry, Ed Gibbs, Luke Henley and Matt Lee setting the tone.
"It was an excellent start but we knew we would be tested in the days to come," said Parry, also grateful to Budgen Motors for providing transport to take the team to South Wales.
The county's second match was against Wiltshire, with the promising Sam Chapman handed his debut while Matt Jones, another 17-year-old, also came into the side.
Jones eased to a convincing win while Chapman had a tougher battle against arguably Wiltshire's strongest player, competing well before being edged out. The more experienced quartet of Gibbs, Parry, Lee and Henley all delivered comprehensive victories, giving Shropshire a 5-1 lead going into the doubles.
Lee and Hugh Jaques, in a new partnership, played well but went down 10-8 in the third set tie break, but Parry and Gibbs then got the job done with a dominant display to seal a 6-3 Shropshire victory.
With the way results had fallen over the weekend, the final day clash between Shropshire and Avon would decide who would be promoted from the group.
Juniors Jones and Chapman set high standards with excellent victories against vastly more experienced players before Parry and Gibbs maintained the winning habit.
Lee and Henley then also prevailed to make sure of promotion before the doubles combination of Jaques and Richard Tennant also came out on top to help Shropshire, helped by Avon conceding the last two matches, complete another emphatic 9-0 triumph.
Meanwhile, Shropshire ladies captain Holly Mowling was impressed with the spirit displayed by her team as they achieved their aim of consolidating their place in Division Five in a tough group at Taunton.
She said: "We knew going into the event it was going to be tough as we were missing a few key players with Chloe Hughes out injured and Immie Cowper now at university in America, but Sue Dunn stepped in to make her Shropshire debut.
"We eventually finished third in our group and avoided relegation which is what we set out to do. With missing a few key players, we were aware we had a fight on our hands and fight is exactly what we did against tough opposition.
"We will now look forward to the summer to try and continue our success of recent years in which we have enjoyed two consecutive promotions."
Shrewsbury's Lauren McMinn, a recent doubles finalist at the ITF Aegon GB Pro-Series tournament at The Shrewsbury Club, led the way for the Shropshire side in Somerset by claiming four victories.
Shropshire started brightly with a 6-3 opening day victory against Suffolk, with debutant Dunn making an instant impact by winning both of her matches.
Day two saw Cornwall provide the opposition and they emerged 7-2 victors, with Shropshire's points claimed by McMinn in the singles and then McMinn and Jo Bowen in the doubles, while the county were edged out in three other tight matches which went the distance.
A strong Devon side, who won all three of their fixtures, were Shropshire's final opponents, with the south west county prevailing 7-2, with singles wins for McMinn and Mia Loney the highlights for Shropshire.
Pictured: Shropshire's delighted men's team celebrate promotion to division five of the Aegon Winter County Cup, from left: Matt Jones, Sam Chapman, Ed Gibbs, Luke Henley, Alex Parry (captain), Matt Lee, Hugh Jaques and Richard Tennant.
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