There were plenty of highlights as both Norfolk teams finished runners-up in their groups in the Aegon Winter County Cup.
The men were competing against Warwickshire, Middlesex and Surrey in Group 2A in Redbridge while the women were contesting Group 3B with Wiltshire, Berkshire and Lancashire in Southampton.
Both teams got off to winning starts. The men defeated Warwickshire 5-4 and in the deciding rubber Richard Bloomfield and Will Davies took on World No. 66 Dan Evans and his partner in the top doubles match. It turned out to be a brilliant victory for the Norfolk pair who won 7-5, 5-7 (10-8).
The women beat Wiltshire 6-3 in controversial fashion. In the opening round of singles matches Wiltshire lined up in the wrong order and therefore had to concede two rubbers to go 0-3 down. Norfolk never looked back, with Amy Partridge and captain Karen Highfield winning the key doubles match in straight sets.
By winning the opening matches both teams then faced teams who had lost on the first day. The men convincingly beat Middlesex 7-2 and after two matches, nine players had contributed wins, with several players only able to play on one day. The women managed to take a commanding 4-2 lead after the singles but it was a frustrating afternoon of doubles. All three matches went to a deciding tie-break, with Berkshire winning them all to edge home 5-4.
Going into the final day both teams still had a good chance of promotion but due to injury and work commitments the men were struggling to field a team. With Spinks, Fulcher and Auckland all unavailable the team lost 5-1 to Surrey, with Bloomfield picking up the only win.
Captain Nicky Crawley said: 'We always go into a match believing we can win, no matter who we play. You just had to see what Bloomers and Will achieved to realise that. They were brilliant. It was a shame to lose the old guard for the last day but our younger players are doing well.'
The women knew a win against Lancashire would almost certainly guarantee promotion but they headed into doubles 2-4 down. Another win for Highfield and Partridge kept hopes alive before Vianne Palffy and Monica Raviraj lost another third set tie-break as Norfolk lost 5-4.
Captain Highfield was keen to praise the two young players, saying: 'Vianne and Monica played a great match. The No.1 doubles is always going to be tough and the girls exceeded expectation to take it so close. We are all really proud of the team's achievement over the weekend, we just need to sort out winning tie-breaks.'
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